Bringing business intelligence to bear on long-term HR planning

Abstract

Human Resources and their management are increasingly being identified as potential sources of competitive advantage for businesses. However, while many businesses are adopting Business Intelligence (BI) in many areas and reaping the associated benefits, the use of BI in Human Resource (HR) management and planning remains scant. One of the reasons for this could be a lack of awareness of the potential of BI to provide insightful information to guide decisions and actions in this field. This study aimed to showcase the relevance of Business Intelligence to HR personnel, and subsequently assess the applicability, usefulness and benefits of this technology in Human Resource management and long-term planning. Taking employee absence as the main area of focus, and using Microsoft Power BI as a visualization tool, a series of dashboards and tailor-made visualizations displaying associated data were produced, based on the input of various HR professionals. The visualizations produced were submitted for evaluation by a different group of HR professionals. The results and positive feedback show that while different users have different requirements, Business Intelligence and data visualization can support Human Resource personnel very effectively in their roles as managers and planners. Moreover, given the degree of interest that participants in this study showed in adopting this technology, it would seem opportune to continue this investigation into areas of Human Resource management and planning other than employee absence.