Sharlyn J. Lauby's Blog, page 141

Using an #HR Career Portfolio to Develop Your Skills

We talk a lot on this blog about the need to develop skills. No matter where you are in your career, it’s important to regularly take inventory of your skills and develop learning action plans. I recently came across a new way of thinking about learning that I thought was worth sharing. It’s the idea of a “portfolio.”

In the book “Developing Proficiency in HR: 7 Self-Directed Activities for HR Professionals”, author Debra Cohen PhD talks about creating a portfolio for HR competency development. The first thing that popped into my mind was an artist’s portfolio. You know, a place where an artist keeps their work. A portfolio tells us what we’ve accomplished and what we’re still working on, so it’s very practical and flexible.

Speaking of flexibility, a career portfolio allows you to make it your own in a couple of ways:

Format: Your career portfolio can be housed wherever you wish – online, paper, or maybe even in a planner or journal.

Content: Depending on your goals, a career portfolio can focus on accomplishments, current learning, or future development.

Self-awareness: A career portfolio would be an appropriate place to keep assessment results, reference letters, or thank-you notes.

It’s important to keep your resume up-to-date. I can see how a career portfolio would be a great tool to help with that. Or if you’re considering a job search, a career portfolio might be a place to compile information for review prior to a job interview. At annual performance review time, a career portfolio might be a good way to highlight what you’ve accomplished during the year.

In her book, Deb identifies a list of documents you can include in your portfolio along with a worksheet so you can keep inventory. I thought this was especially helpful because I can see it being very easy just to chuck everything into the portfolio. After a while, there’s this huge file full of stuff and the value has diminished because it takes too long to find what you’re looking for.

Deb suggests keeping your portfolio manageable. “You don’t need to discard older documentation altogether; you can store it in a portfolio archive. Consider whether you are trying to show an evolution of skills or what’s relevant to your current career level or aspiration; for example, you may decide not to include transcripts late in your career. You may want to show an evolution in some areas and not in others.”

If you don’t already have a career portfolio, this might be something to consider putting together. I’d suggest reading “Developing Proficiency in HR” first to give you some ideas. And let me add, if you’re not in HR, using this book as your guide isn’t far-fetched. HR’s competencies include communication, critical evaluation, and leadership…so we’re talking about skills that translate to many jobs. Every business pro should have a career portfolio.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while enjoying Downton Legacy Tea in South Florida

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Being a Leader and Tacit Approval in Today’s Workplace

I’ve mentioned before that I used to work for a boss who had me issue the same memo every year about tacit approval. The memo was designed to remind everyone of their responsibilities as a manager and leader as well as the basic principles of business.

I was reminded of tacit approval recently and dug out the memo. Believe it or not, some ten plus years later…I still have it. Not only does it apply to our roles at work, but in other places like our volunteer and civic roles. Here are a few key takeaways I see every time I read it:

The word tacit means “expressed without words or speech; implied or indicated but not actually expressed.” It represents silent consent and acceptance. In our workplaces, tacit approval is given whenever a manager fails to speak out about existing conditions. Tacit approval leads everyone to assume that existing conditions are acceptable, will be tolerated and allowed to continue.

Not only does tacit approval work against improving performance, it makes it unlikely that standards will be met. Let’s use a simple example, like when a supervisor doesn’t say anything about an employee who’s wearing something more suited for clubbing. What’s going to motivate the employee to wear the proper attire in the future? The supervisor’s silence implies that it’s okay to wear unprofessional clothing. Other employees will see this and, before long, the office has turned into a Pitbull concert. (No offense to Pitbull fans. I like his music too, but we probably don’t want the office to look like that.)

Back to the story. Trying to re-institute the policy at this point requires a major retraining effort not to mention an internal public relations campaign. To avoid this situation, the supervisor should be vocal, but not in an overbearing, sarcastic or caustic way. A timely comment can bring general awareness and serves to remind everyone of the policy.

