Analytics and creating value

This area is about knowing the value of people data and its role as a type of evidence that can inform better business decision making, and helping uncover how people add value in organisations.

Knowing what data is important, and how to use it to make decisions, is increasingly important; whether that’s to develop simple dashboards of key performance indicators or predict future performance, data is commonly used to inform change and challenge the way we think about people in organisations.

And only by measuring the impact of our work and the value organisations add, both for workers and society, can we really promote the importance of people professionals in organisations.

'The essence of the value created by organisations is delivering the promise made to a customer and that applies equally whether you are operating in the for-profit, public or not-for-profit sectors. In terms of how analytics contributes to the creation of value, this quote from the late author Terry Pratchett comes to mind: "If you do not know where you come from, then you don't know where you are, and if you don't know where you are, then you don't know where you're going. And if you don't know where you're going, you're probably going wrong".'

Eugene Burke, Psychologist, Data Analyst, Board Advisor and Analytics Advisor to the CIPD