Every day we are producing mass amount of information. According to
the estimation of Zettaset*, we create 2.5 quintillion* bytes of data
every day and 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the
last two years alone. This massive volume of information and the
technology required to store it is called with the term Big Data. Even
though big data is not such a new phenomenon, the concept of Big Data
is one of the new hypes of the recent years. Indeed the real new thing is the
analyses of the big data and the meaningful results as a result of the
analyses.
One of the main classifications of big data is structured data versus
unstructured data. Structured data refers to information which is
classified with a high degree of organization and is readily
searchable by simple search operations. An excel sheet which shows the
applicants of a job post is an example of structured data. Unstructured
data is essentially the opposite of structured data. It refers to information
which is not organized in a pre-defined manner. Unstructured information is
typically text-heavy, but may contain data such as dates, numbers, and facts as well. The content of job post
applicants’ CVs and accompanying cover letters are examples of this kind of
data. Analyzing structured data is easy whereas analyzing unstructured data is
complicated. New technologies are evolving to help the analysis of unstructured
data.
Analyzing big data has already become a basis of
competition in various fields. There
are many examples of critical insights and successes being realized in
business, politics, and government. In addition to these
fields, Human Resources (HR) also
has the opportunity to use Big Data in the company’s people strategies. By
using analytics tools and techniques; organizations can develop a "people
model" for their teams, and understand precisely how these people-related
factors directly relate to business results. They can use this data to assess
leadership pipeline, engagement factors, and potential workforce gaps in
the future.
Today there are growing numbers of success stories
emerging in the HR field. I would like to share some of these examples
to give insight into the subject.
Big Data is used by some companies
to analyze the profile of high performers in the company. In
an example cited by Bersin and Associates*, one of their clients that operated
in the finance sector, operated under a belief system that employees
with good grades who came from highly ranked colleges would make good
performers. So the company’s recruitment and promotion process was based on
these academic drivers.
Several years
ago one of their analysts performed a statistical analysis of sales
productivity and turnover. The analyst and the company looked at sales
performance over the first two years of a new employee and correlated total
performance and retention rates against a variety of demographic factors. What
they found was really surprising.
According to
the results of the analysis 6 things were highly correlated with success of the
sales employees. Best sales professionals in this company;
1*Had no typing
errors or grammatical mistakes on their resumes
2*Did not quit
school before obtaining some degree
3*Had previous experience
of selling real-estate or autos
4*Demonstrated
success in their prior jobs
5*Had the ability
to succeed under uncertain conditions
6*Managed time
effectively and ran multiple tasks at the same time
According to
the results of this study what did not have an impact on the performance of the
sales employees was;
*Where they
went to school
*What grades
they had
*The quality of
their references
Data analysis
showed a different fact than the belief system of the company. The results were
taken into consideration and the recruitment process was modified accordingly.
In the fiscal period following the new recruitment process, the company had
more than $4,000,000 improvement in revenues.
In another example cited by
eQuest*, they provided consultancy service to a financial institution with the
aim to increase recruitment process performance. The firm made an analysis of
the existing process and realized that the company was utilizing 48
different job boards and spending almost $175,000 per year for those. The
consultants aimed to utilize the job posting service and after big data
analysis they found that 45 of these sites showed no response within a
reasonable time frame. Only 3 of the current boards were producing reasonable candidate
response rates. In addition to this, they also found the words and phrases
candidates were searching and the company improved their job posting titles and
descriptions. In the end the candidate traffic soared by 175% and annual
spending for recruitment advertisement decreased by 50%.
In addition to the utilization areas
in the above examples, big data analysis can also be used to measure
effectiveness of training programs and to identify training needs for future
programs. Today training effectiveness is generally measured according to KirkPatrick’s and Jack Phillips’s evaluation models and the biggest emphasize is on the training program’s impact
on job performance. In addition to
the mentioned evaluation methods, big data analysis is also a promising way to
see the correlation between job performance and a training program. We can use
the information of training participation and post exam results following a
training program to investigate the correlation between the program and job
performance of the participants, hence we can evaluate the effectiveness of the
program. Additionally big data analysis can be used to determine training
needs. Data regarding application logs, reversal transaction logs and customer
complaints can be analyzed to determine training needs.
Big data analysis has a
remarkable potential in the field of human resources and such analysis can
be used to improve business results, performance of recruitment
processes and the effectiveness of training programs. HR should seize this
valuable opportunity to reinforce its position as a strategic partner of the
company.
Additional Information
Zettaset*:
Software development company based in the USA
Quintillion*: A thousand raised to the power of six (1018)
Bersin and Associates*: Consultancy company providing services in corporate HR
eQuest*:Job posting delivery company based in the USA
Resources:
2012: The First Big Data Election. Retrieved 09 02, 2013,
from Harvard Business Review Blog:
Bernstein, D. eQuest.
Retrieved 08 30, 2013, from You Can Do Big Data, Today! :
Bersin, J. Forbes.
Retrieved 09 01, 2013, from Big Data in Human Resources:
Chand, S. venturebeat.com.
Retrieved 08 31, 2013, from How big data will impact employment
and human resources:
Giuffrida, M. (2013, 06 28). http://talentmgt.com/.
Retrieved from HR Can’t Ignore Big Data: