HR is one of the most critical departments when it comes to building a successful business. It helps manage the most valuable asset in any organization – the employees. For years, the HR industry has relied on simple surveys to learn about employees’ behaviour and make performance-related decisions. Today, however, things have changed. More businesses are increasingly adopting data science technology in HR departments to help analyze data for decision-making purposes.

Data Science in HR

Data science combines statistical models, mathematical models, and data analysis to extract value from data. In turn, this enables the HR departments to make better decisions on where to use money and resources to enhance employee performance. 

However, it can be challenging to maintain an in-house team with the proper understanding of how to use data science technology to extract value from your data. The good news is that you can outsource your data analysis to a reliable data science consultancy firm such as RTS Labs to help you get valuable insights from the available data. 

Uses of Data Science in HR Industry

  • Talent Acquisition

One of the significant duties of HR is to find the right candidate for a specific job position. Although this may seem simple, it can be very challenging because there is a lot of data that the HR manager needs to consider, such as skills required, market data, performance rates, etc. 

This is where data science comes in handy.

Data science analytics helps organizations sort out complex data in a manner that is easy to understand, making the selection process super easy. In addition, HR managers can apply data science to predict how a potential candidate might perform after getting hired in the organization.

  • Informing Promotion and Salary Decisions

Nothing demotivates high-performing employees like watching under-performing peers receive salary increments or promotions. This can happen due to human bias or nepotism in the workplace. 

Fortunately, data science analytics can help organizations know which employees should receive promotions and who shouldn’t. For example, HR managers can use data analytics to identify which employees consistently provide quality performance to decide how to compensate them.

  • Employee Retention

One of the most prominent challenges organizations face is high employee turnover. Losing an employee can cost a company a lot, decreasing organizational performance and overall growth. 

That’s why companies must strive to retain their current employees. Data science analytics is an excellent way to analyze data to determine why employees are leaving and then develop strategies to solve that problem.

  • Assessing Employee Engagement

A vital metric for every HR department is employee engagement, and most organizations use surveys to measure this metric. While this method may seem to work, it is often ineffective as most employees find surveys tiresome, and some do not even fill them out.

Luckily, organizations can now use data science analytics to measure employee engagement and gain instant insights. This can help in developing ways to increase employee engagement and productivity.

  • Employee Training and Development

Most organizations face a skill gap challenge. Many employees do not have all the necessary skills to handle their roles in the company. Also, entry-level employees lack the proper skills, requiring in-house training before starting their roles. 

With the help of data science analytics, HR managers can fill up the skill gap effectively. That’s because it’s easy to analyze data on employees’ skills to determine who needs training and how they can be trained. 

Also, data science analytics can help allocate training resources and assess the entire training process. This will help the organization make their workforce more skilled, improve their performance, and get ahead of their competitors.