With the growing need and demand for high-performing talent, HR leaders now turn to analytics to answer critical questions around workforce planning.
In today’s dynamic business landscape, competition for quality talent is fierce. In fact, skills gap is the number one concern for most CEOs today. With the growing need and demand for high-performing talent, HR leaders now turn to analytics to answer critical questions around workforce planning, skills gap, employee retention, and more. With data and insights, they can recruit more effectively.
LinkedIn, the professional network, just released a new report— ‘The Rise of Analytics in HR: An era of Talent Intelligence’— that talks about the potential of harnessing data and insights to make talent a competitive advantage. The report reveals how HR leaders leverage data analytics to hire, retain and grow their workforce. These insights can empower HR leaders with answers to critical questions, such as where to find talent with certain skills, where to set up the next office, or even how to build a gender-diverse workforce.
Irfan Abdulla, director-LinkedIn Talent Solutions and Learning Solutions, India and South Asia, shares that AI and automation, skills-gap, and rise of independent workers are changing the global workforce today and transforming the way companies hire, develop and retain talent. Candidates are no longer active or passive. They are always-on and open to different opportunities. “In answer to this change, recruiters are relying on real-time, actionable and on-demand insights. Combining insights with the right instincts delivers a winning talent strategy,” he says.
LinkedIn’s report reveals how talent analytics in HR is on the rise across the Asia-Pacific region. It shows that India witnesses a higher growth in HR analytics professionals than APAC. In the past five years, there has been a 70 per cent increase in specialised analytics professionals in HR across the Asia-Pacific region, whereas India has shown a higher growth at 77 per cent. These professionals are known to fill various specialised job titles, such as ‘data scientist’, ‘talent analytics director’ and ‘diversity analytics specialist’.
In India, 14 per cent of total jobs in HR are analytics based. This means companies are increasingly trying to arm their HR functions with analytical capabilities ,with talent as their focus area.
However, the top three industries to adopt talent analytics in India are financial services & insurance, technology-software, and professional services. In fact, financial services leads the pack as the top industry to adopt talent analytics in seven countries in Asia-Pacific, including Australia, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Taiwan.
Use of talent analytics in HR is expanding beyond recruitment
Compensation & benefits, talent acquisition, talent development & productivity are established focus areas for use of analytics in the Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, companies are also actively ramping up the use of analytics for emerging focus areas, such as employer branding, workforce planning, and culture & diversity.
HR leaders in India are currently prioritising the use of analytics in three areas namely, compensation & benefits, talent acquisition, productivity & performance. Interestingly, retention ranks #4 in India, compared to #8 in Southeast Asia as well as China, and #9 in Australia. This could be attributed to the fact that India has a high attrition rate.
Priority areas in different countries vary as per the different business realities in each market. For example, in India and China, where people change jobs often, talent acquisition is high priority. However, in Southeast Asia and Australia, where attrition is lower, the focus is on talent development and workforce planning, respectively.