The post People Analytics Public Speaking, Training, Media, Recognition appeared first on Littal Shemer Haim.

(Updated: July 1st 2022, 9 interviews, 10 reviews) I love many aspects of my work, and consider myself fortunate to have my career path as a People Analytics mentor and educator. But there is one thing I am most grateful for: The people I meet at work – both clients and colleagues. As I always say in my classes and lectures, you must be eternal students in our industry, so you better choose wisely who you learn from. Each person in the following interviews and reviews that I published in my blog recently offered me a valuable lesson. I’m honored to share it all again, with the entire People Analytics community, which hopefully will keep its open-source culture.

Each of my clients enriches my perspective

1.

I find the onboarding of People Analytics Leaders, and especially those who are the first to take that role in their organization, fascinating and worth following. So how do you enter a People Analytics Leader role, when you are the one who establishes it? I was privileged to further explore this process at one of my old clients – Amdocs. Although organizational researches that fall within the category of People Analytics have been conducted in Amdocs long before, this global company, which operates in over 50 locations, has a new People Analytics Leader – Gal Mozes.

Read interview

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2.

Taking the first steps on the journey to data-driven HR is always difficult. The barriers may include a variety of issues, including data integrity, knowledge gaps, and an excessive amount of HR-Tech solutions. Furthermore, a small or medium business may lack the appropriate volume of data, the resources for shiny Analytics tools, and the right talent to lead initiatives and projects. Nevertheless, with the right guidance and mentoring in People Analytics, and with the right attitude and will power, HR leaders in SMBs can successfully overcome those barriers, and use People Analytics practices to impact their business. I was honored and fortunate to take part in some success stories of HR leaders in SMBs. One of the most inspiring is Michal Shoval, who leads the HR department in GIA

Read interview

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Each of my colleagues has plenty to offer

3.

Another cycle of the introductory course, The People Analytics Journey, is about to end. This training program is unique because it covers the fundamentals of the domain and demonstrates them with real career stories and experiences of HR and People Analytics leaders. Thus, the course contributes to a new professional community in Isreal. The last session of the course will be a special one. We’ll discuss the future of People Analytics as a profession, and the importance of new skills, e.g., procurement processes and ethical considerations. Our guest will be Yael Epstein, former HR analyst at Microsoft, who will talk about the role of technology in People Analytics, base on her experience. Here is the interview I had with Yael before the learning session.

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4.

How would you define a professional expert in the field of data-driven HR? Certainly, there are many definitions of the People Analytics domain, that may include skills, practices, and responsibilities. However, today for a change, I’d like to suggest a different angle: a professional expert is someone you would always want to learn from and be inspired by. I had the honor to host my colleague from Amsterdam, that definitely fits this definition: Hendrik Feddersen, an expert in HR business processes and analytics.

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5.

My personal endeavor to educate HR leaders by exposing them to data science fundamentals is continuing. Fortunately, a valuable part of my tailwind comes from my global community of experts who dedicate their career to help executives and managers, especially in the domain of HR, to become more data-driven. I was privileged to interview lately one of my data heroes, Tracey Smith, about her experiences and efforts. I was happy to find out that her opinions resonate with my own.

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6.

Among many questions, the issue of career growth stands out. While organizations struggle with the instability of the workforce, research already points to the fact that internal mobility may be the cure to raising rates of employee attrition. But how exactly can HR practitioners address such a huge challenge? What would be their first steps? I was privileged to talk with a prominent professional, both in the field of People Analytics and Learning and Organization Development, Orit Cohen (Schwarz), who is leading the People Analytics function at HP, and learned from her perspective and experience, how organizations could move forward with this important topic.

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Global events validate local steps

7-10.

October 2019, it has been only a year since my last visit to Unleash, but in terms of the workforce revolution that we’re witnessing and experiencing, this time span is an eternity. So much has been changed, as clearly stated by thought leaders, entrepreneurs, and many of my colleagues in the field of People Analytics and HR-Tech, who gathered again for two days of networking and learning, and this time – in Paris!
I covered my key takeaways from sessions and demos, and organized by the aforementioned themes: 1st blog was focused on broader topics of future of work; the 2nd blog covered new technologies for career paths; the 3rd was grounded on People Analytics practices; the 4th summarised insights about the digital transformation of HR. In all four themes, I tried to listen mostly to new speakers, or a least new to me. Therefore my key takeaways include many new and interesting players in our professional community.

Read review #1
Read review #2
Read review #3
Read review #4

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11.

