The Rise of HR Analytics: Exploring Its Implications from a Developing Country Perspective

Abstract

Effectively managing human capital is critical to organizations today. This has strategic implications for businesses to gain competitive advantage. HR analytics has proven to increase HR’s contribution to the bottom line. The objective of the study is to investigate the implications of HR analytics in a developing country, Ghana. Adopting a qualitative approach to research and using a thematic analysis, Twenty (20) organizations were purposively sampled from public and private organizations in Greater Accra Region-Ghana. The study indicated that HR analytics makes employee sourcing meaningful towards employee performance and finally to increase productivity, and to retain talents for continuous growth and effectiveness. Most organizations do not use HR analytics and those that use it lack analytics competencies, management support, possess poor data and/or are unable to use analytical tools effectively. Though analytics is widely used in developed countries, developing countries are yet to glean the full benefits. It is recommended that educational and professional institutions review their course catalogues to include courses in HR analytics in training experts in the field. The great insights from the study will add up to existing literature on HR analytics and to provide a framework for organizations to design HR solutions to employee management challenges.