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You see articles like this all the time, where some academics run a relatively-complicated analysis of hiring and recruiting practices through the lens of diversity, and then propose at the end that HR and TA should be more “data-driven” and figure out where their blind spots are with intel.
All well and good, but can HR do that?
I went to a grad program (stupidly, as I’m still in debt) from 2012–2014, and a lot of people who emerged from that took HR roles.
Whenever we had a big data project, like around compensation modeling or High Performance Employee indicators, everyone freaked out. One kid, whose name I think was James (?), was good at the stuff and ended up getting a sick job with United Healthcare doing data analysis within the HR silo. I have no idea where he is now; haven’t thought of him in 6.5 years.
The people that enter HR tend — not always, but tend — to not be very data-savvy or analytical. If you were a true data ninja, why would you ever come in through the HR silo? You can chase more money coming in related to product, operations, sales, etc.
Usually HR is women, often women pre-children, and periodically it’s people who define themselves as “a people person” and then perp walk you to the curb with a cardboard box of…