Some other common examples of tacit approval in the workplace include:

Passing the buck. Someone in another department has an inappropriate screen saver on their computer. Because this employee is in another department, the manager figures it’s not their responsibility and doesn’t address the issue. Even though they realize the screen saver could offend a co-worker or even a customer. The assumption that someone else will handle it is misconceived. Meanwhile, the employee has the silent approval from a member of the leadership team.

Setting a double standard. Let’s say an employee doesn’t arrive at work on time. The employee must be coached on the need to be punctual. Failure to say something would be silent approval of tardiness. But this also means that the manager needs to be punctual as well. The hypocrisy of enforcing one standard while demonstrating another will cause resentment and more problems.

Tacit approval takes many forms and arises for a variety of reasons. It can often result from fear of conflict or rejection, lethargy, or misguided intentions. All that really needs to be done to eliminate tacit approval is to recognize the reasons that tempt us to overlook a situation that we know needs attention.

Leaders must become comfortable speaking up in every case that warrants it, despite our apprehensions. Before long, the reasons for remaining silent will cease to exist. Our feelings about speaking up to correct something that’s wrong becomes less important to us. It becomes about something being wrong that shouldn’t be.

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Can Employees Refuse a Pay Increase – Ask #HR Bartender

I’ve always (jokingly) said that the one thing I can count on is an employee not refusing a pay increase. Well, this reader note shows me that’s not always the case.

Hello! I have a problem I’m hoping you can help me with. I told my boss that I wanted to refuse my salary increase of 1% which amounts to less than $700/annually (gross). He said that I need to speak with HR, who said they can’t take the pay increase back because it’s a law in Massachusetts and would look like the company is discriminating against me. I gave the company a letter in writing that I was refusing the increase.

The reason I’m so adamant about the refusal is because the pay increase was given to me after I complained to HR about my boss. Unfortunately, HR and my boss are buddies. Is there any way I can have the company take back the increase OR is there a law in MA that states that once raises are given they can’t be taken back? Thank you.

This isn’t the first time I’ve heard of someone wanting to turn down a pay increase. So, I decided to reach out for some insights. Please welcome Robert Teachout, SHRM-SCP of HR Crossroads Communications, where he focuses on the intersection of employment law and human resources. You probably recognize his name from his articles on the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) website and his time as senior editor at Thompson Information Services.

As a reminder, Robert’s comments should not be construed as legal advice or as pertaining to any specific factual situations. If you have detailed questions, they should be addressed directly with your friendly neighborhood labor attorney.

Robert, I don’t want to put you on the spot and ask if refusing a pay increase is a state law. What I think readers would like to know is, when they hear that the company can’t do something because of a law, where can the employee go to verify the comment?  

[Teachout] I’d suggest starting at the source. Ask the HR representative. ‘I’m not sure I understand. Would you please explain that to me?’ and ‘Where can I find more information about that?’ are good questions to open the door for HR to help. Even if the employee feels a complete answer isn’t provided, he/she will have more information to use in further efforts. 

There are other resources as well. Every state has a Department of Labor and an Attorney General’s Office. These are official and reliable places to verify legal information. There generally is an e-mail address or a phone number listed on the official agency website that an employee can use to contact the agency with a question.

I didn’t mention searching the Internet until last, because not all information on the Internet is valid. And some is just plain wrong! When searching the internet for answers, an employee needs to be able to recognize whether a website is reliable and trustworthy, and the information is valid. The answer provided on a personal website is not going to have the same reliability as one from a government agency website. Be careful. 

One thing that I found interesting in the note was the comment about HR and the employee’s boss being “buddies”. What are 1-2 things that HR professionals can do to ensure they are viewed as objective and impartial?  

[Teachout] It seems trite, and I’m not trying to be cute, but to be viewed as objective and impartial, be objective and impartial. Be professional. That can’t be faked. HR needs to be open and transparent when they deal with employee concerns. 

