Cracking the first mile of HR people data
A data readiness imperative
Organisations all want to harness people data. We all know how crucial it is to get the most out of what we’ve already got – and what we’ll collect in the future. But many of our clients, contacts and friends in the HR field get stuck before they even open Power BI (other packages are available).
A common obstacle? Data locked away in proprietary HR systems and third‑party platforms. Even when you can export it, the output is often, well, “messy”. Formats are inconsistent, there are duplicate columns, ambiguous labels, and key fields missing to protect PII – fields you’d really value for linking with other datasets. Fixing all of this takes substantial cleaning, preparation and, in many cases, calls to the tech support teams behind those platforms.
This initial data hygiene stage can feel daunting. HR teams can spend weeks reconciling fields like “full‑time permanent” vs “FT Permanent”, correcting picklists and merging conflicting records. It’s vital work – if inputs are unreliable, outputs will be too – but it rarely features in project plans. Best case, it delays analytics, worst case, the whole project stalls.
Cloud HR systems add to the challenge by limiting customisation, so exports include irrelevant or outdated fields. That misalignment between what the business needs and what the standard data delivers adds even more burden on BI teams.
Before diving into dashboards and visualisations, we all need to acknowledge this under-estimated labour. Building a baseline of clean, standardised, purposeful data isn’t a luxury – it’s the essential first step. Planning for it, and allowing enough time and resource, can turn analytics from a frustrating ordeal into a genuine strategic asset.
Have you faced similar struggles with the “first mile” of working with people data? How did your team navigate it?
Read more in my recent article: Laying the groundwork for powerful HR dashboards – A data readiness imperative.
I hope you find it helpful. Get in touch if you’d like to have a chat about getting the best from your people data.
