The People Data Hiding in Plain Sight

What does "people data" mean for you? Common things I hear are - headcount, turnover, employee experience, performance management, promotion, pay, training, leave request. That's the obvious stuff. But your company is quietly collecting people data all over the place, and some of it has nothing to do with HR.

Here's where it's hiding:

• Job Architecture data - split it by job type, seniority, location. It tells you who's being paid fairly, and who isn't.

• Promotions and internal moves - who's moving, and from where, shows you if people can actually grow without leaving.

• Leave records - a week off duration tells a different story to six months off. Leave type and duration tell very different impact to the business resourcing.

• Learning topics - what people choose to learn tells you what's on their mind before they say it out loud.

• Badge taps - every time someone walks in or out, that's a data point. Add them up, and you know if your office space is optimally used.

• Canteen orders - are you feeding the people who actually show up? Can food perks bring in more people to the office?

  
  

None of this is new data. It's already sitting there - in multiple systems. Not many people connect it yet. That's the gap.

Here's where it gets even better - put two together.

Someone goes on six months of leave. Nobody remembers to free up their software license. Multiply that across a big company, and you're quietly paying for licenses nobody's using - not because the data was missing, just because two systems can't talk to each other.

Not collecting more. Connecting what's already there.

Tags: People Analytics, Workforce Data, HR, Operational Efficiency, Business Growth