Every organization has one or more business intelligence (BI) tools or technologies. Their purpose it to mine and report essential information for your business, so it’s easy to assume that your BI tools can act as workforce analytics tools. They both give you information about your business, so one system should cover both purposes, right?
The truth is, not so much. Business intelligence tools are different from workforce analytics tools in a number of important ways that can cost you time, money, and headaches if you try to force your BI tech into a workforce analytics role.
Who they’re designed for
Unlike workforce analytics, business intelligence tools are designed to be supported by the information technology group. This means that they’re designed for information technologists, not the end user, which can make it difficult for non-experts to get the information they need.
What you need to make it work
If you want to make a workforce analytics tool out of your business intelligence tech, you need to come to the table with a lot of information. To get HR or employee metrics out of your BI, you need to know what to measure, how to measure it, why you’re measuring it, and what to do with the information you find.
Workforce analytics tools, on the other hand, have that information built in to their systems, allowing you to discover trends and patterns in the workforce and get the information that your business needs to grow without effectively building another system.
Business intelligence tools are not designed to give you easy access to the workforce information you need, which workforce analytics tools can present to you quickly and with a fraction of the effort. If you’re looking at investing in a workforce intelligence program, it’s worth the investment to bring in dedicated workforce analytics tools that are built around the entire workforce lifecycle, from hire to retire. Good luck!
