Moving Beyond Metrics: How Analytics Drives HR Value

In preparing for an upcoming workshop, I spent time reviewing the book Artificial Intelligence in Human Resource Management (Dr Anjay Kumar Mishra et al), which collects insights from a number of researchers and practitioners. One section in particular stood out for me; a summary of findings from Lighthouse Research & Advisory that highlights what sets high-performing organizations apart when it comes to their use of HR analytics.

Too often, we see analytics treated as a reporting function. But the evidence points in a different direction: analytics is a capability that helps HR teams design better interventions, test what works, and influence real business outcomes.

The difference between high-performing and average organizations is not that one has dashboards and the other doesn’t. The difference is in how those dashboards are used, and what kind of decisions they support.

What the Data Tells Us

The research, conducted by Lighthouse and cited in the book, found several clear patterns across high-performing companies. According to their Business Value of HR Technology Study (Lighthouse, 2017):

• High performers are eight times less likely to describe their HR technology as “troublesome”

• They are more likely to have systems that support decision-making, not just transaction processing

• In learning, they are twice as likely to use a cohesive strategy and to measure outcomes, not just completions

• In performance management, they emphasize real-time feedback, coaching, and goal setting, rather than annual reviews

• In engagement, they are more likely to act on data and link results to business outcomes like productivity and retention

These practices reflect an intentional approach to using analytics as a tool for action.

Where Analytics Adds Value

The insights from the book align with what I see in practice. When companies start using analytics well, the effects show up across the employee lifecycle:

• Learning and development: It shifts from “what did we deliver?” to “what changed as a result?”

• Performance management: It moves from annual ratings to dynamic conversations supported by data

• Engagement and retention: It stops being a survey project and starts being a diagnostic tool to address what matters most

• Technology adoption: High performers track whether employees actually use their HR systems and improve usability accordingly

Each of these areas shows how analytics supports real business improvement, not just measurement for its own sake.

The Shift from Reporting to Design

Descriptive metrics show what happened. Analytics helps us understand why and what we might do differently.

High-performing HR teams use analytics as a design tool. They ask better questions:

• What factors predict regrettable turnover?

• Is our learning content driving performance?

• Which groups are consistently engaged, and why?

This shift allows HR to operate in the same way other business functions already do: based on data, informed by experimentation, and evaluated by impact.

Building the Capability

HR doesn’t need to become a team of data scientists or IT experts. But it does need to be fluent in data management, statistics, finance and HRTech to support decisions. From what I’ve seen, teams that do this well have three things in common:

• They use the data they already have, rather than waiting for perfect systems

• They focus on future outcomes, not backwards-looking reports

• They tie analytics to action using data to test assumptions and refine programs

Applying these three principles consistently requires a mindset shift, from explaining data to improving value.

Why This Matters

This study, and the whole book, confirms what many of us already know: People analytics is a defining feature of HR teams that contribute to the business in meaningful ways.

The challenge is not access to data. This is a trap that many HR teams fall into. The challenge lies in knowing what to do with the data we have.

If we want HR to be seen as a driver of business performance, then we need to stop measuring activity and start measuring outcomes. That’s what high-performing HR teams do differently.