Sadly, perception is reality to employees in most situations. Employees usually see HR as working on behalf of the employer and management from the start of their work experience; so, HR already has a hurdle to get over to gain employees’ trust.  If employees see HR being buddy-buddy with managers, they will not trust HR to be fair or to be genuinely concerned about employee interests. One of the best explanations I’ve seen about why that’s a bad idea was written by Alison Green in her “Ask a Manager” column titled, “Can you have close work friendships when you’re in HR?”. I heartily recommend it to your readers. 

One of the most important ways for HR to be trusted and have a reputation for being fair and objective is to fully and fairly investigate employee complaints. Have a process that gathers information from both managers and employees. Make sure the employee knows what that process is. Follow it every time. 

If HR is viewed as the “Department of No,” it is doing something wrong. It is impossible for a company’s position to be right 100 percent of the time. When an employee’s complaint is valid, let them know the issue will be addressed and how — that is, say ‘yes.’ When it is necessary to say ‘no,’ it isn’t enough just to give an employee an answer. Explain the reasoning behind a decision and the context. And whatever you do, don’t feed the employee a lie. Don’t do it to cover for the company or to ‘let an employee down easy.’ Lying is a trust destroyer.   

There’s obviously a lot going on here with the employee complaining about their boss, the pay increase, etc. Because we don’t have the whole story, we can’t comment on it. But where can an employee go to explain the entire pay increase situation and seek guidance?  

[Teachout] An employee can contact an employment law attorney or seek help from a law clinic. If there is a union at the workplace, the employee can talk with a union shop steward. These resources can help an employee to piece together and understand any information that he or she has found. They also can offer suggestions about options the employee has for handling the work situation. 

I didn’t mention going to HR in this case, because the note mentioned the possible conflict of interest in this situation. Otherwise, that is the first place I’d recommend an employee start. HR professionals (particularly those who have a degree in HR or HR certification) are trained to assess such issues and can provide answers relevant to the employee’s work situation.

Last question. In my experience, sometimes employees in these situations can feel they are being treated differently because of their actions. If an employee feels they are being retaliated against, where can they go to get some guidance?  

I hear ‘retaliation’ and I shudder. It is a very serious issue. It doubles down on any other employee complaint. 

I’d start with the employee handbook. Every handbook should have a policy that details to whom an employee may report alleged discrimination and retaliation. There should be more than one avenue for filing such a complaint, to prevent an employee from having to make a complaint directly to the manager being complained about. When doing so, an employee needs to document everything: who they spoke with, when, where, and what was said. Also, keep a printout of emails sent or received. These records will be important if the company’s response does not resolve the complaint to the employee’s satisfaction. 

If the company does not resolve the issue, or the employee is unsatisfied with the response, then the employee needs to consider getting legal advice. A qualified employment law attorney is one of the best resources to turn to in such situations.  If there is a union, the employee should talk to the shop steward; the union may assist in connecting the employee with an attorney. There also are legal clinics and non-profit organizations that exist to help employees understand their rights in such circumstances for little or no charge.

Finally, an employee may consider going to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Labor, or their state’s equivalent agencies. These agencies can offer advice, guidance, and, if necessary, assistance in bringing a complaint.

My thanks to Robert for sharing his knowledge with us. Be sure to connect with him on Twitter @HRCrossRdsComm. And if you’re wondering what his suggestion would be to the reader about their pay increase? “Take the raise. If you really are dissatisfied with the situation, the company, and its explanation, then you can use the extra income to help you in your secret job hunt.”

Employees shouldn’t feel confused about their employment. Take advantage of the resources available to you.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby near the slippery-when-wet beach in Miami, FL

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What’s Worse Than One Stereotype? Two – Friday Distraction

I’m beginning to see a shift in the conversation about Millennials. Instead of talking about generations from the standpoint of attitude or behaviors, the dialogue has moved to one of mindset. Frankly, it’s about time.

