Workforce Analytics to Improve Strategy Execution

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Content of the Paper
Classification of the Research
Research Questions
Research Findings
What New from the Research
The Relationship Between the Papers Analyzed
The Most Common Research Methodology Applied
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Workforce analytics is a method used to monitor and examine employees’ work productivity to improve workflow. In this article, Alec Levenson, in accordance with policies of objectivity, independence, and transparency, introduces an approach aimed at conducting workforce analytics designed to improve strategy execution. Moreover, enhances organizational effectiveness by applying systems diagnostics (Levenson, 2017). Using Workforce Analytics to Improve Strategy Execution is an academic article by Alec Levenson, a Senior Research Scientist at the Centre for Effective Organizations, Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

Content of the Paper

The article is subdivided into an abstract, an introduction, the prevalence and impact of workforce analytics in organizations today, and what works well. It is missing in the world of workforce analytics today. Further, a conclusion and references, while the primary concern of the paper is to establish how to execute strategy through the workforce effectively and what role should be played by analytics (Levenson, 2017). That question frames the call for articles to consider this special issue, which perfectly describes the fundamental analytics of the workforce challenges that organizations face today (Levenson, 2017). Leaders of organizations can only derive the full benefits of the available workforce analytics if they believe in its potential.

This paper argues that there is a need for a different orientation to how workforce analytics is defined and conducted in organizations. A significant source of the problem originates from the focus of the management researchers and other practitioners in the organizations who need to be oriented towards taking a systems approach when conducting organizational behavior diagnostics. However, within the domain of workforce analytics, it is important to note that there are plenty of approaches to be applied and questions that need to be addressed.

The challenge comes when determining which analytics to apply and in what settings to get the best strategic insights. This paper addresses the challenge of where workforce analytics will provide the deepest insights into enhancing improved strategy execution (Levenson, 2017). To establish and maintain the necessary commitment, business leaders must first believe that their organization’s HR assets (i.e., the value of its workforce) are vital contributors to organizational performance (Levenson, 2017). Second, they must believe that such assets have definable, quantitative value and that the HR assets can be measured and managed in the same way that the finance function tracks its return on investment (ROI).

The paper utilized two separate but related approaches involved in addressing the challenge. The existing, highly individually oriented workforce analytics approaches can be kept (Levenson, 2017). In a systems approach, for example, all individual-level models and ways of conducting analyses still have a significant role to play (Levenson, 2017). The first approach focuses on strategically essential changes in the workforce and organizational capabilities, not just improving people and processes (Levenson, 2017). The second approach focuses on contributions that support the organizational capability that will enhance competitive advantage.

Although there is guidance within research literature on how to take more of a systems approach, the way that knowledge is shared between researchers and practitioners often ignores the systems approach. Also, the current practice in organizations needs to take more of a systems approach at individual and group levels (Levenson, 2017). However, at minimum, each analytical approach has some potential value to people working in the organizations (Levenson, 2017). The question then becomes how much value is best realized and where that value is. Thus, the aim here is to use workforce analytics experts within companies’ academic, consulting, and internal realms (Levenson, 2017). Additionally, it takes more of a systems approach while addressing workforce analytics questions that the end users consume.

Classification of the Research

The research method by Alec Levenson can be described as descriptive research. This is because a descriptive research design is suitable for addressing the how and why questions in cases where the researcher has minimal control over a given situation and where the phenomena under study are contemporary in an actual context. Miksza & Elpus (2018) recommended using descriptive research design to explore the topic in depth in a natural environment.

The objective of this Research is exploratory, thus making the descriptive research design the best style and the other designs unsuitable. The main aim is to understand the how and why of workforce analytics and its impact on improving strategy execution. Business leaders love to benchmark, and the objective of the operational metrics they employ to manage their business requires them to make comparisons across organizations. The objective is to seek an accurate accounting of the events under study and the interpretive validity, thus a need for a descriptive design.

