Are you afraid of using Excel? Shakespeare wrote of the “the undiscovered country, from whose border no traveller returns” and for many Human Resources professionals this is Excel.
Excel is the dominant spreadsheet tool in business, enabling the organisation and analysis of data. In this Information Age it is a vital aid to making use of the data that we generate and understanding what is happening in our organisations, but in my experience dealing with dozens of HR colleagues and clients very few tap into even a fraction of its potential.
There is a very simple reason for this, which is that technical data skills are not part of the core HR skill set. In the CIPD’s “HR Profession Map” data and analysis is referenced almost exclusively as a ‘band one - delivering fundamentals’ activity, essentially acknowledging it is an administrator level task. It’s just not a priority area to be developed.
This is reflected in topics discussed on the CIPD forum boards:
“I've never seen the communities used for Excel advice before but there's always a first time”
“I'm assuming you have a finance team; someone there will work with you to help with calculations.”
So what is HR missing out on; what can Excel do? People know about the use of Excel in areas such as Advanced Economics and Financial Services, which is the level to which the ‘gods’ of Excel can take the program. There are also some less obvious ‘weird and wacky’ uses ranging from training pilots to producing art.
Within Human Resources Google have a dedicated HR data team which drives the entire function, justifying things such as free food and nap pods because they can show the impact that such things have.
There is no need for every company or HR professional to take things to that level, but there are a selection of reports and areas which can be monitored by picking up a selection of basic skills:
PAY REVIEW
- Applying salary changes and distribution analysis
- Bonus payments and distribution analysis
HR METRICS
- Labour Turnover analysis and headcount tracking
- Sickness/absence monitoring and identifying anomalies
- Recruitment efficiency; applications > interviews > hires, time and cost to hire
- Performance rating distribution analysis
REWARD
- Pay benchmarking and market position analysis
- Pay Structure design and impact modelling
- Bonus/Commission scheme design and impact modelling
Innecto’s skilled team of Analysts are that rare breed of HR Professionals who have developed their technical data skills within their HR career and have experience of providing exactly the kind of HR reports and tools described above.
If you ‘d like to talk to us more about this blog, the role of Excel within HR, or reward more generally then please get in touch.
