Welcome to issue #3 of Data Driven HR, my monthly newsletter on people analytics, the future of work and the 'datification' of the HR function.
Each time I'll highlight some of the articles that captured my attention as well as provide a short précis of what I've been up to.
This issue focuses on one of the hottest areas of people analytics and HR - Organisational Network Analysis (ONA) - with articles covering what it is, why it is growing in importance, what companies can use it for and examples of case studies and research using network analysis. A high-level landscape of the vendors operating in the ONA space is also provided.
I hope you enjoy issue #3 if you do please share with your network and encourage them to subscribe!
The vendors
As interest and adoption of ONA spikes so the vendors operating within the space continue to diversify and expand. As I am regularly asked by practitioners who these vendors are, I thought it would be helpful to provide a summary (see Figure 1). I have grouped 12 vendors into those operating either in the 'Active' (primarily survey based) or 'Passive' (e.g. email/calendar meta data, in/external social media and collaboration platforms, wearables etc) spaces - with two vendors identifying themselves as operating in both. At this point it's important to say that it is not necessarily a case of either Active or Passive as the best solution could very well be a combination of the two.
Figure 1: ONA vendor scan: 12 companies shaping the space (Source: David Green)
What is ONA and why it is important?
Rob Cross - What is ONA?
Who better to answer the question 'What is ONA?' than arguably the world's leading expert in the subject - Professor Rob Cross, who in this article provides a succinct introduction of how "ONA can provide an x-ray into the inner workings of an organisation". A great place to start as is Rob's guest appearance on the PAFOW podcast with Al Adamsen (listen here).
Chloé Meredith - Answering 5 frequently asked questions about Organisational Network Analysis
This is a really helpful article by Chloé Meredith, who works with Luk Smeyers at iNostix (now Deloitte People Analytics). Chloé answers five frequently asked questions about ONA such as common use cases, how to ensure privacy and key learnings from previous projects.
Josh Bersin - People Analytics Grows Up: Healthy New Focus On Productivity
The central theme of Josh Bersin's analysis of the evolution of people analytics is how ONA is being used to identify what drives employee productivity through unlocking insights into how teams work and collaborate and how to mimic the behaviours of high-performers.
Jeppe Vilstrup Hansgaard - Why Organizational Network Analysis is a MUST-KNOW Tool for Leaders
Jeppe is CEO at Innovisor (one of the vendors highlighted above in the Active ONA space), and this article provides a compelling case on the what, why and how of ONA. Dig into some of Jeppe's other articles - and those of his colleague Richard Santos Lalleman - which together provide a rich mine of information on use cases and outcomes from ONA projects.
What can companies use ONA for?
Antony Ebelle-Ebanda & Greg Newman - Organisational Network Analysis and the Future of Work
Antony's and Greg's is a not only a terrific primer on what ONA is and why it’s growing in importance, but even more helpfully highlights a number of ways that companies can use ONA. Examples are provided on how ONA can be applied to support i) identification of HiPOs (ii) measurement of leadership behaviours, iii) improving employee wellness, and iv) increasing diversity and inclusion.
Alia Crocker, Rob Cross and Heidi K. Gardner - How to Make Sure Agile Teams Can Work Together
This study describes how ONA was applied to help foster collaboration and agility in employee networks where it matters most - at the point of execution, where teams are working on new products, strategic initiatives, or with top clients (see Figure 2).
Figure 2: To manage collaboration, pay attention to four points of execution (Source: Harvard Business Review, Alia Crocker, Rob Cross and Heidi K. Gardner)
John Boudreau & Rob Cross - It’s All Connected: Unearthing The Potential in Hidden Collaborative Networks
This article in Visier's Clarity Magazine describes how ONA can be applied to identify key influencers, connectors and hidden stars within an organisation, bolster succession planning, highlight employees at risk of burnout and support diversity and inclusion programs. It also provides a link to a fascinating case study at Juniper Networks, where ONA provided new insight that helped drive better customer service and satisfaction.
Philip Arkcoll - Improving Team Productivity with ONA
A really good example from Philip Arkcoll of Worklytics on how ONA can provide a fresh lens on the levers that drive improvements in team collaboration and productivity.
Case studies and research
Michael Arena, Rob Cross, Jonathan Sims, and Mary Uhl-Bien - How to Catalyze Innovation in Your Organization
One of the most powerful examples of ONA is how GM used it to stimulate innovation and effectively disrupt themselves from the inside. The case study and the academic research behind it is documented in this wonderful MIT Sloan Management Review article.
