For as long as companies have been hiring people, they have been analyzing those people and their performance in their jobs. It was not until recently, however, that the analysis of people data was given an official name—people analytics. By definition, people analytics is data that is used to help HR departments make better decisions regarding their HR strategy. When an individual is hired into a position, the HR department can collect data and statistics regarding how that person performs in their position as well as other personal information about them. Then, that data and information are analyzed to determine which factors make them a good fit for the job, which factors do not, and how they should hire for that position in the future.
Today there are a number of positions in large companies dedicated to collecting people analytics and using them to improve the health and future of the company. However, recent questions have been raised regarding what level of employee monitoring is appropriate and at what point do people analytics become a breach of privacy or unethical.
Here, we will explore ways you can work to ensure that the people analytics you are using are serving your company while also respecting the privacy and rights of your employees.
Make employees aware of the data you are collecting.
Informing your employees about the data you will be collecting to use for people analytics is the first step in creating an ethical program. When you do not inform your employees about your intention to use their personal information, you create an opportunity to lose their trust. As human data and people analytics have become more popular, more people have become concerned that nothing in their life is private. Informing employees of exactly what data you are collecting not only builds trust between the company and the employee, it also gives the employee a sense of control over how they will be viewed according to that data.
Educate employees on how the data will be used.
Due to recent breaches of privacy outside of the HR realm (think Facebook and Cambridge Analytica), people have become very protective of their personal information and regularly question how it will be used if it is collected. Consequently, the integrity of people analytics is now being questioned as well. You can help ease the minds of your employees and ensure your people analytics are ethical by educating all of your employees on how the data you gather will be used. For example, if you are gathering data regarding their personal lives (i.e. looking at their social media profiles) they should be aware of whether or not that data will be used against them or if it is simply being used to gather information on how your company can better engage their employees.
Inform employees about the benefits and goals of people analytics.
For people analytics to be beneficial to a company, there should be a larger goal in mind of how they will improve the company. Are you looking to create a workplace that is more conducive to your employees’ lifestyles? Do you plan to use people analytics to help create a workflow that will improve the performance of your employees? Whatever the reason is you are collecting and analyzing employee data, make sure your employees know the big picture and update them whenever that big picture changes.
The bottom line is people need to trust the companies they work for. And, taking these steps regarding your people analytics will help to create that trust.