The Conference Board Human Capital in Review:™ Focus on Human Capital Analytics (Vol. 2 No. 1, 2012)

This issue of Human Capital in Review: Focus on Human Capital Analytics looks at capabilities at the organization level as well as the specific skills and competencies required at the individual level for a successful analytics practice.

It begins with looking at business intelligence, the macro view of analytics. Business intelligence technologies and activities provide managers information they need to make tactical and operational decisions leading to improved performance.

Defining metrics requires an ability to critically analyze a situation and ask good questions. Questions drive analytics; analytics generate data; data are the inputs for decision making based on the original question.

Skills such as analytical thinking and quantitative analysis are requirements for successful implementation of an analytics practice; however, so is the ability to effectively communicate data and statistical processes.

Developing people is a critical component to successful analytics implementation. Fully competent organizations place equal emphasis on information management and culture. Information management involves expertise in techniques for managing data and developing an infrastructure for data integration, portability, and storage - as well as fostering an analytics culture.