Table Of ContentPraise for People Data
“Throughout People Data, the author provides valuable insight and guidance on
human capital metrics and fact-based people decisions. By utilizing people data across
the employee life cycle, managers can make people decisions with greater clarity and
confidence. This is a book that has been needed for years and a useful primer for a
business culture that is only likely to grow in importance in the 21st century.”
– Hallstein Moerk, former EVP HR, Nokia Group
“This fascinating book will give readers, who know little or nothing about people data,
everything they need to learn about how to motivate and utilize the human capital of
their businesses. What is measured gets done. Like all organizations, my bank depends
entirely on the contribution of its workforce.”
– Karen Froesig, CEO, Sydbank A/S, Denmark
“A systematic and insightful approach for enhancing the value of ‘human capital’,
not only in terms of monetary results but for the human beings in organizations.
This book delivers the ultimate guideline for all HR departments and provides crucial
information for decision makers in the new area of transformational leadership.”
– Tore Krog, Chief Occupational Medical Officer, Ringnes Brewery,
Norway, as part of Carlsberg Group, and CEO, IAAP,
“Business Growth through Work Engagement,” China and Vietnam
“This book reinforces the value of making evidence-based talent decisions. Many
organizations have massive amounts of human capital information available to them
and People Data helps the interested reader separate the wheat from the chaff.
Readers will love the illustrations and how-to applications. This is also a great book for
applied graduate level studies in human resources and business management.”
– Jack Wiley, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Manchester University, Indiana, USA
and former President, High Performance Institute by Kenexa, an IBM Company
“In People Data, Tine Huus tells us in plain language how to utilize human capital metrics
to make decisions around people. The book combines theory and practice, what people
data is and how it can be used in the corporate setting. It takes the reader step-by-step
through the importance and implementation of human capital metrics. Managing your
talent in this way is imperative for any company in today’s global competition.”
– Kai Hammerich, Office Managing Director, Copenhagen, Korn Ferry
“Human capital metrics are lenses through which the value people bring to the
organization can be recognized and understood. Huus’s book is an introduction that
demands an honest examination of the organization for the maturity of its principles
and its culture toward the application of a variety of data in strategy development and
investment decisions. The book challenges the over-weighting of efficiency in many
measurement approaches by including broader discussions on competencies, resources,
ways of working and culture to demonstrate effectiveness and impact as well as effi-
ciency. I appreciate the care she’s taken to elucidate the complexities of using human
capital metrics while making sensible suggestions on its useful application to a range
of critical areas like talent management and engagement. The book is a thoughtful
and sensible foundation for any organization that wants to build competitive advan-
tage and sustainable success from its people.”
– Wilson Wong, PhD, Academic FCIPD, Head of Insight & Futures,
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, UK
PALGRAVE POCKET CONSULTANTS
Palgrave Pocket Consultants are concise, authoritative guides that provide actionable
solutions to specific, high-level business problems that would otherwise drive you or your
company to employ a consultant. Written for aspiring middle-to-senior managers work-
ing across business at any scale, they offer solutions to the most cutting-edge issues across
modern business. Be your own expert and have the advice you need at your fingertips.
Available titles:
ATTRACTING AND RETAINING TALENT
Tim Baker
MYTH-BUSTING CHINA’S NUMBERS
Matthew Crabbe
RISKY BUSINESS IN CHINA
Jeremy Gordon
THE NEW CHINESE TRAVELER
Gary Bowerman
THE WORKPLACE COMMUNITY
Ian Gee and Matthew Hanwell
Forthcoming titles:
MANAGING ONLINE REPUTATION
Charlie Pownall
PUBLIC RELATIONS IN CHINA
David Wolf
CREATING A RESILIENT WORKFORCE
Ivan Robertson and Cary Cooper
Series ISBN 9781137396792
About the Author
Tine Huus, M.A., B.Sc., and B.Com., is a Dane living in Copenhagen.
She has more than 25 years’ experience within organization develop-
ment, controlling, innovation management, change projects, business
cases, scorecards, and metrics from FMCG, consultancy, and hi-tech
industry. She has held management positions at Carlsberg, Nokia,
Ramboll Group, and Nabisco Brands. She lived abroad for 15 years, in
Finland, Ireland, and the UK. On a voluntary basis, she worked as a
marketing officer, Information Technology Survey Group, a benchmark-
ing organization for global hi-tech companies, and co-founded the
International School of Dublin. She is the founder and CEO of Best
Work of Our Lives, an international consultancy business within organ-
ization development, talent management, and employee engagement.
She also teaches business economics and innovation management.
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People Data
Tine Huus
International OD Consultant, Founder and CEO,
Best Work of Our Lives Ltd, Denmark
© Tine Huus 2015
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this
work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2015 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers
Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the
United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-137-46694-5 ISBN 978-1-137-46696-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137466969
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from
fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and
manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the
environmental regulations of the country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.
Contents
Preface xi
1 Why Bother about Human Capital Metrics? 1
Human capital and human
capital metrics 2
The value proposition 4
Combining art and science 6
Beyond data: training a probing mind 7
The process from data to action 8
It is a matter of urgency 9
Analytical culture as differentiator 9
It starts with you 11
2 Working Strategically with Human Capital 13
How human capital metrics can support
your business strategy 14
People data considerations 15
Usage and application depend on
organization maturity 18
Drawing on concepts
from economics 21
Efficiency + effectiveness + impact 24
Human capital measurement equals
talent management 25
Benefits of working strategically
with human capital 27
vii
viii Contents
3 The Machine Room 28
Getting to grips with the principles behind
human capital metrics 28
Types of metrics 30
Examples of rate metric types 31
Examples of ratio metric types 34
Examples of composition metric types 36
Examples of index metric types 39
Examples of qualitative input metric types 42
Benchmarking and target setting 45
Interpretation as foundation
for driving change 49
Interplay of quantitative and qualitative data 49
The organization’s approach to sharing
human capital metrics 50
4 Determining What Measures You Need 52
Measuring the employee life cycle 52
Strategic choice and people fit 54
Applying supply-chain thinking 55
Johari window 57
Bottom-line impact of people processes 59
Global drivers of employee engagement 60
People analytics and big data 62
5 A Toolbox for Managers 65
Investigating who is accountable
for talent management 66
Talent management questions to be answered 67
Data sources 68
Inside the toolbox 70
What is in it for managers 92
6 Making It Happen 93
How to apply people data 93
Measure to manage 94
Contents ix
Post-data process 96
Go or no go for employee engagement
at your company 97
Yes, we go for employee engagement 103
The three steps in the survey follow-up process 108
Taking right action by right stakeholder
from right data 116
Tracking progress 117
Keeping it alive 119
7 Limitations and Obstacles 122
Looking at availability and quality of data 123
Eating the elephant one piece at a time 124
Resistance to measurement 125
Inability to work with the metrics 126
Inability to take action from people data 128
Lack of feedback facilitation skills 130
The status quo trap 133
Missing accountability in the organization 135
Being analytical and/or action-oriented as
the situation requires 137
8 Metrics for Skeptics 139
The kinds of skeptics you may encounter 139
Context for scenarios 141
The CEO who already knows it all 141
The division or country leader who feels it
does not apply here 143
The busy manager 145
The overwhelmed new manager 147
The employee who provides feedback again and again and never
sees any action or change happening 149
The employee who is scared of numbers 151
The process-driven HR professional 152
The software-obsessed IT expert 153
