Are data and insights your new gold?

Is data the new gold or does it only lead to more discussion about its accuracy?

Sneak peek 1 into my personal life: Occasionally and in my spare time, I have the chance to go outside to spot birds (and otherwise I like to watch the livestream of the Bird Conservancy). My favorites are the owls; the tawny owl, barn owl, and the little owl are powerful birds, in part because of the way they deal with the amount of food available during spring in their reproduction.

Data is wisdom

Based on Greek Mythology and others, the owl additionally symbolizes wisdom.

Wisdom is the ultimate goal we should be pursuing with data according to Consultday, and fortunately not only according to us. Almost without exception, however, we see our clients struggling to turn their HR data into information, knowledge, and wisdom. Perhaps you recognize your company in the following real-life examples:

There is no trust in HR data because there are multiple versions of the truth.
We spend all our time on ad hoc data requests that are unlikely to deliver the highest value.
The roadmap on HR data is unclear and not focused on continuous improvement.
The use of data products declines, because they do not answer real business questions.
Responsibility for HR data is shifted to Finance, separating the data from the HR business.

Data in 4 steps

Together with our entire team, we help clients turn data into wisdom in 4 steps.

To understand what steps you need to take (at strategic, tactical, and operational levels), our HR Data Maturity Scan can help. In a span of a few days, we give you insight into where you stand in terms of data governance, data quality, data architecture and technology, and data literacy. We use the theory behind the CMMI model (Capability Maturity Model Integration), information from interviews within the organization, and our HR data experience with various clients. We also help you set a realistic ambition and outline a roadmap including resources on how to get there.
Little is as destructive to working with data as inconsistent, inaccurate, and missing data. Whether in a data migration, as part of the operational process or as the basis for your data products. That’s why we help you set up data quality governance as part of HR processes. Goalsetting (everyone wants 100% quality, but that’s not realistic), process and organization setup, and a dashboard to govern are deliverables.
With the ease of use of Excel and PowerBI, a jumble of reports has emerged within many organizations, but HR is looking for an HR Navigator. We lead the conversation about the right KPIs, provide insight into how to measure them and unlock those in an automated and AVG compliant dashboard. This provides insight into priorities (to better manage the HR services department, for example) or frees up space to do more in-depth analysis on specific subtopics.
To ultimately turn data, information and knowledge into wisdom, making connections is crucial. Subject driven, we combine our knowledge of payroll, recruitment or core HR processes with that of static models (e.g. regression) and data analysis to formulate policy on a business problem. For example, the EU Pay Transparency Act requires every company to provide insight into the Gender Pay Gap from 2027. A report gives you an analysis of the current pay gap by job group to comply with the legislation, as well as insight into its drivers and the specific areas of focus to reduce the pay gap.

Data mining

Our conclusion: data can indeed be the new gold, but only for those who know how to mine it! If you want to know more about what the best path to wisdom for you is (or go birdwatching together sometime), feel free to send me a message.