Big data and HR analytics

IES Perspectives on HR 2014

Fairhurst P | HR Network Paper mp97 | Institute for Employment Studies | Jan 2014

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If you have half an eye on the latest hot topics in business it has become hard to miss the phrases ‘big data’, ‘data science’ and ‘analytics’. Indeed in their 2011 report McKinsey & Co described big data as ‘The next frontier for innovation, competition, and productivity.’ But does it have anything to do with HR; after all people are unique and unpredictable and so can’t be quantified, can they?

The paper was also published as an article in IES Perspectives on HR 2014: HR responding to threats and opportunities.