HR and People Analytics is a hot topic and a burgeoning field.
Keeping up with thought leaders is a good way to stay in the know. They are a great source of inspiration and innovation, and those who are our contemporaries have their ears to the ground for the next big thing in the field.
We’ve compiled a list of twenty-one insightful quotes from thought leaders, senior executives, and other experts covering best practices, data management, and strategy.
“HR will not be replaced by data analytics, but HR who do not use data and analytics will be replaced by those who do.”
—Nadeem Khan, Introduction to People Analytics: A Practical Guide to Data-driven HR
"If there is one thing I have learned from working on Machine Learning problems in the People/HR space, it is this: define and structure your problem up front!"
Keith McNulty, Global Director, Talent Science & Analytics, McKinsey & Company
“Have a vision for what you are trying to do. Use data to validate and help you navigate that vision, and map it down into small enough pieces where you can begin to execute in a data-informed way. Don’t let shallow analysis of data that happens to be cheap/easy/fast to collect nudge you off-course in your entrepreneurial pursuits.”
Andrew Chen, Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, formerly Head of Rider Growth at Uber
“If there’s one takeaway it’s that it’s okay to do small wins. Small wins are good, they will compound. If you’re doing it right the end result will be massive.”
— Kevin Li, Co-Founder at Farmstead, formerly Head of Yahoo Growth
“If you pick the right metrics for success, you will be able to significantly improve the focus of the whole team and thus improve your business. Developing these metrics should be done first by making hypotheses about your business and validating/invalidating these hypotheses. From there you will have a good base understanding that will allow you to determine what metrics to focus on and how to define success for your business.”
—Hiten Shah, Co-Founder and CEO of Nira, Founder of Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics
“If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.”
— Lord Kelvin, 19th Century Scientist
“There’s incredible power in knowing how you’re doing. It’s inherently, incredibly motivational.”
— Stefan Olander, VP of Digital Sport, Nike.
“It is based on the assumption
that organizations need more than data. They need insight about their people to be competitive in world markets. This is because people are often the only source of competitive advantage.” — Turner and Kalman 2014, Make Your People Before You Make Your Products
“Information is the oil of the 21st century and analytics is the combustion engine.”
— Peter Sondergaard, Former Executive Vice President, Gartner Research
“The goal is to turn data into information, and information into insight.”
— Carly Fiorina, Politician and former CEO of HP
“Measuring the impact of HR on bottom-line performance is the holy grail of HR Analytics.”
— Edward Lawler & John Boudreau 2004, HR Metrics and Analytics: Use and Impact
“Through our research and data analytics, we set out to help others by taking the guesswork out of what really matters when it comes to optimizing talent and creating positive business results.”
— Sharkey & Eccher 2011, Optimizing Talent
“Understanding what workforce levers to pull to drive business outcomes will revolutionize the impact HR has on business performance.”
— John Schwarz, CEO & Founder, Visier
“You don’t build a business; you build people and then people build the business.”
— Zig Ziglar, Author/Motivational Speaker
“Human resource programs no longer need to be based on “soft” reasoning but should be as analytical and as data-driven as any other management discipline.”
— Chris Argyris, Management Theorist & Professor Emeritus, Harvard Business School
“Numbers have an important story to tell. They rely on you to give them a clear and convincing voice.”
— Stephen Few, Data Visualization Expert/Author, Show Me the Numbers, Information Dashboard Design
“The biggest part of our digital transformation is changing the way we think.”
— Simeon Preston, Managing Director & Group COO, FWD Insurance
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”
— Albert Einstein.
“Data are just summaries of thousands of stories—tell a few of those stories to help make the data meaningful.”
— Dan Heath, Bestselling author, Made to Stick, Switch, Upstream
“Data teams need to ensure that value is delivered quickly, in an agile way that allows business teams to realize concrete results in the short term.”
— Juan Gorricho, Vice President, Global Data & Business Intelligence, Visa
“Data is not about adding more to your plate. Data is about making sure you have the right things on your plate.”
— Unknown
Phenom eCloud is a comprehensive technology solutions provider committed to empowering businesses to overcome challenges, enhance their workforce capabilities, and achieve superior outcome