Cookies help us display personalized product recommendations and ensure you have great shopping experience.

By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
  • Analytics
    AnalyticsShow More
    data analytics and truck accident claims
    How Data Analytics Reduces Truck Accidents and Speeds Up Claims
    7 Min Read
    predictive analytics for interior designers
    Interior Designers Boost Profits with Predictive Analytics
    8 Min Read
    image fx (67)
    Improving LinkedIn Ad Strategies with Data Analytics
    9 Min Read
    big data and remote work
    Data Helps Speech-Language Pathologists Deliver Better Results
    6 Min Read
    data driven insights
    How Data-Driven Insights Are Addressing Gaps in Patient Communication and Equity
    8 Min Read
  • Big Data
  • BI
  • Exclusive
  • IT
  • Marketing
  • Software
Search
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Big Data Analytics the Ultimate Solution for HR Woes?
Share
Notification
Font ResizerAa
SmartData CollectiveSmartData Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • About
  • Help
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-23 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
SmartData Collective > Big Data > Data Mining > Big Data Analytics the Ultimate Solution for HR Woes?
Big DataData MiningPredictive AnalyticsWorkforce AnalyticsWorkforce Data

Big Data Analytics the Ultimate Solution for HR Woes?

paulbarsch
paulbarsch
4 Min Read
SHARE

A terrible global economy, too few jobs, too many applicants, and far too many resumes. Sounds like a ripe opportunity for “Big Data” analytics to sort through the plethora of personalities and find needles in the proverbial haystack doesn’t it?  Not so fast. In a rush to use sophisticated algorithms to find and hire the right people, employers may be confusing correlation with cause.

A terrible global economy, too few jobs, too many applicants, and far too many resumes. Sounds like a ripe opportunity for “Big Data” analytics to sort through the plethora of personalities and find needles in the proverbial haystack doesn’t it?  Not so fast. In a rush to use sophisticated algorithms to find and hire the right people, employers may be confusing correlation with cause.

The Wall Street Journal published an article which highlighted how companies are using analytics and personality tests to sort through thousands of applications for limited job openings. With too many applications, employers are resorting to machine analytics to parse resumes, discover keywords, and prioritize potential interviewees. 

Xerox, for example, claims hiring software is used for all of its 48,700 call center jobs to find employees that have personality, patience, and persistence.  By having software mine and “score” the best candidates for these types of jobs, Xerox claims this analytics approach has cut attrition by 20%.

More Read

Image
Big Data: Careful! When Correlations Go Crazy
The Data Quality Tipping Point
Big Data = Big Money: The ROI of Business Intelligence
Leverage These Data-Driven Metrics to Choose the Best Hosting Provider
The Internet of Things and Applied Digital Strategy

With a tough global economy, and high unemployment rates, employers are literally deluged with stacks and stacks of resumes. That’s where Big Data analytics comes into play. Machines are increasingly reading and scoring applicants for call-backs and interviews. And personality tests are chock full of data, which are then used to predict the suitability of candidates for a specific job based on how they answer a battery of questions.

Such tests and software are helping employers, “gauge an applicant’s emotional stability, work ethic and attitude toward drugs and alcohol,” according to the WSJ article.  And these algorithmic approaches are arguably saving companies money in hiring, attrition and fraud costs.

However, potential employees are figuring out how to game the system. Resumes are now routinely stacked with so many buzzwords that if a human HR professional reviewed them, they’d be close to incomprehensible.  And there are plenty of online forums with tips on how to outmaneuver personality tests. It seems like a cat and mouse game with no clear winner.

Worse, employers are confusing correlation with cause. By claiming hiring software lowers attrition or reduces fraud, employers are only focusing on the front end of the employment lifecycle (hiring processes) and missing the bigger picture.

For example, if an employer states hiring analytics have reduced call center attrition by 20%, they fail to recognize hundreds of other factors that determine whether an employee decides to stay with a company including culture, work environment, direct reports, salary, incentives, economic conditions and more.

Ultimately, declarative statements such as “this software cuts hiring costs by 20%” is made by a person who does not understand that there is almost always a “web of causation”, especially in complex decision making processes such as hiring.

As with anything, analytics should be used as a tool in key decision making processes. It’s better than flying blind. But let’s not draw the conclusion that such tools are beyond a shadow of a doubt helping companies hire better people for a given job.  We can have a degree of belief, but let’s leave certainty to the physicists and economists. Oh wait, they get it wrong too.

 

Share This Article
Facebook Pinterest LinkedIn
Share

Follow us on Facebook

Latest News

data analytics and truck accident claims
How Data Analytics Reduces Truck Accidents and Speeds Up Claims
Analytics Big Data Exclusive
predictive analytics for interior designers
Interior Designers Boost Profits with Predictive Analytics
Analytics Exclusive Predictive Analytics
big data and cybercrime
Stopping Lateral Movement in a Data-Heavy, Edge-First World
Big Data Exclusive
AI and data mining
What the Rise of AI Web Scrapers Means for Data Teams
Artificial Intelligence Big Data Exclusive

Stay Connected

1.2kFollowersLike
33.7kFollowersFollow
222FollowersPin

You Might also Like

big data strategies for marketing
Big DataExclusiveMarketing

10 Effective Big Data Strategies For Marketing Online

8 Min Read

5 Sure-Fire Ways to Use Analytics to Become a Social Business

5 Min Read
cloud computing
Best PracticesBig DataBusiness IntelligenceCloud ComputingData ManagementITLocation

Welcome to the Cloud Neighborhood

7 Min Read

Time-warping: How can it help predict baseball?

4 Min Read

SmartData Collective is one of the largest & trusted community covering technical content about Big Data, BI, Cloud, Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, IoT & more.

ai is improving the safety of cars
From Bolts to Bots: How AI Is Fortifying the Automotive Industry
Artificial Intelligence
giveaway chatbots
How To Get An Award Winning Giveaway Bot
Big Data Chatbots Exclusive

Quick Link

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Follow US
© 2008-25 SmartData Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Go to mobile version
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?