People Analytics in the Era of Big Data

CHAPTER 1 The People Analytics Age

War is 90 percent information.

—Napoleon Bonaparte

Organizations are in a worldwide war—a war to acquire a diminishing resource, an asset that is more valuable than oil and more critical than capital. The resource can be bought but not owned. It is found in every country but is difficult to extract. Leaders know that without this resource they are doomed to mediocrity, yet most of them use outdated methods to measure and understand it.

The resource is skilled workers. In the United States alone, employers spend more than $400 billion a year locating, securing, and holding on to them.¹ Internationally, companies large and small devote a similarly significant amount of money (as well as staff and executive time) to bringing in skilled workers and keeping them happy. Just one part of the process, help wanted advertising, costs employers almost $20 billion per year.² Whether they’re called employees, talent, human capital, or personnel, these are the people with the skills, work habits, knowledge, experience, and personal qualities that drive your organization to meet its goals. Top talent is rare by definition—the ones you want on your team whether you are on a hiring binge or managing layoffs.

Top personnel create the best new products, make the most revenue, and find the greatest efficiencies. They build great workplaces, delight customers, and attract others like themselves to join the organization. They adapt to changing business conditions. ...