How AI is powering the next generation of people analytics

With the help of AI, people analytics has revolutionized how businesses process data. People analytics software has become more user-friendly, no longer requiring a data-science background to operate – and AI enables the analysis of vast quantities of information and the integration of data sets, empowering HR teams to be more predictive and proactive.

This technology-driven shift is helping businesses build better employee experiences and achieve stronger workplace outcomes.

The power of combining people analytics with AI

According to Bersin research, companies that excel at transforming people analytics into a systemic business analytics practice are:

Today, companies have access to so much data, it can feel endless. In the past, HR leaders have often turned to people analysts for help surfacing specific insights from their people and business data, but thanks to AI, analyzing vast data sets has become much more achievable – even for self-proclaimed data novices.

“What’s amazing about this technology is its increasing ability to translate information and data into natural language for folks with different levels of data maturity. That’s going to make data more accessible and data-driven decision-making much easier,” said Stacia Garr, Co-founder and Principal Analyst at Red Thread Research, at Culture First Global 2024.

Combining people analytics with AI enables HR teams to surface valuable insights themselves, which is essential in a business environment that’s constantly shifting and advancing. AI does the heavy lifting of sifting through large data sets, including performance reviews, promotion trajectories, and employee skills, to provide clear, actionable answers that help HR leaders take the best next steps.

Focusing on strategic impact

While AI can supercharge people analytics efforts, HR must cultivate the ability to use this powerful technology to find the right projects to focus on.

For example, a Culture Amp analysis of our own workforce revealed that high-performing women in engineering were two to three times more likely to leave the company than high performers in other departments. By analyzing dozens of variables like performance, gender, function, level, geography, leadership, and more, our people team determined what was driving attrition for this specific subset of employees: a lack of development opportunities.

“Instead of spending more time getting more data and producing more reports, we focused on taking action in a few targeted areas, quickly concentrating our resources there and tracking the impact of our initiatives on attrition before it happens,” shared Culture Amp’s Chief People Officer, Justin Angsuwat.

For Justin, the real advantage of people analytics was its ability to empower his team to take immediate action and help improve life at Culture Amp for the company’s female engineers. “The power of insights is not looking at this spike in attrition data in the rearview mirror cut a dozen different ways, but making sure it never happens to begin with. It's a journey that all of us as HR leaders are on,” he states.

The future of AI in HR: Self-serve insights

A common mistake modern HR teams make with people analytics is overreliance on reports and dashboards. In fact, 77% of leaders say that the dashboards and charts they get access to do not always relate directly to the decisions they need to make on behalf of their teams. While data is valuable, what internal stakeholders really need for decision-making are clear insights and what to do next with this information to drive action.

Culture Amp’s Explore Data feature is an AI-powered tool that enables HR leaders to provide self-serve analytics to anyone in the business. With Explore Data, they can simply ask their questions using natural, conversational language, such as “What is the turnover rate for the Engineering department?” and get answers back in real-time that are easy to interpret.

Instead of going through the people analytics team and waiting for their analysis to come back, Explore Data serves up the insights leaders need right when they need them. This means more people can work proactively to solve challenges and act on opportunities in a timely manner. When organizations use Explore Data, people analytics teams gain back time and resources to focus on more strategic, high-impact analyses.

Responsible AI practices are key

AI has been instrumental in shepherding the next generation of people analytics, allowing HR teams to become data analysts and evangelists within their organizations, but this technology is still evolving. With this in mind, it’s essential that HR leaders choose their AI technology wisely.

Responsible AI is especially critical when dealing with human outcomes and sensitive employee and people data. It means prioritizing data privacy, trust, and control, as well as taking the time to review the AI’s insights to ensure they are accurate, relevant, and unbiased. When HR teams use AI thoughtfully and work with companies dedicated to ethical AI like Culture Amp, they equip themselves to help everyone in their organization use data to deliver better employee experiences and business outcomes.

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