Summer weekends are the perfect time to catch up on reading and to think about things we often
don’t have time to think about during the hustle and bustle of a “typical” business week. This weekend I had the opportunity of reading an excellent article in the Harvard Business Review by Wharton School professor Peter Cappelli titled “There is No Such Thing as Big Data in HR.” Peter is the George W. Taylor Professor of Management and is world renown for his work in the area of Human Resources. In the HBR article, Peter shares his insights that while the rest of the world is just leveraging the power of big data analytics and is on the cusp of introducing Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the equation, even the largest business organizations on the planet only employ a couple of hundred thousand employees so by definition, it’s impossible to gain insights from “big data” because there simply isn’t enough big data to analyze.
Peter’s macro-perspectives are solid and provide strong logic for what some of the current data can be used for on a micro level and how straightforward database integrations of various HR sources can provide leaders with the data needed to make good business decisions. For example, Peter shares ideas for basic analytics around employee engagement and the relationship between employee acquisition and business performance all which make a lot of good sense and are very valuable ideas.
While Peter’s perspective may sufficiently define the current state related to leveraging big data in HR, I am convinced the future state – especially in the part of HR that focuses on Learning and Development – will be different. Learning and development is continuing to experience disruptive changes and the use of big data analytics in the near future could mean the difference between business success and failure.
During the past year, I designed, developed, and have delivered a “driverless” First-Line Leadership Business Simulation for new millennial leaders that is providing big data and intense analytics across the global spectrum of multiple companies. This leadership business simulation presents participants with the opportunity of becoming a new leader in a simulated world of avatars with different personality styles and job descriptions. Participants are required to lead a team and execute the strategy of the organization they work for by effectively running their department. The new leaders participating in the simulation go through the experience in a “flipped-classroom” as there is no stand-up instruction or content; if participants want to explore a concept such as coaching, giving, feedback, understanding business strategy, or leading innovation, they click on a “Digging Deeper” in-the-moment micro-lesson that it embedded in the simulation, learn about the topic, discuss the topic with their cohort, and then apply it directly in the simulation.
In one pivotal scenario of the simulation, Ellen Astor, a former peer who is a top performer but also very confrontational and short-tempered engages in a shouting match with Theo Harrington, a happy-go-lucky, pleasant contributor who likes to please other people in his company and on his team. Ellen’s actions are egregious and some difficult feedback needs to be provided to Ellen.
This is where I believe the future of data analytics will come in…
Today, based on just a few thousand data points, we can see that 88% of the millennial leaders in one type of company avoid providing Ellen with the hard feedback while 68% of millennial leaders in another company – that has provided their employees with intense training about coaching and feedback – choose the best practice path in terms of how they deal with Ellen. The learning journey is continuous with months of new scenarios and additional practice around new leadership concepts and application.
In addition to the simulation work, we are also developing AI applications that will integrate with the big data. These AI applications will be able to instantly analyze micro and macro trends and provide advice, coaching, and feedback. For example, a participant from one of our business simulations will receive tailored feedback on which additional learning to pursue to close any talent gaps and will be able to access an AI SmartBot to listen to real-world conversations that the participant is engaged in and provide instant advice based on the best content and insight gained through the big data analytics. The AI database will continue to grow with billions of data points, conversations, and analysis that will provide instant learning and development.
Yes, today big data in HR isn’t needed. Tomorrow will be a different story…
