Getting Things Done with HR Data

Getting Things Done  is one of Elitmind’s core values. It’s a promise we make to ourselves and to our clients. As a partner helping organizations unlock their full potential, our mission is to empower them with tools to fully leverage their data. That’s how we operate internally - and that’s what we believe in: the power of data.

Throughout my professional career, working with HR data has been a fundamental part of my role - ensuring that decisions are well-informed and backed by solid arguments. Having a robust HCM component in place is essential. Ideally, it should serve as the foundation for data dashboards that enable deep-dive analysis. When you have that in place, it feels like having a wonderful playground: it saves time and allows you to focus on real analytical work-setting direction for the next month, quarter, or year.  

Every effort I’ve seen put into building such dashboards has always paid off.

HR, by its nature, is about collecting data - lots of it. From every stage of the recruitment process, through daily HR operations, to performance management or capability-building activities. Every company leader wants to extend employee tenure and increase satisfaction. To do that effectively and make conscious decisions, access to clearly visualized data is essential.

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Let me share just a few examples of how things can be done through HR data:

1. Increasing Employee Satisfaction 

You might agree on a general strategy with a set of well-known culture and employer branding initiatives, but the results can be hard to predict, even with massive effort. What if you started from a different angle? A deep-dive analysis of satisfaction levels—not just by role or team, but also looking at correlations with tenure, absence levels, salary grades, etc.—can reveal surprising insights. You might find that focusing efforts on a specific group can uplift the performance of the entire organization. A bit of time spent on data and a tailored plan can cost significantly less than broad strategies not grounded in root cause analysis. 

2. Building Company Capabilities 

Creating a company-wide upskilling plan sounds strategic and exciting, but what if your budget is limited? Looking at correlations between performance, training hours, tenure, satisfaction, and recent promotions can help you identify a group of people to invest in - those who can drive overall performance. (And by the way, if you add internal mentoring to the mix, you’re hard to beat.) 

3. Increasing Reward Satisfaction 

We’ve all experienced the sleepless nights caused by corridor whispers or online forum posts: “Compensation is too low, we’re not satisfied.” A few dissatisfied voices can distort the big picture of a fairly rewarded team. So, who exactly is dissatisfied, and why? Again, let’s look for correlations and trends: market benchmarks, recent raises, grades, total rewards, pay equity. The answers are in the data. 

4. Diversity & Inclusion Reporting 

You could pull data from your HCM suite and play around in PowerPoint or Canva. Or, you could extract what you need from a ready-made HR dashboard, with beautiful visualizations, always up to date and available from every analytical angle. 

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These are just a few examples. Real life brings a variety of needs. As HR professionals, we must be reliable business partners to the board, speaking the language of data. Whether it’s attrition analysis, payroll budget reviews, or training effectiveness, numbers matter.

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Scale doesn’t matter

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Sometimes there’s a temptation to procrastinate: “We’re too small for this kind of solution.”  It’s not polite to say you’re wrong - but forgive me, you are. I’ve had the privilege of working with teams ranging from 130 to 15,000 employees, and I can confidently say: scale doesn’t matter.

You need a solid tool to support decision-making. People-related decisions should leave as little room for doubt as possible. That’s just common sense.

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Let's Connect

If you're facing similar challenges in this space, I'd love to connect. Always happy to chat HR practitioner to HR practitioner about real-world solutions.

Feel free to reach out to me directly.

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