Don’t Let Your Big Data HR Program Backfire

Big data seems to be used for everything these days, so the fact that it has become an important component of HR should probably not be a surprise. The proper use of big data can offer an assortment of unique insights as it identifies patterns, trends, and attributes that might normally escape the notice of businesses.

Putting big data into practice with HR can be seen as a tech savvy move, but just as with any new technology, the possibility of having it backfire is always present. Unlike other uses of big data, when used with HR, any failures can have a significantly negative impact on employees. Thats why you need to know the various ways big data HR programs can fall short of the mark. The benefits of using big data can be substantial, but theyre only obtainable when you know the potential pitfalls.

Evaulating Employees

One of the main uses of big data in HR is to evaluate employees. This strategy makes plenty of sense, in part because properly analyzed data can reveals things in an employees performance that other observations cannot. Using big data for this purpose represents a more thorough evaluation of how an employee is doing.

Some organizations take this idea even further, using the data to rank workers, then publicly displaying the rankings. The idea is to encourage workers who might be falling behind while inspiring those at the top of the rankings list to keep working hard. Using big data in this way, however, can end up backfiring in ways business leaders might not anticipate.

Two studies have shown the negative aspects of this ranking method. One involved 1,500 furniture salespeople, half of which were shown the full rankings while the other half were shown only their individual performance evaluations. The results were contrary to what many business leaders expected. Those salespeople that were only shown their individual results actually ended up selling more than those that saw the complete rankings, while the other half of the study didnt show any change.

Another study involving truck drivers tried a similar approach and achieved similar results. Drivers that saw their individual evaluations ended up improving their performances. Those that were given all the rankings only looked at them with resentment, thinking it was an attempt to get employees to compete with each other.

In these cases, the use of big data for HR purposes had one goal in mind that they failed to achieve. Its an important lesson to learn when expanding big datas application within an organization. Collecting and analyzing so much data, while useful, can also be a waste of time if you dont know how to properly focus your efforts.

If you focus on the wrong data, you can end up concentrating on trends and behaviors that have little to no effect on the overall results youre aiming for. Thats why you need to evaluate employees using data that actually matters. If you end up analyzing every piece of information you collect, not only is that highly inefficient, but it becomes more difficult to separate the relevant data from the irrelevant data.

Big Data For Hiring New Employees

Placing your focus where it should be is a high priority. Luckily, companies have been working to find what really matters when it comes to using big data for HR. Success stories are plentiful; you just need to know where to look.

For example, one company uses big data for hiring new employees. The business discovered that applicants that didnt come from an Ivy League university actually ended up performing better than those that carried a prestigious degree. This information helped them narrow down their list of candidates. Other studies using big data have shown that online applicants who used a non-default browser they downloaded themselves usually perform better and have less of a desire to switch jobs. The clickstream data collected from these studies provided insight that might have gone overlooked.

Its important to note one more thing about big data and HR: as valuable as big data is, its also possible to rely too much on it. Big data should be used like any other tool, but not as a crutch. Human intuition can see be valuable in its own right, so use big data to inform your HR practices, not dominate them. With these ideas and strategies in mind, youll be better prepared to ensure your big data HR program is a success.