Running a business requires making tough staffing decisions daily. Deciding what’s best for your company and ensuring team happiness requires deliberate efforts. In times like these, trusting your instincts isn’t always enough. That’s where existing talent assessment insights come in handy. All you need now is talent analytics to sweep the haze aside and replace intuition with precision!

Discover all the essential details of this data-driven, people-centered process with this comprehensive guide.

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Article Roadmap

• What Is Talent Analytics?
• Types
• Importance
• Key Data Points To Measure
• Using the Righkey dt Software
• Common Mistakes
• Best Practices
• The Wrap-Up

What Is Talent Analytics?

Talent analytics is a data-driven approach utilizing various sources to evaluate employees and performance, generating accurate and comprehensive talent insights. Findings, patterns and trends uncovered help organizations optimize their recruitment, development and workforce planning strategies and align them with broader goals, enhancing overall efficiency and success.

Types

Talent analytics encompasses several analysis types, each focusing on different aspects of workforce management. Below, we’ll list the four main types and explain what they mean with a quick example:

1. Descriptive Analytics

Descriptive analytics is all about understanding what happened before. With descriptive analytics, you uncover what already exists, figure out what went down in the past and where you can improve things.

Think of it as digging into your company’s history books to find out how often people hopped off your organization, how long it took to fill those vacancies, how excited people are about their jobs or getting a feel of how diverse your teams are.

2. Predictive Analytics

While there’s no crystal ball providing hints about the future, predictive analytics uses statistical algorithms to predict outcomes with hard facts.

• Who might leave the team soon?
• Who’s on their way to becoming a superstar?
• Who will likely be an excellent leader?
• Who needs a boost with tailored learning?

Predictive analytics answers all these questions by crunching numbers and generating insights so you can prepare for what’s coming.

3. Prescriptive Analytics

If you’re scratching your head wondering, “What should we do to maintain our A-team status?” Prescriptive analytics suggests the best course of action. Gain recommendations based on what happened before and what could happen down the road.

For example, if predictive analytics suggests certain employees are at high risk of leaving, prescriptive analytics might recommend implementing specific retention strategies.

4. Diagnostic Analytics

Picture this: Your team’s mojo has nosedived. Instead of treating the symptoms and consequences of poor performance, diagnostic analytics seeks to remedy what’s causing subpar performance.

Your team may have missed some vital training, or there’s a hiccup in communication. Or a recent change in leadership caused a shake-up. Diagnostic analytics determine the root causes behind certain outcomes.

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Importance

Information is vital, but not all information is equal, and not everything is data. So, how do you assess these informational treasure troves information meaningfully?

That’s where talent analytics swoops in, helping connect the dots between data and decisions.

Below, we’ll dig into why precise and clear analyses matter:

Uncover Workplace Trends

Why do certain teams outshine others? Or what motivates your long-tenured employees? Understanding your organization’s dynamics is no longer a shot in the dark. Decode trends shaping your workplace landscape with talent analytics.

Whether you’re strategizing to retain top talent, fostering innovation in remote setups, spotting emerging leaders or aligning employee aspirations with evolving industry demands, data illuminates the path forward.

Leverage Suitable Incentives

We all crave a little motivation occasionally, especially when we find ourselves in a rut. Talent analytics reveals the goldmine of incentives that resonate with your employees and potential hires. Knowing the kind of rewards, perks or opportunities will have them saying, “Sign me up!”

Whether it’s the promise of flexible scheduling, room for growth or just some good old-fashioned recognition, talent analytics lets you engage and energize everyone in your team.

Refine Hiring Practices

It’s a triumph worth celebrating when you finally stumble upon those rare, shining candidates. But here’s the twist: just discovering them isn’t enough.

If you find a great catch, you must ensure they don’t slip away. Every detail counts – from crafting enticing job descriptions to showcasing growth opportunities, every detail counts. Talent analytics help you pinpoint where the weaknesses lie in your hiring strategies.

Key Data Points

Now, let’s dive into your data collection points to conduct comprehensive assessments and metrics that tap into different aspects of talent management.

1. Employee Performance Metrics

Performance metrics are the core of every employee’s journey, providing them with a path for growth.

Key Metrics to Track:

• Goals and targets achieved
• Output quality
• Timeliness of work
• Work quantity
• Customer feedback
• Peer and manager evaluations

2. Employee Engagement Data

Amidst the hustle, engagement data gives voice to your workforce. A recent Gallup report estimates that low engagement costs the global economy $8.8 trillion, accounting for 9% of global GDP.

About 41% of employees wanted organizational engagement or culture changes, highlighting the importance of determining your workforce’s feelings about their jobs and accomplishments.