I’ll use Boomers as an example, since I am one. Well, I’m Generation Jones, but no one talks about that distinction. Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. From a cultural standpoint, they remember the “Cold War” and the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. They also remember the Vietnam War as well as the first moon walk. IMHO, there might be qualities this group shares because of the events they’ve experienced together. Or maybe not.

Back to Millennials. Today’s Time Well Spent from our friends at Kronos points out the challenges of stereotype and labels. Not just the whole working with Millennials thing. But also the issue of body art.

I couldn’t resist sharing with you some statistics about tattoos. According to research, tattoos are a $1B+ industry in the U.S. About 3 in 10 Americans (29%) have at least one tattoo. Body art isn’t a Millennial thing. Yes, there are young people with tattoos. There are Boomers with tattoos too.

The rules of engagement don’t change with Millennials. Everyone wants open dialogue and authentic conversations. People want to feel like they have a voice and are being heard. It’s all about knowing your audience, not giving into a stereotype.

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HR Competencies: Turning Knowledge Into Action

There are lots of articles that tell human resources professionals, “This is what you need to know.” And that’s fine. We need to be committed to lifelong learning. Our profession is constantly changing because business is always changing. There’s no harm in being made aware of emerging trends in our profession.

But let me add, knowledge isn’t enough. We have to turn knowledge into action. It isn’t enough to know or recite a theory, we have to be able to apply it.

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) recently added an interactive book to their competency model website featuring stories from HR pros who are using the model to advance their organizations and careers. It’s titled, “Real World HR: Bringing the SHRM Competency Model to Life” and I’m honored to be included in the book and you’ll recognize some other contributors like Alex Alonso PhD, Tim Sackett, and Dr. Jeff Pon.

Obviously, the goal of the book isn’t for someone to recreate the stories. It is to challenge you to think about your career.

Your career is probably filled with the same stories. If you’ve ever had one of those days where you’ve said to yourself, “I’m not doing great HR!”, bookmark this link and spend a couple of minutes reading the stories. We’ve all been there. One of the things that makes HR special is the bond HR pros have with each other. We’ve been in each other’s shoes. We can empathize.

Follow the principles for success. Each story has a few takeaways that you can immediately use in your job. You could identify a few to focus on each month. These would also be great principles to share with your team or someone that you’re mentoring. And while the book is focused on HR, some of the principles are perfect for supervisors and managers who are trying to step up their HR game.

The SHRM Competency Model website is continuing to evolve into a robust site for HR professionals to manage their career. Don’t confuse it with SHRM Certification (which is valuable too but not the same thing.) You don’t have to become certified to take advantage of the resources that the competency model provides. The resources section includes articles, books, seminars, and studies for each of the behavioral competencies in the model.

Regardless of where you are in your career, having an understanding of professional competencies is important. We get hired based on competencies. Our performance is evaluated based on competencies. Competencies are a factor in promotions and special assignments. So, bookmark the SHRM HR Competency Model page and check it out every once in a while. Your career might just be better for it.

Competency model image used with permission from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)

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Pre-Employment Tests Can Help #HR Hire Faster (and Better)

(Editor’s Note: Today’s post is sponsored by Criteria Corp , a leading provider of pre-employment testing services. Their testing system, HireSelect, is a SaaS (software as a service) solution that enables organizations to increase recruiting effectiveness using state-of-the-art technology. Criteria Corp has clients in all 50 U.S. states and 30 countries. Enjoy the post!)

Pre-employment testing has grown steadily over the past decade, with almost seventy percent (68%) of organizations conducting some form of job skill testing, according to the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP). While no pre-employment test can guarantee the perfect employee, they have been proven to successfully predict behavior and that’s important. In today’s competitive talent market, organizations just cannot afford to make poor hiring decisions.

Better hiring decisions translate into a better quality of hire, increased employee engagement, and longer retention. Whether you’re considering assessments for the first time or reviewing your current assessments, it’s important to understand the two primary goals of an assessment.

