In parallel with the shift towards using HR business partners, organisations are under increasing pressure to analyse business performance as a whole, to demonstrate cost effectiveness and value-add, to motivate and engage their employees, and to improve overall operations through effective people policies and practices. If these elements are not measured they cannot be managed. As a result management information analytical tools are emerging as a critical enabler for HR business partner success.
Business partners want to be recognised as value adding contributors to business performance, and to make a tangible contribution to increased process efficiencies and effectiveness within their organisations. To do this, they need a unified view of employees – including their compensation, skills, motivation and performance – in order to make more informed decisions on staffing, planning and budgeting in support of strategic company goals. Therefore it is hardly surprising that in cases where the HR business partner model fails there is often a clear link with a lack of management information.
From diagnosis to delivery
HR business partners who are true ‘partners’ rather than ‘advisors’ or ‘reporters’ should be able to measure and evaluate their contribution to building human capital on a continuing basis. This requires the organisation to undertake four steps:
1. institute measures for human capital
2. ensure that board and senior management monitor these measures on a regular basis
3. use both qualitative and quantitative data to build a picture of human capital health
4. act to build interventions to improve human capital performance.
Barriers to success
Organisations looking to identify, gather and interpret the right people metrics for their business come up against a number of barriers including:
- the relevant data is believed to be inaccessible, or the cost of capture in terms of time and money is thought to outweigh the likely benefits
- the business has not yet been persuaded about the value or need for people metrics
- the data is not accurate or complete
- the provision of data may be confused with the provision of information and insights.
Often there is simply too much data, leaving the recipient confused. Creating usable information requires the application, manipulation and interpretation of specific data elements in a way that reveals something relevant and important, and contributes to managing the business.
Tools available
The good news is that reporting and analytical tools are now available to gather the required Human Capital data in such a way that is cost-effective, time-efficient, readily accessible and in a form that can interpret data and present useful, insightful information to managers. Some also offer the ability for the user to compare the business results of their organisation with those of other organisations.
A return on investment
Use of reporting tools enable the HR business partner to demonstrate that proactive monitoring and analysis of employee contribution and commitment brings an early and substantial return on investment. Any HR business partner who has acted as the catalyst to release such savings can truly claim to be a value-adding contributor to business success.
