Big data, evidence-based, predictive analytics, today these terms are all over the place. Is this just another fad or an irreversible trend? An increasing group of HR leaders relies on science, critical thinking and data analyses to make decisions.
Evidence-based HR, however, is still perceived by many as too time-consuming, narrow or impractical. Meanwhile, evidence-based practice is becoming mainstream in many other disciplines (like medicine). This is the momentum for pioneering HR leaders to seize the opportunity and make a difference with evidence. As part of an inclusive approach, valuing different perspectives.
We will enter into the dialogue about the why, the what, and most of all the how of evidence-based HR. How to get started and how to blend it with softer, less tangible HR practices? A pragmatic introduction, with realistic ambitions and openness towards other approaches.
18. Sources of evidence
problem solution
Practitioners
professional expertise
Organization
internal data
Stakeholders
values and concerns
Scientific literature
empirical studies
Ask
Acquire
Appraise
Aggregate
Apply
Assess
22. 1. Ask: translate a practical issue into an answerable question
2. Acquire: systematically search for and retrieve the evidence
3. Appraise: critically judge the trustworthiness of the evidence
4. Apply: incorporate the evidence into the decision-making process
5. Assess: evaluate the outcome of the decision taken
5 steps of EBmed
28. Evidence-based … whatever
=
the use of evidence from multiple
sources to increase the likelihood of a
favourable outcome
Focus on the decision making process
Think in terms of probability
30. Undermines formal authority
They feel it constrains freedom to make
managerial decisions
Speed valued and rewarded more than accuracy
Feel they cannot use their own experience and
judgment (not true)
Managers not necessarily rewarded for doing
what works (organizations rarely evaluate)
THEY LOVE FADS & QUICK FIXES
Why don’t managers like EBMgt?
41. 1. Incompetent people benefit more from feedback than
highly competent people.
2. Task conflict improves work group performance while
relational conflict harms it.
3. Encouraging employees to participate in decision
making is more effective for improving organizational
performance than setting performance goals.
Likely or unlikely?
42. How evidence-based are HR managers?
959 (US) + 626 (Dutch) HR professionals
35 statements, based on an extensive body of evidence
true / false / uncertain
HR Professionals' beliefs about effective human resource practices: correspondence
between research and practice, (Rynes et al, 2002, Sanders et al 2008)
44. Relying on only 1 source: bad idea!
problem solution
Practitioners
professional expertise
Organization
internal data
Stakeholders
values and concerns
Scientific literature
empirical studies
Ask
Acquire
Appraise
Aggregate
Apply
Assess
45. Discuss with your neighbor (1 min)
Over a 5 year period,
why is an orthopedic surgeon's
experience, as a rule, more trustworthy
than an change manager’s experience?
0
46. Developing expertise
1. A sufficiently regular, predictable environment
2. Numerous opportunities to practice
3. Receive accurate (objective) feedback
The management domain is not highly
favorable to expertise!
57. “I’ve been studying judgment for 45 years, and I’m no better
than when I started. I make extreme predictions. I’m over-
confident. I fall for every one of the biases.”
62. How can we increase job satisfaction
and employee engagement?
Dear HR department,
63.
64. Evidence-based approach, step 1: ASK
problem solution
Practitioners
professional expertise
Organization
internal data
Stakeholders
values and concerns
Scientific literature
empirical studies
Ask
Acquire
Appraise
Aggregate
Apply
Assess
65. What is the problem?
Why is this a problem: what are its organizational
consequences?
How big: what is its impact on the organization when
nothing is done?
Why does this problem exist, what is the assumed
major cause?
What is the assumed causal mechanism? How does
the cause lead to the problem and its consequences?
Step 1: What is the problem?
67. A happy & engaged employee
is a productive employee
Fundamental assumption
68. What is the evidence for this assumption?
Where multiple sources consulted?
How trustworthy is the evidence?
Step 2: What is the evidence?
69. Let’s have a look
Professional
experience and
judgment
Organizational data,
facts and figures
Stakeholders’ values
and concerns
Scientific
research
outcomes
Ask
Acquire
Appraise
Apply
Assess
problem solution
79. Population? Knowledge workers!
Whether nurses, lawyers, engineers, managers, or staff members,
nowadays most workers in organizations are highly dependent on
information and communication technology and are involved in
work that involves a high level of cognitive activity.
80. Question
“Which of the factors that are related to
the performance of knowledge workers
are most widely studied and what is
known of their effect?”
95. …how employees feel the supervisor
helps them in times of need, praises
them for a job well done or recognizes
them for extra effort.
Perceived supervisory support
99. Information sharing?
…refers to how teams pool and access their
knowledge and expertise – which positively
affects decision making and team processes.
This has led to the idea of a team ‘Transactive
Memory System’ (TMS), which can be thought of
as a collective memory in a collective mind -
enabling a team to think and act together
104. Evidence-based … whatever
=
the use of evidence from multiple
sources to increase the likelihood of a
favourable outcome
Focus on the decision making process
Think in terms of probability
105. Multiple sources of evidence
problem solution
Practitioners
professional expertise
Organization
internal data
Stakeholders
values and concerns
Scientific literature
empirical studies
Ask
Acquire
Appraise
Aggregate
Apply
Assess