HR Data Insights & Analytics; A Knowledge Management Enabler in Organisations

Technology has triggered the need for organizations to leverage data and insights to manage talent. Human Resources (HR) professionals are expected to facilitate the positive effect of nimble Human Resources Information systems (HRIS) to ensure operational excellence to drive organizational impact and results. HR strategies are operationalized through technical approaches in talent acquisition, performance management, rewards, employee engagement and change management. In this study we examined how HR data, insights and analytics play a knowledge management mediating role in enabling HR strategy execution. A Sample of 196 respondents from HR and leadership teams of three organizations in the profit and not for profit sectors in Ghana and Senegal were surveyed to examine the relationship between HR analytics, knowledge management and HR strategy execution. Our study confirms that HR data, insights and analytics provides knowledge management capabilities to assess the delivery of HR strategies and this offers practical tools for Organizational leaders and HR practitioners to measure HR contribution to organizational performance. The study highlights the often overlooked anthropological dimension of HR and the need for organisations to have a relatively enduring culture of values and norms that generate data and analytics for leadership decision making on HR management.

Keywords: HR Data Insights, Analytics, Knowledge Management, Anthropology.