Previous authors have noted that there needs to be more standardization, and the whole process tends to be complex. A descriptive approach is suitable to reveal the workforce patterns and the situational context in which managers apply strategy execution. Many studies have also suggested that the workforce of any organization is context-specific, leading to the adoption of a descriptive research design to discover execution strategies for organizational effectiveness in different contextual settings (Boudreau & Cascio, 2017). There is a need to use this particular research design because of the need to explore the workforce analytics that managers use to impact strategy execution positively.

Research Questions

The general research question guiding this study is: Does the organization employ workforce analytics to improve strategy execution? Besides, is much of the workforce analytics being applied today in a position to deliver valuable insights that can enhance more effective decision-making, streamlined operations, cost savings, and employee engagement practices? Finally, indeed, there are indeed an overwhelming number of business and people processes that can benefit from such improvements, but does the current practice offer enough guidance on how to prioritize which improvements are most crucial for strategic success?

Research Findings

The study’s objective was to discover the prevalence and impact of workforce analytics in improving strategy execution in organizations today. While it may seem obvious, taking quality time to understand the real issues confronting the organization is essential (Levenson, 2017). Line managers and executives are very good at recognizing the immediate issues their organization is facing and are usually eager to take the necessary action with the information they have (Levenson, 2017). However, without setting the immediate issue the organization might be facing in the larger context of the business, any analysis will be focused on confirming a manager’s intuitive guess instead of thoroughly examining and solving existing problems.

The findings from this research support the benefits of properly designed and implemented workforce analytics, which should encourage HR managers to adopt the emerging practice. The past three years’ surveys of the HR function show the best depiction of how broadly workforce analytics has been used in large organizations over the past decade and how far it remains from providing the insights needed for improved strategy execution (Boudreau & Cascio, 2017). Even so, research and supporting evidence in this article suggest that the overwhelming majority of organizations will either begin or increase their use of data in their workforce.

There are a number of reasons for this reported increase, provided that the use of data has become more evident in all areas of organizational functions. Thus, the focus on workforce analytics simply reflects that overall trend (Levenson, 2017). With the acknowledgment that the human workforce and its talent lead to competitive advantage in an organization, any analysis of data that can help organizations attract, motivate, and retain the right people is bound to interest managers.

On the other hand, findings show that over 90% of larger organizations report both providing HR data to support change management to some extent and analytical support for business decision-making to some extent or even more. Despite that, the percentage of organizations indicating they do so to a great or very great extent ranges between 16% and 37% (Levenson, 2017). Therefore, at least two-thirds of the organizations have room to make improvements in the affected areas, and by a significant amount in many cases.

Also, the link between information technology (IT) systems and HR analytics is prevalent. However, the question is not whether there is one but which one exists in the system. The vast majority of the IT systems of a company are not used to measure the business impact of HR programs consistently (Levenson, 2017). There is an existence of disconnection here because the data from the systems are primarily used to describe the workforce (demographics), how much they are paid (compensation), their activities (training, career advancements, etc.), and their roles (job titles, spans of control, etc.) in the organization (Levenson, 2017). Such information is critical for some types of analyses, but they need more key elements to understand employee behavior and the motivation that drives the performance of most organizations.

Even though the IT systems data provide limited insights, the findings also show that business leaders put great stock in analyzing the available data. Budget constraints exist, but every role and business process can always benefit from additional resources and support (Levenson, 2017). The good news is that the annual employee surveys, apart from IT systems, have shown that more and more business leaders have embraced the significance of having highly engaged employees (Boudreau & Cascio, 2017). Such findings have been used to monitor how the existing workforce feels about the organization, their careers, and their jobs. The latter can be used to obtain feedback from the supervising managers to improve general performance.

What New from the Research

Improving the general efficiency of the existing HR processes, such as recruiting and compensation, will not materially increase an organization’s competitive advantage when applied to most jobs was something new to me. I would have thought that incremental improvements in such areas would undoubtedly contribute to business performance. However, HR and business leaders opt for narrower, incremental improvements in the organizational capability and processes that offer short-term boosts to the bottom line.

