Unlocking People Data: Integrated Reporting Experiences - Lessons from Transforming IBM's Data Platform to Elevate People Analytics

This is the second installment of our LinkedIn newsletter that documents the multi-year transformation of IBM's internal people data platform, aimed at meeting the growing demand for people analytics. In our first installment, we introduced Workforce360, IBM's strategic people data platform crafted to address IBM's people analytics requirements and the reasons for investing in such a platform.

This article goes further by presenting details of a crucial aspect: reports and dashboards. The intentional choice to start with this aspect, instead of starting with AI solutions, governance, or privacy concerns, is based on the understanding that reports and dashboards remain essential mediums for advancing a company´s people analytics roadmap. In fact, ensuring that self-service data is accessible to the individuals involved in decision-making, across and beyond the HR department, is crucial for fostering greater awareness, trust, and people data “democratization.”

When designing a data platform which, among others, supports reports and dashboards, three essential concepts must be considered:

Understanding and categorizing reporting needs

Not all reporting needs are the same. Successful implementation of people analytics and data platforms depends on effectively understanding and categorizing these needs. There’s a big difference between operational reports and strategic insights.

• Operational reports: These reports support the completion of day-to-day tasks. An example of such report would present how many employees work for a particular Business Unit. The value of leveraging the data platform for these reports is mostly measured in terms of time-saved to get the data (vs manual data wrangling).
• Strategic insights: These insights help top leaders make big decisions, like how to manage the cost of talent across the enterprise. The value of leveraging the data platform for these strategic insights comes from directly supporting leaders and increasing company earnings.
• Specialized requests: Often, the need is specific to a business area or location. The importance of these requests often depends on how big or crucial that part of the business is to the company's overall profits. This also applies to reports focused on specific topics, like performance, learning, or compensation. Their value is judged by how much they contribute to the company's main goals and alignment with HR strategies.

Directionally speaking, it's more effective to create operational reports within the transactional systems where the data is collected, whether it be the HR Management System, Applicant Tracking System, or Learning Platform. Indeed, the real worth of the platform lies in obtaining talent insights that transcend data from a single system and extend beyond the realm of HR.

Less is more – Building it doesn't guarantee they will come

The effectiveness of a people data platform cannot be gauged by the number of reports it supports. On the contrary, its success should be assessed by how it enables fewer and more integrated reporting experiences.

The effectiveness of a people data platform cannot be gauged by the number of reports it supports. On the contrary, its success should be assessed by how it enables fewer and more integrated reporting experiences.

There are several reasons for this, which may not be immediately apparent. First, the purpose of a data platform is to transcend the boundaries of domain-specific reports and provide insights throughout the talent lifecycle. Second, the greater the number of reports, the higher the maintenance cost, especially in maintaining their alignment with changes in the enterprise metrics or data. Finally, and most importantly, an excessive number of reports makes it harder for users to find the information they need. The difficulty in finding reports often leads to the creation of even more new reports.

Embracing an outside-in perspective is critical. Our recommendation is to always approach the reporting/dashboard needs from the perspective of end-users, rather than focus on what can be done with the data in the platform. When existing solutions are not sufficient and a new report has to be built, then clear, documented information about the actions it will prompt and who is responsible for taking those actions is essential. If the intent is to phase out manual processes, it's crucial to put in the extra effort to completely retire the legacy systems supporting these processes. Unlike baseball, where "If you build it, they will come" often holds true, in this context, simply creating new reports does not guarantee adoption.

Unlike baseball, where "If you build it, they will come" often holds true, in this context, simply creating new reports does not guarantee adoption.

Develop, govern, educate, measure, and repeat

In the previous section, we discussed lack of awareness as a major barrier to fully leveraging reports and dashboards. Users often rely on familiar, manual processes to access data, showing limited interest or time to adapt to new methods. Thus, implementing a comprehensive, data-driven enablement plan is crucial for effective adoption. The approach should be comprehensive as users' primary concern is accessing necessary data and insights, regardless of whether it originates from HRMS, from people data platform, or elsewhere. Essential strategies include: 

Focus on impactful enablement: Use the platform to monitor report and dashboard adoption rates across various regions and user profiles. Pinpoint where adoption lags significantly from target, and work with leaders to get their support in motivating their teams to embrace the new solution. If old systems are still in use, secure leaders' agreement to decommission these as part of the transition. Limit “spray and pray” enablement initiatives that don't have concrete targets that impact adoption or that lack defined responsibility.

