Retention, selection & attraction. These are the key challenges for stakeholders and the journey begins with the data. In the fight against attrition, companies spend $$$ to retain quality employees through Learning & Development. But where to spend that money? In this article we discuss how one company’s People Analytics Leader secured a $1.5 million investment into learning and development programs for it’s staff.

How could 6,000 performance reviews lead to an investment of 1.5 million into L&D? The data was revealing. When People Analyst, we’ll just call him “A-Rod”, joined his company he took on this mammoth project of analyzing 6k performance reviews from entry level to director level. In the data set, A-Rod identified 12k unique words that came up most often in those performance reviews and from there identified the two skills that matter most to everyone at the company.

He identified two skills that matter most to everyone at the company.

It was then that A-Rod built his case for the following initiatives for change:

1. Restructuring reviews expectations.

2. Restructuring the recruitment processes.

3. Ensuring all employees were trained on those two skills that mattered most.

A-Rod pitched his findings to the executive board who moved quickly of the initiatives recommended. The company granted a $1.5 million investment into Learning and Development for training employees on the two skills that mattered most. The company restructured performance reviews and ensured that candidates were screened heavily for the two skills that mattered most. This is the power of People Analytics for corporations savvy enough to asks the right questions and it is changing the way corporations make decisions.