Key Metrics to Track:

• Overall engagement score
• Job satisfaction
• Sentiment analysis
• Organizational commitment
• Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)
• Trust in leadership
• Perception of fairness
• Value alignment
• Event participation

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3. Retention and Turnover Rates

There’s a story behind every number. Retention rates and exit interviews tell tales of loyalty and aspirations. It’s your responsibility to determine what keeps your top performers rooted and what can potentially be the last straw that influences them to quit.

Key Metrics to Track:

• Overall turnover rate
• Voluntary turnover rate
• Involuntary turnover rate
• Average tenure
• Retention rate of high performers
• Retention rate by department/team

Understanding reasons for departures informs retention strategies, so track metrics like voluntary turnover percentages, exit interviews and time to fill positions to test stability and agility.

4. Skills Inventory

Skills inventories link talent to strategic direction. With skill-based hiring on the rise, a new TestGorilla report revealed that 76% of recruiters prioritize skill alignment while evaluating potential hires. Cataloging employee skills exposes gaps and uncovers in-demand skills your team requires in the future.

Key Metrics to Track:

• Specific employee’s skills
• Skill proficiency levels
• Skills gaps and development areas
• Skill relevance to current and future roles
• Certification and training completion status

5. Recruitment Data

Sources of hires reveal effective talent channels. Trace the paths from job boards to referrals and determine your team’s composition through vital recruitment metrics.

Key Metrics to Track:

• Time-to-fill
• Cost-per-hire
• Source of hire
• Applicant conversion rate
• Offer acceptance rate
• Diversity metrics

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Using the Right Software

According to HR thought leader Josh Bersin, talent data is complex, ambiguous and poorly defined, necessitating an integrated platform that brings all data and presents insights in a way that all key stakeholders can easily understand.

The solution? Implementing a talent assessment system infused with talent intelligence and people analytics.

These systems offer AI-generated assessment benchmarks fine-tuned to your company’s performance standards validated by the I/O psychology community, helping you gather relevant and accurate assessment data to support key decisions.

For example, Infor Talent Science, a talent assessment platform, offers a single-value assessment approach that maps back to behavioral benchmarks in the system, letting you pick up new hires without wasting time on assessments again.

If you’re ready to initiate your software search, refer to our customizable and completely free comparison report.

Common Mistakes

By now, you’re probably excited to leverage talent data to enhance talent strategies, but let’s not overlook the bumps in the road. If you’re not careful, a few sneaky slip-ups can turn this data adventure into a disaster.

Following are the common mistakes that you should avoid:

• Neglecting Human Interpretation: Blindly trusting data and analytics risks misguided choices. Data empowers decisions, but nuanced human insights are vital for evaluating and integrating findings with contextual knowledge. Blend informative insights with human context for people-centric decisions.
• Overlooking Goals Alignment: Analyzing data without a strategic goal is like using a compass without a needle pointing north. Determine questions you’re trying to answer or problems you’re trying to solve to ensure purposeful efforts.
• Ignoring Ethical Considerations: Sidelining ethics is a recipe for privacy breaches and court cases, shattering your workforce’s trust. Always prioritize safeguarding data and ensure lawful and transparent data collection.

Best Practices

Now, let’s consider several strategies to set you up for success:

• Harnessing Data Visualization Tools: Charts, graphs, dashboards, heatmaps and comprehensive talent profiles are your allies to untangle intricate insights. Opt for tools that sync with your audience’s tastes and technical finesse, thereby catapulting the resonance and influence of your revelations.
• Weaving Compelling Narratives: Crafting a story helps engage stakeholders and decision-makers emotionally, making the insights more memorable and actionable. Weave a narrative to add context, link data and present your findings. This approach contextualizes the data, highlights trends and addresses specific challenges or opportunities.
• Embracing Diversity Metrics: Championing diversity and welcoming underrepresented talent isn’t just a matter of principle; it’s a strategic lever to reshape your organization. According to Forbes, the benefits of supporting diversity ripple across your organization and impact your company’s bottom line.

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Next Steps

Going with your gut is best left in the past when it comes to talent and workforce planning. Implementing talent analytics helps you leverage valuable internal data and set your teams up for success.

Talent assessment tools are a great way to uncover insights about your people. If looking for a solution sounds overwhelming, our free comparison report can help. It lets you customize the features you need and then easily compare products against each other to find the best matches.

Now, we hand over the mic to you. What’s the most overlooked aspect of using employee data in HR processes? Has talent analytics led to a game-changing decision in your organization? Let us know in the comments!