April 2019, I crossed the ocean to meet colleagues and clients in the Big Apple. A highlight of my journey to Manhattan was HackingHR, a professional community event where I met and was inspired by influencers and thought leaders in HR and Tech. HackingHRis a global forum for collaboration, networking, and discussion about HR, technology, and the workplace of the future. Founded by Enrique Rubio, the community explores the way HR and tech interact to impact the future of work — when, where, and how we work, who we work with, and what skills the organizational leaders of tomorrow will need.

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12.

October 2018, I packed my vision and questions about the future of work and flew all the way to Unleash Amsterdam, to learn from the world’s influencers, thought leaders, and entrepreneurs, and to meet again many of my professional community fellows in the field of People Analytics and HR-Tech, who gathered from all over the world, for two days of intellectual adventure, inspiring experience, and entertainment.

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13.

We witnessed the change in HR leaders’ mindset, here in Tel Aviv, in regards to HR data and business insights. The People Analytics learning session, conducted by the Israeli Association of Human Resources in July 2018, was just a part of this vibe. The growing interest in People Analytics brought 150 HR leaders to gather and learn from the experience we gained in this. I was honored to be the keynote speaker and to partner in curating the event contents.

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14.

People Analytics World was a leading European annual conference on HR Analytics, Workforce Planning, and Employee Insight, in which I was privileged to attend in April 2018. I traveled to London with huge expectations, to learn more about the contribution of People Analysts, which are now becoming an essential part of HR groups across all industries. The growing importance of data-driven HR was well reflected in the conference’s attendees, both speakers, exhibitors, and delegates. My experience in the event exceeded my expectations.

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15.

IBM Cognitive café 2017 in Tel Aviv, was a great opportunity to meet and hear data leaders of some Israeli companies. I listened to them very carefully, knowing that their experience is most valuable for any journey in the field of People Analytics and data-driven HR. This should not be new for any business leader, but Daniel Melka, CEO IBM Israel, nicely reviewed the mega-trends of the digital era, when he talked about “organizations which re-invent themselves to deal with the ever-changing business environment, and tied their success to insights derived from data”.

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Data heroines are everywhere

16.

At the end of 2017, I was selected by HR-Tech-Nation to be among top bloggers to follow. It was a great honor to be mentioned in a list of excellent writers, which are my source of inspiration and learning. One of them, William Tincup, commented that next time he would like to see more women on the list. Well… I decided to take his note as a personal challenge and salute 365 women, one for each day in a year. There is only one IWD (International Women Day), but for me, every day is a woman’s day. My list of women worth watching, however, encompasses not only HR Tech leaders but also Data heroes and People Analytics exceptional practitioners. My selection order is completely associative, i.e., there is no ranking here. Each of the following women is truly inspiring!

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Being A Data Scientist in The HR Department

A successful data science function in the HR department requires balancing the analytics maturity of the business and HR leaders with the data scientist's skills. It is essential and fascinating to explore how data science and HR needs are knitted.

ABCs of People Analyst’s success

The culture of the People Analytics community is remarkably open. While datasets, analytics, and insights are restricted, experiences, resources, and advice are generously shared. It inspired me to list the ABCs of success: autodidact habits, business understanding, and coding skills.

Professional Journey and Daily Work of A People Analysts

Aspired People Analysts often ask about competencies, challenges, tasks, and tools in this profession. I was privileged to discuss these topics with a colleague in one of the most desired roles.

Leveraging workforce data as it was a state security project

An interview about People Analytics with a Lieutenant Colonel in the Israeli Military intelligence - A rare chance to explore practices in the most secure organizations, and to discuss experience with AI, business insights and ethics.

The role of technology in the evolution of People Analytics

An interview with a former HR analyst at Microsoft, discussing the role of technology in People Analytics and data Ethics: challenges, success stories, and advice - one of many perspectives we had in "The People Analytics Journey" course.

Actionable insights for the right people at the right time

Professional experts are people you would always want to learn from and be inspired by them. I have the honor to host a colleague who fits this definition, and I'm happy to refer to his open-source contribution.

HR Challenges in A Data-Driven World

A valuable part of my tailwind comes from my global community of experts who dedicate their careers to helping executives and managers, especially in the domain of HR, to become more data-driven. Here's an interview with one of my data heroes. Her opinions resonate with my own.

People Analytics Leader – Survive Your Onboarding!

Most case studies that we encounter represent mature stages. However, most new players in this rising profession struggle with different challenges. The onboarding of People Analytics Leaders is fascinating and worth following. Here's one example.

People Analytics in SMBs: Small Data, Huge Impact

This interview with an HR manager in a fireside chat during a People Analytics class offers an introspective approach to a joint journey, as a mentee and mentor: the motives, the obstacles, the quick win, the team participation, and more.

Can you reinvent career development by using analytics?

