Understanding the Difference Between HR Analytics and Workforce Analytics
People often get confused by HR analytics and workforce analytics – with many even regarding them as one and the same. But although there is some overlap between the two, when you break things down you’ll start to see that there are key differences between them.
The main reason HR analytics and workforce analytics are similar is because they both involve obtaining and analyzing employee data. However that is where the similarities end as they each have a very different focus.
“What is HR Analytics?”
To put it simply, HR analytics involves obtaining and analyzing data that is related to HR operations. That can include areas such as talent recruitment, payroll, employee onboarding, employee retention, and more.
Because of how diverse it is, there are many different types of tools that fall under the HR analytics banner. For example one tool may be an information system that store data related to payroll and attendance, while another may store and analyze data for new candidates and allow applications to be sorted or filtered.
On top of all that, HR analytics may also capture and analyze specific KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) related to human resources. Some of the more common KPIs may include employee turnover rate, employee satisfaction, time to hire, and so on.
All in all, this type of analytics encompasses anything that specializes in HR-related issues – no more, and no less.
“What is Workforce Analytics?”
In contrast to HR analytics, workforce analytics involves obtaining and analyzing data related to the workforce in general as well as individual employees specifically. It includes tracking the work that employees do, how they spend their time at work, and measuring various metrics linked to productivity.
Ultimately the main goal of workforce analytics is to optimize how employees spend their time and improve their productivity. To that end employee monitoring tools such as Controlio are used that include features for time tracking as well as activity monitoring to gather the relevant data.
With Controlio’s features you will be able to identify exactly how much time employees spend working and whether or not they’re slacking off, or working excessively and risk burning out. Additionally you can view their active/idle time, what websites they visit, and what apps they use to check if they are distracted and wasting time during working hours.
Essentially the workforce analytics in Controlio will let you check how productive employees are and whether or not there is any cause for concern. Its reports will also provide a more general view of workforce trends that you may need to act on.
Overall this makes workforce analytics an important tool to manage employees, especially in today’s day and age where most employees work digitally and some may even work remotely.
“Which Do You Need?”
Knowing the difference between HR analytics and workforce analytics is one thing – but the final question you need to ask is: Which one do you need?
On the whole, workforce analytics is something that practically any company can benefit from and it can potentially have a huge impact on your bottom line by helping you improve productivity. At the same time HR analytics can have just as big an impact, but mostly affects larger companies that need to optimize their HR processes due to the scale of their workforce.
All said and done however, both HR analytics and workforce analytics can be invaluable tools to help improve your decision-making capabilities due to the data and analysis that they provide. As such it really boils down to where your priorities lie at the moment.