Short answer
People analytics is the craft of using workforce data responsibly to answer defined questions and improve people decisions. Use it to assess question quality, method, limits, and responsible sharing, not whether a dashboard looks busy or a metric moved after the fact.
About People analytics
Uses workforce data responsibly to answer defined questions and improve people decisions. The work names the question, the method, the limits of the data, and who may see identifiable information.
Use this competency for
- Roles that answer people questions with workforce data, including hiring, retention, pay, or process measures.
- Work that must state definitions, caveats, and access rules so a decision maker can act without misreading the result.
Do not use this competency for
- Do not use it to rate dashboard decoration, tool preference, or whether someone ran the hiring process itself.
Important distinctions
Workforce planning
Workforce planning forecasts capacity and proposes staffing actions. People analytics answers a defined question with workforce data and may inform that plan without owning the forecast.
Talent acquisition
Talent acquisition runs hiring against a defined job need. People analytics may study a hiring funnel, but it does not replace the hiring process.
Expectations by level
IC1
Defined reporting with checks
Produces defined workforce reports with guidance, checks metric definitions and completeness, and withholds identifiable data from audiences that should not see it.
Observable behaviors
- Pulls the agreed report using the documented definition and records the as-of date.
- Flags missing fields, duplicate people, or a definition that does not match the question asked.
- Removes or aggregates identifiable records before sharing with a broader audience.
Examples
- Delivers a monthly attrition report, notes that three exits lack a reason code, and does not share names with a cross-team list.
- Stops a requested cut that would identify a single person on a small team and offers an aggregated view instead.
IC2
Independent question answering
Independently answers a complete people question, chooses a method that fits the data, states uncertainty, and ties the finding to a decision the audience can take.
Observable behaviors
- Restates the decision the analysis should inform before choosing metrics or cuts.
- Shows the method, time window, and population so another analyst can reproduce the result.
- Names what the data cannot support, including small samples and missing fields.
Examples
- Answers whether a location has higher regrettable exits, defines regrettable, and shows the count is too small for a strong claim.
- Compares offer-accept rates by job family with the same date window and lists roles excluded for incomplete records.
IC3
Responsible analytics for decisions
Frames people questions with stakeholders, sets data-use and access rules, and designs analyses that change a people decision without overstating what the data can support.
Observable behaviors
- Agrees the question, the decision, the audience, and the access rule before the analysis starts.
- Sets reusable metric definitions and quality checks other people can apply without a private explanation.
- Presents options and limits so leaders can decide, instead of treating a chart as a verdict.
Examples
- Facilitates a retention question with People and Finance, publishes the definition, and withholds identifiable case lists from the wide readout.
- Replaces a vanity headcount chart with a decision brief that names the action, the uncertainty, and the next data needed.