How leveraging talent analytics can help CHROs gain more strategic influence

HR leaders are increasingly looking to utilize talent analytics to gain insights into employee attrition, performance, and sentiment to influence critical business and talent decisions.

However, despite a commitment to making HR more data-driven, organizations are struggling to fully leverage talent analytics.

This is reflected in Gartner research which found that 78% of HR leaders now rely more heavily on talent data for decision-making compared to four years ago – the figure is up from 48% in 2019.

Despite this, a September 2023 Gartner survey found that 71% of HR leaders believe the current structure and capabilities of their talent analytics team is limiting their effectiveness.

Additionally, nearly three quarters of talent analytics leaders acknowledge the need for new skills to meet their strategic objectives, according to a June 2022 Gartner survey.

Among the skills they felt they lacked in achieving their strategic goals were widespread data literacy issues and challenges developing technical skills in the HR function.

CHROs must address this growing skills gap if they want to build a successful talent analytics team that can significantly influence major HR decisions, drive innovation within HR by providing objective and timely advice.

To do this, CHROs should focus on developing professionals who fulfil three key roles: analytics experts, decision enablers, and strategic consultants.

CHROs as analytics experts

As CHROs increasingly focus on using data to build skills-based organizations, the need for competent analytics experts within talent analytics teams becomes critical.

These experts are essential for maintaining and effectively analyzing talent data, as well as supporting an integrated approach to workforce planning and other strategic activities.

To develop these analytics experts, CHROs must cultivate a culture of technical learning within HR.

This can be achieved by fostering collaboration between talent analytics and Learning & Development (L&D) team leaders.

Together, they can identify the critical technical skills needed for their organization and develop targeted training programs, learning opportunities, and pathways to support technical upskilling.

Ongoing skills development is also crucial for organizations to keep pace with technological advances and new methods, such as predictive analytics, which unlock new value.

To ensure analytics experts can confidently leverage and analyze talent data, CHROs should take several key actions.

First, they should meet with HR technology and talent analytics team leaders to discuss technical skills gaps and how to future-proof the HR function.

They should also direct L&D to create learning pathways that help talent analytics professionals stay ahead of new analytics methods and technologies.

Additionally, rotational programs with IT or central data and analytics teams should be considered to borrow technical skills and accelerate the maturation of talent analytics.

By taking these steps, CHROs can build a robust talent analytics team capable of making a significant impact on major HR decisions, driving innovation, and enhancing the CHRO’s credibility within the organization.

CHROs as decision enablers

According to a Gartner survey from June 2023, only 9% of HR leaders believe their function successfully enables staff with data to help them support workforce business decisions.

This indicates a lack of understanding and skills surrounding talent management and analytics.

With external changes and technology disrupting talent processes, CHROs are increasingly under pressure to ensure HR functions have continuous access to relevant data and insights.

To achieve this, CHROs need to focus on developing decision enablers—professionals who understand HR’s priorities, articulate trade-offs, and support data-driven decisions.

To develop these decision enablers, CHROs should identify HR’s data needs and connect talent analytics teams to resources providing a comprehensive view of the annual HR cycle.

Collaborating with L&D leaders can facilitate knowledge transfer and, additionally, CHROs should work with talent analytics leaders to identify HR processes benefiting from analytics insights.

By focusing on these initiatives, CHROs can build a team of decision enablers who enhance HR’s strategic impact, ensuring leaders have the data needed for successful workforce decisions.

CHROs as strategic consultants

Business leaders are often required to balance many competing priorities, such as addressing the needs of shareholders, internal stakeholders, and customers.

This can make it challenging for CHROs to influence their decision-making, even when armed with valuable analysis.

To effectively solve problems and influence decisions among key stakeholders, talent analytics teams need to cultivate strategic consultants who are adept in persuasion and storytelling.

However, these teams frequently lack strong strategic consulting skills.

Gartner research from June 2023 revealed that while 81% of talent analytics leaders believe proficiency in strategic consulting is crucial, only 47% are satisfied with their team’s current proficiency in this area.

To address this, CHROs must enhance the talent analytics capability within HR to foster direct collaboration between their teams and the business.

This approach enables HR to solve practical problems with data, thereby strengthening its reputation as a credible strategic partner.

Strategic consultants can influence decision-makers, including those outside HR, through their business acumen, agility, and strong stakeholder management skills.

To best support these consultants, CHROs should take several actions.

They should coordinate with other C-suite members to sponsor partnerships between talent analytics and other functions’ analytics teams to share best practices.

Additionally, CHROs should evaluate the effectiveness of HR technology, such as data visualization tools, in helping talent analytics communicate insights to stakeholders.

By developing strategic consultants within talent analytics teams, CHROs can enhance their ability to influence key business decisions, reinforcing HR’s role as a vital strategic partner.

By following this approach, CHROs can help to close the skills gap and fully leverage talent analytics by developing professionals who can serve as analytics experts, decision enablers, and strategic consultants.

By fostering technical learning, collaboration, and strategic consulting skills, CHROs can ensure HR’s data-driven insights effectively influence major business decisions and enhance the organization’s overall strategic impact.