An interview with a professional in the field of People Analytics, Learning, and Organization Development, about career-growth challenges and internal mobility.

The post There is so much more in my People Analytics circle appeared first on Littal Shemer Haim.

So how do you enter a People Analytics Leader role, when you are the one who establishes it? Let’s put our datasets aside for a moment, and discuss the thoughts, plans, experiences, and hopes, at this crucial phase of the role. I was privileged to further explore this process at one of my old clients – Amdocs. Although organizational researches that fall within the category of People Analytics have been conducted in Amdocs long before, this global company, which operates in over 50 locations, has a new People Analytics Leader – Gal Mozes. I had the pleasure to interview Gal lately on stage, on one event of “Amdocs Career Week”.

During “Amdocs Career Week” both employees and managers in Amdocs were invited to participate in activities, such as lectures from keynote speakers, workshops, Hackathon, and panels with leaders, with the main objective of promoting the dialogue around their development and future career path at Amdocs. This special week was a great opportunity to take the first formal step on the journey to data-driven HR within the entire Amdocs HR community, which encompass a few hundreds of HR professionals. In my session with this audience, I offered an introduction to People Analytics. But my introduction could not be completed without Gal’s interview, which shed light on her onboarding. I’m happy to share this interview with our community, and I’m sure it will inspire other People Analytics Leaders who take their first steps and establish the role in their organizations.

Background

LSH: Tell us about yourself, Gal, and why did you choose to move to the field of people analytics?

GM: I’m an organizational psychologist, and until a few months ago, I was working as an organizational development consultant for the past 8 years. I was leading the sensing domain meaning I was responsible for the annual engagement survey and pulse surveys, so you can already see I had a flavor for the mix of numbers and people. Also, I have a Ph.D. in social-organizational psychology that included creating a questionnaire about behaviors and a lab simulation, so I also have a soft spot for psychological research, and I’m no stranger to social science statistics. And last but not least, I love to uncover insights and help others do the same, so when I started hearing about this new domain called People Analytics, I was quite intrigued. Locating myself in the intersection between organizational psychology and data was the next obvious move, and luck was on my side at me when a new people analytics role was created in my company, and my passion for the area was a well-known fact. A real match made in (workplace) heaven and so I found myself moving to this role.

Challenges

LSH: How would you describe the challenges that your company faces these days in regards to data strategy?

GM: I think that in the past 2 years, we took very important steps to promote ourselves when it comes to descriptive data. We worked hard to create a ‘one-stop-shop’ dashboard for leaders and HRs so that they will have a place to see key measurement in the different people related areas such as recruitment, performance management, talent mobility, burn out and more. I think we still have a way to go when it comes to turning it into a decision-supporting tool and showing the value it brings. But descriptive data is just the first step of the journey when becoming data-driven. However, it’s not people analytics just yet, for which the diagnostic part is the holy grail. When we learn to identify key business challenges and then use clever tools and approaches, such as predictive analytics, ML, planned experiments, etc. to tackle them, then we will be where we strive to be at, which is data-savvy.

LSH: Your HR partners, where are they in the journey of becoming data-driven?

GM: I keep reading articles about how HR is not data-oriented, and the worst thing is they say it about themselves! I believe that where there’s a will, there’s a way and I’m happy to say that I’ve seen a great deal of willingness to go on that journey. People understand that this is a key future capability in HR, and they are willing to step out of their comfort zone and acquire these skills. Yes, I know some might lack the tools and the experience, but this should not hold them back. I’m here to support them, and part of my job would be to provide the tools, training, and consultation that would help them during the journey. I hope this can be a first step in creating their confidence in this data-driven approach, knowing that they’re not alone.

Development in HR

LSH: Why do you think it’s crucial these days for an HR leader to base their discussions on data?

GM: In order to make an impact on the business, you need to talk “the language of the business”, which is numbers, money, analytics, and data related insight. So if an HR leader wants to be a key partner, speaking in the same language and terms is a must. Also, I think that using a combination of their experience and intuition together with the data and analytics would be so powerful that they would be practically invincible. But seriously though, I don’t think data solves everything, but it’s much harder to argue with, and it’s a strong tool to make a point and initiate a change.

LSH: What do you expect from HR leaders as your partners?

GM: It’s easy; I want them to be my partners in crime and go on this journey together. We work in a large organization of 25K employees in more than 50 countries and diverse business units and roles. So the challenges are plenty and quite diverse, it’s never boring, but it’s also a lot. My HR partners are required to be able to raise the business questions in relation to people’s data, as they are there in the field and they know the needs and challenges in a way I could never know. So my request to them is data-minded so we can work together to identify the opportunities to utilize data and uncover the insights that can bring value to the business and the employees. This means the HR leaders should be able to review data, hold a conversation around data points and analytics, and most importantly, find the relevant business questions.