Assessments need to be valid. Validity means the assessment measures what it’s supposed to and is predictive of job performance.
Assessments must be reliable. Reliability indicates that the assessment produces consistent results.

Hiring teams are constantly under pressure to deliver the best candidates in a timely manner at the lowest cost per hire. The latest data from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) shows the average cost per hire is $4129 and time to fill is 42 days. Human resources departments should be looking for ways to manage applicant pools and pre-employment tests have become popular tools to do just that, regardless of what’s happening with the unemployment rate.

When the applicant pool is large, pre-employment testing can serve as a filter to help recruiters find individuals who have the necessary skills. When the applicant pool is small, pre-employment testing can help recruiters evaluate skills and make selection decisions.

The 3 Types of Pre-Employment Tests

Determining which test(s) to use is one of the biggest questions organizations face. The answer is connected to “job-relatedness”. Organizations should conduct a job requirements analysis for each position. If you’ve never done one before or are looking for a guideline to assist, the “Resources and Tools” section of the SHRM website offers some forms and templates for creative inspiration.

The job analysis allows employers to determine the most appropriate use for an assessment. Pre-employment tests generally fall into three categories:

Aptitude: These are qualities every employer is looking for. Examples include critical thinking, problem solving, and learning ability. Research has routinely affirmed that cognitive aptitude is one of the most predictive factors of job performance and long-term success.
Personality: These assessments aren’t designed to uncover whether candidates can do the job but more whether the candidates will be content and comfortable doing the job. Because they assess “job fit,” personality tests can be helpful for increasing retention. For example, personality assessments include the “Big Five” dimensions of agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, openness to experience, and stress tolerance.
Skills: These tests measure acquired knowledge and job readiness. Examples are verbal, math, and computer skills. They are generally predictive of short-term success, meaning that the candidate is capable of doing the basic everyday tasks required in the job.

How to Administer Pre-Employment Tests

Once an organization decides on the test(s) they want to use, they must agree where in the recruiting process they want to administer the test. Obviously, cost is a consideration, but remember that time is expensive. The answer to this question will not always be “the fewer tests, the better.”

According Josh Millet, CEO of Criteria Corp, the current trend in the U.S. is to conduct assessments earlier in the process due in part to mobile recruiting. “It’s easier to apply for jobs online, so organizations are creating partnerships with pre-employment testing providers that offer unlimited testing on a subscription basis, as opposed to paying per test. This provides a cost-effective way to test candidates and helps to shorten time to fill so employees can start contributing to the organization faster.”

Organizations should use the results of their job analysis to decide if the test they’ve chosen will help them A) fact find, B) evaluate, or C) select candidates. That will help determine where the test is best positioned in the recruitment process.

Use the Right Test to Get the Right Results

Pre-employment testing plays a valuable role in the recruitment process. But a good testing program must be set up for success by doing a proper analysis, choosing the right test, and using it at the right time in the process. If you want to learn more about pre-employment testing and the positive impact it can have on your hiring process, download Criteria Corp’s Definitive Guide to Pre-Employment Testing. This is a comprehensive guide that you will want to have on the corner of your desk for reference.

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The Customer Is the Customer

Someone recently left a comment on HR Bartender with a mention of the old saying, “The customer is always right.” I think my opinion of the saying has changed over the years.

There are times when the customer is absolutely right. The company messed up big time and they need to take responsibility for their mistake. Organizations have a huge opportunity to win a raving fan, instead of gaslighting the customer into thinking it was their own fault or simply apologizing with accepting responsibility. Organizations should invest in customer service and problem-solving training to help employees work directly with customers. I don’t believe customers expect perfection. They do expect to be treated with respect; and ignoring service challenges isn’t the way to do it.

