Big data analytics offers employers several advantages. However, employers must also be ready to manage potential risks that come with it, especially when hiring. This may mean involving various experts including employment lawyers.
Big data mainly refers to the large volume of data gathered by computer systems. It offers a better way of analyzing data rather than traditional methods. Since the analytics are computerized, they are fast, more accurate, and reliable.
Advantages of Using Big Data Analytics
Big data analytics is common in the world of business. Marketing departments use it to help target potential customers accurately. Today HR departments are considering how to incorporate it in the hiring process and in managing the workforce. Here is what these analytics can do for you.
Human Resource Management
Human resource management involves complicated notions of fairness, equity, and emotions. HR managers are trained to handle every employee individually, review documentation when hiring, handle each matter as the institution’s policy and as per the law, and more.
This can be more challenging if you have to deal with a large number of employees. Big data analytics can help make employment decisions easier. It also reduces risks or mistakes in employee management.
Streamline Hiring Process
Picture this, when applying for a loan, the lender will have to check your credit history to determine if you qualify for a loan and how much you can take. To do this, they will have to check your credit history against a database. This is where analytics comes in. It will help make the process easier and faster, and the lender will have the feedback within no time.
When hiring, you have to go through several resumes to select the most qualified or better-matched candidate for the position you want to fill. Depending on the number of applications you get, this can take you several hours or even days.
If you have a big data analytics tool in your company, the algorithms will scan through the resumes and match the suitable candidates to the job. Analytics can measure the candidate’s personality traits that measure up to what the job entails and evaluate the cognitive abilities of every candidate against those of a high-performing employee in a similar position.
Predictive algorithms will help you hire the right personnel because it uses data that maps applicants profile with the job opening in your company. With the right people on board, you will increase your retention, improve productivity and use fewer resources on hiring or selecting employees.
Improved Accuracy
Several big data tools use machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) to select candidates. Machine learning uses baseline algorithms that make selection decisions easier. It also improves its system by learning from mistakes. For example, if your job description does not adequately assess the skills of your employees, AI will use the data of the current employees to define the skills needed for the role.
It will use the character traits or attributes that it has mined to change the selection algorithm and ensure accuracy during the hiring and selection process. The right use of analytics will allow you to gauge employee morale, know an attrition likelihood, measure and focus training and development effort on what your business currently needs, optimize recruitment efforts, and more.
With improved accuracy, you will have a better and more efficient workforce and will translate into improved company savings.
Risks of Big Data Analytics
Though big data analytics will streamline your processes, preserve your workforce and save you millions of dollars, there are some risks involved in using it. Reports such as the report from the White House and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have warned employers on the risks of making prejudiced employee decisions founded on big data analytics.
The reports advise employers who use such tools to monitor their employees for evidence of discrimination by the algorithm. During its meeting on the use of big data in employment in 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also looked into the advantages and risks of using big data analytics in the workplace.
If you have algorithms created to help you make final employment-related decisions, it can be tainted with bias, especially if it cannot take race, ethnicity, or gender into account. The algorithm can unintentionally exclude a particular gender or race. The solution to this is to carefully and correctly design the analytics.
When used correctly, big data analytics can help improve a biased institution and support decisions in the company with neutral and reliable data.
In Conclusion
The use of big data analytics in HR is here to stay. If you utilize it well, it will have a significant impact on your business. Remember, to ensure that the analytics works to the benefit of your company and employees as well, review it periodically to determine if everyone in your company is not being excluded or harmed by it.