Success

LSH: What would you define as a successful first year in the role?

GM: That’s a tough one, much easier to say what others should do! Honestly, I understand It’s a huge mission, and so much more than being “analytic” and knowing how to work with data. That’s why I would define success in the first year relating to two main stakeholders: First, let’s start with my partners in HR. I would love to see a change in HRs mindset so that they would feel comfortable with data. Again, I see the approach towards HR in relation to data, and I truly don’t think it’s justified. If we will move out of our own way and desert this perception, then I think this can become one more valuable tool in their already impressive toolbox. Also, based on the wise words of people analytics leaders the duty of the people analytics function is to make the HR more data-driven, and I’m not going to argue with the experts but rather take this advice and learn from their experience. Second, If I want to earn my keeping, then there has to be a contribution to business success. And while knowing this is a key element of this role’s essence, I also know it’s very ambitious. So while I already started looking into a few interesting leads, I am aiming to find a quick win people analytics project. This means easy to access and use data in an area it would be possible to do a real change that is valuable to the business. And for that, I need to know that I’m not alone and have my trusted HR partners so that together we will find the right opportunities to make an impact.

LSH: Thank you, Gal!

I look forward to seeing you spreading your net in Amdocs’ huge HR group, and lead it to first successful case studies in the coming year. I’m honored and fortunate to be partnering with you in educating HR professionals to be more data-driven!

The post People Analytics Leader – Survive Your Onboarding! appeared first on Littal Shemer Haim.

What new roles do HR leaders have in the 4th industrial revolution? HR departments practice People Analytics to help business leaders to improve performance and growth through insights from people data. But what’s beyond People Analytics? How should HR leaders be prepared for the fourth industrial revolution?

AI changes everything. We have new responsibilities.

We’ve discussed a lot the two trends that contributed to the emergence of People Analytics a few years ago: data democratization – managers demand people’s data to run the business, and data consumerization – employees require to use data for growth, well-being, and positive experience at work, just as they do in other aspects of their lives.

But today, AI can make everybody better in many fields. I use AI to make myself more productive, e.g., I use speech-to-text and text-to-speech to cover content more quickly. Moreover, I collect data about myself in many aspects of my life.

However, I think I’m still among the few who read privacy policies, and I consider them when I choose apps. Data can make us heroes, but it might also destroy us if misused or abused. We leave data traces everywhere: when we drive our cars, watch TV, buy products, consume web content or interact with people on social media. And, of course, we leave data traces with every breath we take at work when we move across offices, write e-mails, manage calendars, learn, conduct our work, or even when we don’t show up to work.

Who owns these traces of data? The regulation now defines it in many parts of the world, but it lags compared to technology. So it is our responsibility, not only as managers or consultants but also as people, parents, and citizens, to understand the rapid changes and make informed decisions. I mean, not only by insights derived from data but mainly informed choices about the usage of data-based apps, which are every app. 

New learning path. New employer rating.

Privacy and ethics are not new in the organizational research field. For instance, we discussed the smallest group we can analyze in surveys more than two decades ago. However, we now have so many new data sources for the workforce, from sensors, smartphones, and desktop apps. As I mentioned, people are not aware of the digital footprints they leave. Therefore, this data might be turned against their interests.

I think it’s time for people to learn how to protect themselves, and this learning path should also be a new responsibility of organizations. We discuss Ethics in People Analytics and HR tech, but we must keep in mind that this is a crucial topic in educating our employees. To do so, learning leaders must already understand this domain thoroughly. Unfortunately, this is not the case in many organizations.

Furthermore, there’s much talk in the HR sector about employee experience. I believe that soon enough, employees will start exercising their rights to data privacy. We’ll see employer ratings based on data transparency and data usage aligned with employee interests – growth and well-being, which is what we mean when we talk about using employee data for good.

New skills. HR people are not there yet.

As AI sweeps HR tech and is introduced to many HR practices in every stage of the employee lifecycle, someone in the organization will have to pick the right solutions for the proper needs. I forecast demand for two new skills in the HR role: Procurement and Ethics. However, if HR people keep procrastinating their up-skilling in analytics, the consequences might be that Procurement and Ethics roles will be filled by someone else in the organization.

You can’t evaluate AI solutions without understanding the basics of practical machine learning and predictive analytics. You don’t have to be a data scientist for that. It’s like driving a car – you don’t need to be a mechanical engineer to buy or drive your vehicle, but you need to know how to hold the wheel and obey traffic rules, so you don’t kill anybody. Therefore, I call HR professionals to start their journey into the data world. And start it today.

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