Embed training into daily operations and focus on actions: Enablement should highlight the business decision the reports support, not just their features. Work with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to explain the purpose of each report, saving the operational details for self-service resources. For instance, during compensation cycles, provide clear details about how a compensation report can create concrete insights for users to take actions.

Unified branding for communication: Treat the report portfolio as a product line, maintaining consistent naming and branding. Unify customer support, governance, terminology, reports, and analytics under a single brand identity. Promote the reports as dependable insight sources, steering the conversation away from the technicalities of the underlying systems, which are of little interest to the end-users.

These approaches will facilitate a smooth adoption of your transformation, ensuring easier adaptation and higher adoption rates among users.

Our Experience with Workforce360

Workforce360 is deliberately designed to prioritize strategic reports that leverage data from multiple systems, offering integrated reporting experiences tailored to specific roles within the organization. Senior leaders gain access to essential trends aligned with corporate and HR strategic objectives. Conversely, HR functional leaders, such as those responsible for Compensation or Talent Acquisition, receive more comprehensive insights related to their specific areas of responsibility. At the same time, these metrics and talent decisions are also accessible to Human Resource Professionals (HRPs) to ensure accountability across the rest of the enterprise, fostering a company-wide culture of data-driven decision-making.

As part of our strategy, we fully embraced a 'one-stop-shop' model for reports and insights. Deliberately, we chose not to promote Workforce360 under its own name. Instead, we adopted a distinct brand, 'Your Insight.'. For users, the origin of a report – whether it comes from HRMS, Workforce360, or another technology – is not their primary concern. What matters most to them is having a centralized location where they can access everything they need: reports, a dictionary, governance, security, and enablement resources. This strategic approach simplifies the user experience, emphasizing the practicality and accessibility of the provided insights.

Your Insight is presented as a one-stop-shop experience designed to enhance business and workforce outcomes. Here are some of the features we built:

Personalized user experience: Users are presented with a curated list of essential experiences that cater to their unique HR job roles. Whether they are an HR Partner, Compensation Expert, Talent Acquisition Professional, or any other role, Your Insight ensures that the right information is delivered to the right individual, empowering them to make informed decisions.

Focus on actionable insights tied to strategic goals. Your Insight empowers HR professionals with the information they require to make well-informed decisions. Instead of presenting raw data and reports, Your Insight structures all its content around specific business actions. Notably, it provides specific data and insights for various HR objectives, with a focus on retaining top talent, or bolstering strategic skills.

Intuitive search functionality: Your Insight offers robust search functionality that enables users to swiftly locate the reports, data, or metrics they need. Whether users enter keywords like 'attrition,' 'headcount,' or 'compensation,' or use the filtering options, they can effortlessly pinpoint relevant reports and dashboards. Recognizing that not all reports hold the same importance for every user, Your Insight allows users to 'pin' their favorite reports for quick access. This feature promotes efficiency and enhances user satisfaction.

Report guidance: In order to improve usability, Your Insight offers in-depth descriptions for every report. The report pages provide extensive instructions on how to effectively employ these reports. As an added benefit, microlearning resources are available and seamlessly integrated with IBM's Learning Management System. This means that any learning conducted through Your Insight contributes to individuals' annual learning hours and is readily accessible within their Learning portfolio.

A single channel for all support needs: While we strongly encourage self-service consumption of insights, there may be instances when users require additional assistance. To cater to this, Your Insight incorporates an integrated request management system that links users' needs with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). This ensures a seamless connection between users seeking help and the experts who can provide the necessary support.

This second installment of the series presented an integrated method for deploying reports and dashboards extensively to over 2000 HR and non-HR professionals who takes data-driven talent decisions. It's worth noting that employees and managers don't directly access data through Workforce-360 reports, but mostly use HRMS-based data for reporting. Nevertheless, they utilize data and insights from the platform are incorporated into their workflows, such as making compensation decisions, searching for new job opportunities, identifying areas for reskilling, or chatting with AskHR digital advisors, among others. We will discuss those scenarios in an upcoming article.

Thanks for spending time reading the article! I'm curious to hear about your experiences with people analytics and people data platforms. What challenges are you encountering to drive impact? If you've had any notable successes or lessons learned, I'd love to learn from them.

In the upcoming segment, we will shift our focus to the critical issue of prioritization. We recognize prioritization as the main risk that could diminish the effectiveness and impact of a people data platform and the broader field of people analytics.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. If you're interested in these topics and IBM’s internal people data transformation, I would be delighted if you joined my People Data Platform monthly newsletter.