I would also have thought that the HR and business leaders would move towards longer-term investments in the workforce that can truly move the needle in terms of improved strategy execution. However, they tend to forego such when they feel pressure to enhance improved financial results over relatively short time horizons. Even so, the sphere of workforce analytics looks set to attract increasing attention over the coming years, and as more successes of such practice emerge, further interest in workforce analytics will follow.

The Relationship Between the Papers Analyzed

Most research disciplines feature high-impact journals that are dedicated outlets for review papers. The relationship between the three articles analyzed is that they all include both quantitative (meta-analytic, systematic reviews) and narrative or qualitative components. Together they provide platforms for new conceptual frameworks, depict inconsistencies in the extant body of research, synthesize diverse results, and generally give scholars a snapshot of a particular domain, which topic experts often write.

Furthermore, in a meta-analysis review of the articles, a wide number of citations indicate that the members of the research findings of the articles have found them useful. In their most general form, the articles also consist of critical evaluations of materials that have already been published. Some include quantitative effects estimation (meta-analyses), while some do not (systematic reviews). The articles carefully identified and synthesized relevant literature to evaluate the research question, substantive domain, theoretical approach, or methodology. Thus, they have been in a position to provide readers with a deeper understanding of the research topic.

To provide a sufficient contribution the three articles have provided a sufficient body of past research, making the integration and synthesis valuable. The articles are well executed, with an appropriate literature collection and a compelling writing style. Finally, the articles offer significant new insights based on their systematic comparison of multiple studies, rather than just having a “book report” that describes previous research.

The Most Common Research Methodology Applied

The most common research methodology from the three papers analyzed was descriptive study design. One of the first steps in planning for a research study is the choice of the study design (Miksza & Elpus, 2018). The available study designs are categorized broadly into two – observational and interventional. Of the various observational study designs, the descriptive design is the simplest and most used in the three papers analyzed. This is because it allows the researcher to describe one or more variables under study without regard to any causal or other hypotheses (Miksza & Elpus, 2018). Since the studies also entailed a collection of information on one or more variables of interest, whether exposure or outcome, as they exist in a defined population under study at one particular time, the descriptive research design was appropriate.

In addition, cross-sectional studies are sometimes repeated after a time interval in the same population (using the same subjects included in the initial research or a fresh sample) to identify temporal trends in the occurrence of one or more variables. This makes the use of a descriptive research design to be the most appropriate one. Besides, descriptive research designs are usually simple to conduct and inexpensive and do not pose much of a challenge from an ethical viewpoint.

Conclusion

I am interested in this research mainly because of my background training and work environment. In reviewing the articles, my study of the research findings and the ethical research practices will provide strategies for mitigating the risks of bias and reflexivity in my area of profession. Having also analyzed the article on Cultural Stress, Daily Well-Being, and Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms among Hispanic College Students, I have broadened my understanding of the topic and the strategies for enhancing personal well-being that I hope to share with others. Even more, I would use the evidence gathered in the scholarly articles to write about a similar research topic in the near future when the need arises.

In addition, the emergent themes in the articles involving workforce analytics to improve strategy execution emphasize the need for business leaders to align the workforce with organizational strategy. I believe the research findings will bridge my academics and professional practice by providing clear strategies and a process roadmap to be followed to improve strategy execution. The results will also influence me to change the perception of the value of the workforce in an organization’s most prized assets.

A realization of this will facilitate social change while working in any organization by shifting my focus to people-oriented policies as being key to productive employees. Furthermore, the reports of the articles have stressed the importance of establishing a virtuous cycle. Coming up with small analytics projects that lead to positive outcomes will boost my future investments, thus making a further success of working in any organization possible.

References

Boudreau, J., & Cascio, W. (2017). Human capital analytics: Why are we not there?Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 4(2), 119-126. Web.

Levenson, A. (2017). Using workforce analytics to improve strategy execution. Human Resource Management, 57(3), 685-700. Web.

Miksza, P., & Elpus, K. (2018). Descriptive research design. Oxford Scholarship Online. Web.

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