#PeopleAnalytics15 Data storytelling using Technology ~ Strategic Human Capital Management (HCM) Blog

Monday, 27 April 2015

#PeopleAnalytics15 Data storytelling using Technology

What I really liked about Tucana HR's Analytics conference was the exhibition. Normally I just pop round a conference exhibition but spend nearly all my time in the conference sessions. Here I found the exhibition engrossing.

I first talked to Revelian from Australia. They have a couple of interesting analytical tools. One was a recruitment game, Theme Park Hero, which produces feedback on abilities as an alternative to psychometrics, a bit like Knack's Wasabi Waiter, or Balloon Brigade. They also have a role for analysing email traffic, reviewing roles and behaviours and visualising these through social networks. I thought the graphics in the game looked a bit dated but the analytics looked great.

Then there was OrgVue, the closest equivalent to Tableau in the HR space, which I know from the iHR competitition at HR Tech Europe when I was judge / conference chair.

I love OrgVue's visualisations but I was possibly even more attracted by a new competitor, Talent Lab (pictured above.) I thought OrgVue probably won out in terms of using their tool to update the master data. Talent Lab was ahead on interrogating data using different categories and seeing the visualisation change as the new search terms took effect.

I really liked the way these systems demonstrated the key storytelling principles described by Cole Nussbaumer, eg focusing attention, removing clutter and in particular using motion.

This capability is important as to me, it's what makes the tools analytics as well as purely visualisations. Anthony Hesketh was talking the need and opportunity to ask a question, then another question, then another question. And it's the ability to interrogate data, particularly visually, as shown above, which make this type of iterative insight generation not just possible but really easy.