People analytics effectiveness : developing a framework

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the key ingredients that people analytics teams require to contribute to organizational performance. As the information that is currently available is fragmented, it is difficult for organizations to understand what it takes to execute people analytics successfully. Design/methodology/approach: To identify the key ingredients, a narrative literature review was conducted using both traditional people analytics and broader business intelligence literature. The findings were summarized in the People Analytics Effectiveness Wheel. Findings: The People Analytics Effectiveness Wheel identifies four categories of ingredients that a people analytics team requires to be effective. These are enabling resources, products, stakeholder management and governance structure. Under each category, multiple sub-themes are discussed, such as data and infrastructure; senior management support; and knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics (KSAOs) (enablers). Practical implications: Many organizations are still trying to set up their people analytics teams, and many others are struggling to improve decision-making by using people analytics. For these companies, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current literature and describes what it takes to contribute to organizational performance using people analytics. Originality/value: This paper is designed to provide organizations and researchers with a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to execute people analytics successfully. By using the People Analytics Effectiveness Wheel as a guideline, scholars are now better equipped to research the processes that are required for the ingredients to be truly effective.