Why HR Departments Should Be Embracing Big Data

When you hear the term Big Data you might associate it with certain functions of an organization, like marketing, product development or customer relationship management. You may not think about HR as part of this equation.

By definition, human resources is intrinsically tied to the personnel within an organization. From hiring, to training and administration, people are at the core of HR. So in a sector that requires a high degree of human interaction, businesses might ask, what does that have to do with Big Data?

It’s hard to deny that technology has transformed the way companies approach staffing, with more tools to help find the strongest candidate for a position, at the right time and in the most strategic way.

Here’s an example: millions of job-seekers turn to Monster to upload their resume and be considered for open positions. As you might imagine, this creates a massive volume of data. Employers come to us with a particular need for talent and using data analysis, we can tap into our database to pull out a tiered list of the strongest candidates. But organizations are also optimizing their internal processes to determine their needs on the long-term.

The Role of Analytics

So what role can big data play?

As Harvard University professor Gary King stated, “Big data is not about the data.” Ultimately, it’s about what is done with the data. This is where predictive analytics comes in.

In the past, companies might have used analytics for the staffing basics of who, when and why. We see the potential that mining big data can bring when it comes to how predictive analytics is changing the way businesses find and retain top talent. Businesses can use big data to be competitive in a wide range of ways:

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