The vast majority of companies that decide to step up their HR analytics efforts face serious challenges with the amount of effort it takes to collect, store, and analyze good consolidated data about people. It’s not long before new systems and tools need to be leveraged. The following 12 curated musings paint a picture of the current state of analytics technology and what big companies are going to do about it.

1. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
Edited by
Harrison Cates Withers III

2. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your HR Analytics Toolset eBook
was edited by Harrison Cates Withers III
Copyright © 2014 Media 1. All Rights Reserved.
Harrison is the Vice President at Media 1 and a principal business operations consultant. He has over 20 years of
experience in the performance improvement space including managing learning and development activities on an
international scale. Prior to Joining Media 1 he was the Director of Training and Technology at the Domino’s Pizza
chain, giving him the unique perspective of both the business and advisor sides of the equation. He regularly writes
on the intersection of people, process, and technology, including in-depth perspectives on metrics and
measurement, use of social media in business, knowledge management, and the proliferation of mobile technology.
Harrison has a particular passion and talent for challenging the way things have “always been” and seeking the
unvarnished truth. Despite being an early adopter of new technology, Harrison is brutally honest with clients and
their expectations regarding “flavor of the day” trends. He insists on clear measurements that are linked directly to
metrics that align to business strategy, and driving behavior-based change to yield measurable financial results.
With contributions from the Media 1 ROP consulting team:
Scott Byers
Jordan McClure
L. Michael Wykes,
Cover and information design by
James Barnes
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported
License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ or
send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street,
Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA.
Please share this eBook freely with leaders, innovators, and champions. Thank you!
Media 1 are experts in Return On People, a powerful organizational performance methodology grounded in Human
Capital Analytics. We apply ROP to increase long-term profit and fuel an empowered, agile, and sustainable work
environment for all contributors. Our clients include senior executives from companies who have grown through
merger and acquisition and emerging organizations seeking to implement leading people practices.
Return On People will help you create an accountable measurement culture for a greater return on your investment
in people.
www.media1.us

3. The vast majority of companies that decide to step up their HR analytics efforts
face serious challenges with the amount of effort it takes to collect, store, and
analyze good consolidated data about people. It’s not long before new systems
and tools need to be leveraged. The following 12 curated musings paint a picture
of the current state of analytics technology and what big companies are going to
do about it.
www.media1.us

4. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
Most organizations’ human capital management
activities are bogged down by spreadsheets and
other methods that take time and increase errors.
Nearly half of all organizations are dissatisfied with
such processes, which require 2/3 of the time just
to extract the data.
Source: Mark Smith via Kronos & Associates
“Applying Analytics to the Workforce”
www.media1.us

5. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
HR functions with user-friendly client systems are
2X more effective and efficient
than their counterparts.
Source: Bersin & Associates
The High-Impact HR Organization
www.media1.us

6. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
“The average large company has a core
HR system that is more than 6 years old
with more than 10 different HR applications,
most of which are not even integrated within HR.”
Source: Bersin by Deloitte
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7. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
Besides core HR management systems, how many systems
are in place for HR processes like recruitment, performance
management, compensation, benefits, and time & attendance?
Source: Forrester Research
HR Market Overview, 2011
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8. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
Many HR leaders view centralized data as
a critical enabler of advanced analytics.
Source: CAHRS
The State of HR Analytics
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9. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
HR departments that say adopting new
technologies such as data analytics will be
their main focus in the next 3 years.
Source: KPMG
People Are the Real Numbers
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10. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
HR functional areas that plan to
implement new technology to
support the use of data analytics.
Source: KPMG
People Are the Real Numbers
www.media1.us

11. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
Fortune 500 companies that have some kind of
Big Data project on the way.
Source: SSON
Big Data and Shared Services
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12. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
“New technologies and skills in HR data management
have provided an opportunity for HR functions to
develop new methods of measuring activities and
results, proving out people and HR performance.”
Source: Deloitte
The Top Best Practices for the High-Impact
HR Organization
www.media1.us

13. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
“Growth in global markets, rapid proliferation of new
technologies, and increasing productivity demands are
transforming the overall business environment.
HR must hustle to keep up with that transformation—or
better, stay one step ahead of it—to ensure alignment with
business needs.”
Source: Deloitte
The Top Best Practices for the High-Impact
HR Organization
www.media1.us

14. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
“New HR technologies and skills in HR data analysis
have provided an opportunity for HR organizations to
become more data-driven. HR data is now systematically
gathered and analyzed, so that it can be translated into
actionable insights and measures of impact. These
measurement approaches provide clear connections
between the efforts of both the HR function and
individual people in the performance of a company.”
Source: Deloitte
The Top Best Practices for the High-Impact
HR Organization
www.media1.us

15. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
“Organizations that integrate workforce and
business performance data into analytics tools are
3x as likely to achieve Best-in-Class (top 20%)
performance results as those who do not.”
Source: Aberdeen Group via Kronos
Applying Analytics to the Workforce
www.media1.us

16. 12 Reasons to Upgrade Your
HR Analytics Toolset
Media 1 are experts in Return On People, a powerful
organizational performance methodology grounded in
Human Capital Analytics. We apply ROP to increase
long-term profit and fuel an empowered, agile, and
sustainable work environment for all contributors. Our
clients include senior executives from companies who
have grown through merger and acquisition and
emerging organizations seeking to implement leading
people practices.
Return On People will help you create an accountable
measurement culture for a greater return on your
investment in people. Learn more at ROIPeople.com.
www.media1.us

17. www.media1.us