The nature and value of recruitment and talent management analytics : a systematic literature review

Abstract

Introduction: In the current rapidly changing world of work, organisations are investing increasingly in workforce planning. Throughout times, recruiting and retaining talented employees have been one of the most complex problems facing employers. Human Resource (HR) metrics and analytics is still a relatively untouched tool used by HR managers. However, HR practitioners are engaging in an era where recruitment and talent retention processes are becoming predictive and provide several benefits to both the employer and employee. By understanding how data can be used for insightful decisions that generate business results, HR professionals need to exploit the gap. Currently, they have the opportunity to utilise their extensive data sets by providing the organisation with the relevant and strategic analytics for informed decision-making. Research purpose: The purpose of the systematic literature review was to investigate the nature and value that metrics and analytics on recruitment and talent management add to organisations. Motivation for the study: Throughout history, people were considered as the most valuable assets in which an organisation can invest. However, HR failed to take responsibility for the programmes and initiatives which they developed and implemented. By developing a means to measure HR programmes and initiatives and assess the performance and development of employees, HR professionals will be able to demonstrate its effect on the business's 'bottom line'. Consequently, top management would then be more willing to invest money and time in HR-related activities. HR metrics and analytics will allow top management to make informed decisions on HR initiatives and programmes such as recruitment and talent management. In a volatile business environment HR departments need to prove the monetary value of the HR functions to top management. For HR analytics to be effective, it is vital that the organisation applies the correct metrics that is aligned with the overall business strategy and objectives. Research design, approach and method: For the purpose of the present study, a systematic literature review was conducted to determine the nature and value-add of recruitment and talent management analytics in an organisation. Main findings: The first objective was to determine the importance of recruitment and talent retention metrics and analytics. Results show that organisations currently struggle to recruit and retain talented employees, a factor that ultimately impacts the success of the organisation. The review provided evidence of organisations that realised the importance of recruitment and talent retention analytics by also using it to inform their human capital planning. The second objective assessed the use of metrics and analytics to manage recruitment and talent. The research indicated that organisations apply various recruitment and talent retention metrics in different ways and for diverse purposes. A possible reason may be that organisations have different data sets and also use these sets differently to develop HR-related metrics suited for the specific company. The third objective was to identify standards for metrics on recruitment and talent management. The research indicates that there is no systematic approach to evaluate recruitment and talent management. This is a topic for future research. The fourth and final objective investigated the role of recruitment and talent retention analytics in management's decision-making. Here the literature indicates that organisations have invested highly in HR analytics, and even appoint an analytics team within the company with the sole purpose of evaluating the organisation's data sets. This attest to the value management attaches to HR analytics as important contribution to the business's decision-making process, and ultimately the success of the organisation as a whole. Limitations/future research: The present research had to factor in several delimitations related to the context, constructs and theoretical perspectives of the study. The researcher firstly identified that the research context was limited to the Human Resources (HR) segment of organisations and business sector. Secondly, only HR-related analytics were used for the purpose of this study. The researcher searched, analysed and made assumptions about this research topic by consulting mainly recent (over the past 10 years) and authentic resources. Lastly, the assumptions made in the study are based on data the researcher incorporated from selected literature. Conclusion: It is evident from the findings that HR professionals began understanding the impact of recruitment and talent retention analytics on validating HR contributions to the organisation. Furthermore, it is clear that, on the other hand, management does acknowledge the importance and value that recruitment and talent retention analytics add to the organisation's 'bottom line'. This allows management to make insightful decisions, and ultimately retain a competitive edge in the market.