Making quick decisions backed by well-informed insights and data is a feature of today’s dynamic market. For forward-looking organizations, it’s what gives them the ability to adapt to evolving market conditions. It’s imperative for businesses to have a thorough understanding of their operations to be able to make quick changes and align themselves with a concrete
human resources strategy.
Without an insight into their operations, the challenges employees face, the skill gaps in their organizations and the bottlenecks that need to be navigated, organizations risk losing their competitive edge. This is where business intelligence in HR comes in.
What is Business Intelligence Software?
Business intelligence is an umbrella term that includes the processes, technologies, and related software that help organizations answer questions about their operations.
Business intelligence software is software that collects data from different sources, analyzes it, and then provides insights about business operations.
There are many different types of BI software available, but all of them have one thing in common: they are used to better understand the business.
Businesses can use BI software to make better decisions faster. They can find out what product is the most profitable, which customers provide the most value for their company, or how much time is wasted on tasks that don't need to be done at all. In the case of human resources, business intelligence can help shape HR decisions and deliver analytics and reports that yield valuable insights for the human resources department.
Improving Your Organization’s Efficiency With Business Intelligence Software
Effective decision-making is the key to success in the business world. One of the most effective ways to help you do just that is by incorporating business intelligence into HR. By using BI, you'll be able to collect meaningful data on your organization's operations and then analyze them to create reports on what's working and what needs improvement.
The best way to benefit from business intelligence is to integrate BI tools with other systems in the organization. Companies should also have a strategy for handling data and how it is going to be used before they start implementing BI tools into their daily work. After all, it is the input of accurate data that will produce efficient and actionable insights.
For instance, Geico, a leading insurance provider in the U.S., used business intelligence to increase its recruiting effectiveness by 15%. Geico’s stringent recruiting process was missing the visibility and control that HR managers needed to hire better. With business intelligence software that integrated with Geico’s existing HR systems, the company was able to reduce the time from requisition to hire. They were also able to identify a better candidate source for hiring new candidates.
Top Benefits of Using BI Tools for Organizations
Data Understanding
The top benefit to organizations is the ability to understand their employee data. Having a visual representation of employee data in a BI tool can help people connect the dots in their data, and be able to see patterns that they were not aware of before. For instance, HR managers can review absenteeism data and identify patterns around certain days of the week or the most common reasons for leaves. This can help inform their leave policy decisions and benefit from business intelligence in the long run.
Customized Dashboards
Many organizations use BI software to create customized dashboards, which can help HR managers keep an eye on the latest data about their
hiring process. Whether they're tracking the number of new hires, retention rates, or the amount of time it takes for new hires to be onboarded, managers can use these dashboards to refine their human resources strategy.
“The more personal we can make the experience, the more value both the individual and the organization will achieve.”
- Scot Marcotte, Chief Technology Officer at Buck
Analyzing the Performance of Different Teams
Business intelligence solutions are extremely useful for organizations with multiple teams. Each team can have their own BI tool so that they can check on the performance of their project at any given time without bothering other teams.
Improved Business Processes
BI tools allow organizations to improve their business processes by getting a better understanding of what is going on at any given moment. Process improvements can be achieved by implementing solutions that give insight into what is happening, and help organizations identify and take corrective actions for any anomalies that may occur.
Choosing the Best Business Intelligence Solution
Most organizations are under pressure to improve their decision-making processes. Business intelligence solutions can help organizations better understand current business conditions and make better decisions.
Choosing the best business intelligence solutions for your company can be an overwhelming task. There are many different software packages to choose from that span core BI functions like data mining, dash boards, data visualization, and reporting. Here are just some you can consider:
Tableau is a self-service analytics software that provides tools to visualize data. It seamlessly integrates with a variety of cloud analytics tools like Microsoft Azure, SQL Data Warehouse, and Excel.
Qlik provides a comprehensive and scalable business intelligence solution. Its main function combines data visualization, analytics, and BI.
Domo is a cloud platform that provides BI tools that are customized for every industry, including financials, healthcare, manufacturing and more.
Splunk: It offers an enterprise-level business intelligence platform with data analytics capabilities.
Einstein Analytics, launched by Salesforce.com, is a platform that is a tech giant’s AI-powered solution for business intelligence.
Conclusion: The Impact of Business Intelligence
Businesses can benefit from business intelligence in many ways. If you are a company that has many different departments and locations, business intelligence can help you to know which department or location is doing well and which ones might need some improvement.
Businesses can also use business intelligence for data mining or predictive analytics. These two processes will help businesses find trends in their data so they can take action before the trend becomes a problem.
A recent study by PWC found that businesses are increasingly using BI tools to make informed decisions. The study also found that more than two-thirds of the respondents have been using BI for over five years now.
Business intelligence is essential for HR departments as well. It helps inform HR decisions with data-driven insights and understand the needs of their employees better. With the business world becoming more unpredictable, BI will only help organizations and especially the human resources department, use data in a meaningful and efficient way.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does business intelligence in HR help companies?
Business intelligence in HR helps companies by providing them with insights into how their employees are performing. The insights can be used to measure performance and identify areas where improvement may be necessary.
What are the different types of tools used for BI in HR?
HR analytics tools are the most popular type of BI tool used in HR. They are usually designed to help with workforce planning, talent management, and employee productivity. HR data visualization tools are mostly used by managers to make sense of large amounts of data that they may not have the time or knowledge to analyze on their own. They use these types of tools for things like analyzing company demographics, tracking performance metrics, and evaluating employee engagement levels. HR dashboard tools are another type of BI tool that is mostly used by managers to get a quick snapshot of what's happening in their department at any given time.
What are the key drivers of BI in HR?
There are many factors that drive business intelligence in HR. The key drivers of BI in HR are:
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Firms want to know what is happening with their employees and how to take action on it
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The need for more compliance and security
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The need for better insights into the employee experience
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The need for better analytics and reporting