There are also times when the customer is wrong. Often, it’s because the customer doesn’t understand the rules. Great examples are industries like health care, telecommunications, and government. They have unique regulations, lengthy contracts and forms, and it takes some time before we get the hang of working with them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing those industries. It’s who they are and, as a consumer, we need to educate ourselves on how to work with them. We have an obligation to understand what we’re buying.

But at the end of the day, the customer is still the customer. And there’s not an unlimited supply of them.

So, organizations need to listen to their customers. If an organization sees an increase in complaints about a particular topic, maybe they need to address it upfront with customers.

Years ago, the HR department I worked in tracked the number (and subject) of complaints we received each month. A complaint was defined as something an employee came into HR to discuss. If an employee stopped me in the ladies room to complain – and yes, that does happen – it wasn’t registered as a complaint. Whether it was right or wrong, we decided that if you took the time to come to HR, that it must be important and it would be logged.

Back to my point. What we discovered was that we could start to see trends. One meeting here and another meeting there didn’t look like much on their own, but you could see that there was an issue. It told us to pay attention and start doing some research.

Businesses need to do the same thing. If they make a mistake, fix it. If they see a trend, address it. I believe as a general rule, people want to be good consumers. They don’t engage with your organization because they’re looking for a fight. Complaining isn’t fun. So companies should figure out how to let the customer be the customer. It’s a win for everyone.

This customer’s image captured by Sharlyn Lauby outside the Tequila Museum in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

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Office Space: One Size Doesn’t Fit All – Friday Distraction

It seems like for every article out there extolling the virtues of the open office environment, there’s another one cursing their existence. I ran across a Forbes article recently declaring “The Open-Office Concept is Dead.”

The thing I’m struggling with is why can’t organizations have both open office space and private spaces? There are so many times in business where we can’t have our cake and eat it too, but office space doesn’t have to be one of them. That’s why I wanted to share this infographic, courtesy of Quill.com. It talks about the pros and cons to the open office space environment. It’s a reminder of the reasons we need to have a variety of different workspaces to accommodate team collaboration and individual deep thought.

What I was drawn to in the infographic is the bottom section titled “Tips for Successful Open Workspaces.” I thought the suggestions like creating noise level guidelines were spot-on. The one thing I wonder is where do employees learn about these guidelines?

Organizations with open office environments might want to consider developing their own set of rules. The rules can be reviewed during orientation. You could make some funky posters to hang around the office. If employees wear badges, the rules could be on the blank side of the badge. The point is…don’t assume that the rules are common sense and everyone knows them.

I can see the advantages and disadvantages to the open office environment. One of the pluses I’ve seen is that companies are actually making an investment in the look and feel of the workspace. So, after spending some resources to upgrade the office, I don’t know how willing they will be to start over. But with a few respectful guidelines in place, maybe employees can find balance in their work environment.

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Managing Organizational Hierarchies In a World of Networks

During KronosWorks 2016, I had the opportunity to hear keynote speaker Seth Mattison of FutureSight Labs talk about the future of work. One of the things that I found intriguing about his session was his comment that, “You can’t talk about the future without having some perspective on the past.”

I totally agree with his statement. Understanding where you came from and what makes you successful can be a huge asset for your future success. The key is not clinging to the past so tightly that you miss out on what’s coming next, which I will admit is often hard to identify. I’ve said it before, the world is moving so fast – is the “thing” we’re being exposed to a passing fad or a legitimate trend?

One trend Mattison touched on was the value of networks in business. Today’s digital world is full of networks (i.e. social media networks, web communities, etc.) These networks have been created so we can learn from each other, whether that’s via a YouTube video or a TweetChat. Our networks provide us with information – powerful information – because networks embrace openness, trust, and transparency among the members of the network. Networks provide an exponential reach where everyone has a microphone and anyone can have a platform. Power comes from sharing, not hoarding, information.

