Informed Decision Making: Looking beyond the data
“The key to good decision making is not knowledge. It is understanding. We are swimming in the former. We are desperately lacking in the later.”
Organizations have access to more data than ever before. Within the HR department alone you have employee engagement rates, diversity, turnover, performance metrics, cost per hire, and so many more.
This data is only valuable if you are able to understand what it represents. Mere knowledge of these statistics doesn’t necessarily provide wisdom or insight. Instead, we need to understand — dig deeper, find connections and weave information into meaning. The full story is composed by both the quantitative and the qualitative.
To expand beyond the conditioned, “knowledge-only” approach to decision making, you need to look out, look in and look for. Look OUT for new perspectives by expanding beyond your own biases and assumptions. Look INTO the facts and what’s influencing the data. Look FOR patterns and the common denominator.
To gain this level of understanding, HR partners and stakeholders need to incorporate interviews, actively solicit feedback through conversation and provide a safe space for people to share their true perspectives. While these methods require more time and higher levels of empathy and interpersonal skills, the understanding they enable is well worth the investment. This approach allows stakeholders to make decisions that are not just well-informed but perceptive and forward thinking.