Analytics (People, Predictive, Prescriptive, Descriptive)

 “People analytics” refers to the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and insights about employees and the workforce overall. 

People analytics ranges from 

• reporting (e.g., number of employees or people within a business unit) to

• descriptive analytics (e.g., employee retention rate) to 

• predictive analytics (e.g., using statistical methods to predict employees who are likely to leave the company) and 

• prescriptive analytics (e.g., also suggesting what action a manager can take to reduce the risk of turnover for an employee). 

Historically, people analytics has evolved from a function that supported management on reports and data pulls from various systems to a function with people from various backgrounds, including HR, statistical, technical, consultative, financial, economics, and behavioral psychologists. 

With AI becoming mainstream across HR and people functions, questions of data ethics, data privacy, and data integrity are becoming more and more prevalent. The question has increasingly turned from “Can we…?” to “Why should we…?”

And the introduction of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in Europe has put legal restrictions on the use of data, putting ownership of data increasingly into employees’ hands.