Networks provide us exponential reach. Power comes from sharing information.Click To Tweet

However, the challenge both individuals and organizations face is that we work in a world built on hierarchies. A perfect example is the organizational chart. Organizational charts are more than simply a diagram you might find in the employee manual. They speak to how the company operates. They’re about policies, procedures, etc. Mattison even pointed out common phrases like, “The higher ups have a meeting in that room.”, “She worked her way up.”, and “We need to communication this information down to the troops.” that accentuate the point.

As organizations adopt more technology, they will have to figure out how to balance those old-school hierarchies we’ve been accustomed to with new world networks. I don’t want to say replace because I can see where both have their advantages. Hierarchies can be helpful in communicating information and establishing authority. Networks can encourage collaboration and team development. Dr. John Kotter wrote an article in Harvard Business Review several years ago, suggesting that organizations need to support two structures (hierarchy and network) under the same roof. He added that it’s the network structure where big ideas and innovation will happen.

Chances are that most, if not all, organizations have the hierarchy structure in place. It’s the network structure that will need some planning and discussion. And it’s important to note: network doesn’t mean anarchy. Network structures involve leveling the playing field where job titles don’t matter.

Some organizations might tend to think that the fastest way to build a network structure is with technology. But Mattison says the first and the most important component is MINDSET. He defines that as employees being courageous and making the intentional choice to decide how they’ll show up.

I don’t want to minimize the mindset point. This can be difficult. Individuals have worked hard for their titles. This isn’t about ignoring what went into the title. It’s about understanding the audience and learning how to process change so you can adapt to both the hierarchy and network structures as necessary.

Organizations that want employees to be skilled in multiple structures will benefit by investing in training and giving employees the ability to practice in a safe environment. Self-management will give employees the tools to help the organization accelerate their growth.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby at the 2016 HR Technology Conference in Chicago, IL

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The 3 Key Metrics in HR Predictive Analytics

For the past few years, every HR related trends post included predictive analytics. So, what exactly are predictive analytics? I like to think of it this way: HR metrics tell you what happened in the past. For example, time to fill. Or they’re focused on cost-containment, such as cost per hire. Both of these metrics are valuable, but it’s not all the information we might need to make business decisions.

Predictive analytics offer insights into the future. It’s focused on probabilities and impact, so it provides flexibility to the organization’s needs. I know, that sounds like a tall order. I decided that I wanted to learn more about predictive analytics so I picked up a copy of the book “Predictive Analytics for Human Resources” by Jac Fitz-enz and John Mattox. (Fitz-enz’s book “How to Measure Human Resource Management” is my go-to book for HR metrics.)

Why should HR pay attention to predictive analytics?

There are times when today’s business environment is moving so quickly that we cannot always be focused on what’s happened in the past. We have to give equal time (and some might argue more time) to what we think is going to happen in the future and plan accordingly.

That’s where predictive analytics comes in because it’s what you do with the information you gather. Predictive analytics measures the three things business people talk about the most: efficiency, effectiveness, and outcomes.

Efficiency measurements include some we already calculate such as average number of days to fill a requisition and cost per hire.
Effectiveness measurements might contain new hire performance ratings, engagement survey results, and exit interview data.
Outcomes measure profitability, productivity, and retention.

Predictive analytics is about the connection between these three types of measurement. Here are a few examples:

Number of open hires (efficiency) – Quality of hire (effectiveness) – Length of employment (outcome)


Average cost per hire (efficiency) – Cultural fit (effectiveness) – Contribution to product quality (outcome)


Amount of training attended (efficiency) – Hi/lo potential status (effectiveness) – Increased profit margin (outcome)

HR metrics aren’t going away. Neither are predictive analytics.

A few months ago, I wrote a post about the need for HR pros to focus on their analytical abilities. If you’re looking for a way to increase your skills, wrapping your arms around predictive analytics might be a good place to start.

An increasing number of HR departments are designing analytical roles. If you’re looking for a job in human resources, knowing something about predictive analytics will be important.

HR wants to be on the front-end of this trend. Because it’s not going away anytime soon. If ever.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby near the Wynwood District in Miami, FL

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