Ethan S. Bernstein & Stephen Turban - The impact of the ‘open’ workspace on human collaboration
This study by Harvard Business School analysed email communications and data from wearable technology to highlight the negative impact of open office spaces.
Dawn Klinghoffer, Candice Young & Xue Liu - To Retain New Hires, Make Sure You Meet with Them in Their First Week
This case study describes how Microsoft’s People Analytics team combined qualitative (survey of new hires at seven and 90 days) and quantitative (calendar and email meta data) data with engagement data to reveal insights to help inform the onboarding process moving forward. The key discovery being that it is critical for a new employee to have a one-on-one meeting with their manager during their first week. Those who did saw early growth in three key areas: network strength and centrality, better quality meetings and early team collaboration.
Stephen Turban, Laura Freeman & Ben Waber - A Study Used Sensors to Show That Men and Women Are Treated Differently at Work
This HBR article documents a study that investigated whether gender differences in behaviour drive gender differences in outcomes at one large multinational.
Ryan Fuller, Nina Shikaloff, Renee Cullinan & Shani Harmon - If You Multitask During Meetings, Your Team Will, Too
Revealing research on two common signals that managers can unintentionally send to their teams, their impact, and recommendations for lessening these unintended consequences. One of these common behaviours is sending emails on Sunday nights, which as Figure 3 below demonstrates sends the message "when I'm on, you need to be too".
Figure 5 - The impact of managers sending emails on a Sunday evening (Source: Microsoft Workplace Analytics, HBR)
Rob Cross, Reb Rebele & Adam Grant - Collaborative Overload
Research across 300 organisations shows that in most cases, 20% to 35% of value-added collaborations come from only 3% to 5% of employees. More fascinating insights from Rob Cross, this time in concert with Adam Grant and Reb Rebele into why the most important employees can suffer from collaborative burnout and what companies should do about it.
Madhura Chakrabarti - How Organisational Network Analysis improved Sales Productivity & Effectiveness
Madhura Chakrabarti of Bersin by Deloitte provides a detailed account of how Ramco deployed TrustSphere’s ONA solution to improve sales effectiveness, reduce time-to-productivity of new hires and reduce attrition.
If you're interested in finding out more about ONA, you must read this book..
Michael Arena - Adaptive Space
I’m currently immersed in Michael Arena’s new book ‘Adaptive Space’. The book describes how, in his role as Chief Talent Officer, Michael applied ONA to foster networks, ideas, information and resources to drive innovation at GM, as well as how other organisations have also applied a similar approach. If you need further endorsement, you might want to check out Bob Sutton’s review here.
…and written by me
The role of Organisational Network Analysis in People Analytics
ONA and its role in people analytics was the subject of my speech at May’s UNLEASH show in Las Vegas and also the theme of this article, which is designed to demystify what has rapidly become a topic du jour for HR and business leaders. It includes a definition of ONA, why the technique is increasing in importance, the difference between active and passive ONA, as well as examples and case studies of what companies are using ONA for.
The 10 best People Analytics articles of June 2018
More articles on ONA feature in my regular monthly round-up of the best articles and podcasts on people analytics, which also includes a special on diversity as well as the latest research by CIPD, LinkedIn and i4CP/ROI Institute on the state of the people analytics space.
What’s coming up…
A spellbinding World Cup has ended. Félicitations to France and commiserations to a brilliant but ultimately unlucky Croatia. It's holiday season in much of Europe and I'm looking forward to our family holiday in Turkey in the second half of August. Before then I'm heading down to Singapore and Australia where I'll be speaking at a number of events and meeting the people analytics communities in Singapore, Melbourne and Sydney. I'm particularly looking forward to speaking at LinkedIn's Talent Intelligence Experience event in Sydney on August 15th, which you can read more about here.
A huge thank you this month to...
So many of you were kind enough to share issue #2 (a Future of Work special) of Data Driven HR. A huge thank you to: Dave Ulrich, Bernard Marr, Michael Carty, Anna Tavis, Andy Spence, Karen Azulai, Karen Rivoire, Or Arieli, Kristin Altorfer, Jan Pieter Janssen, Shujaat Ahmad, Martin Jasovsky, Nicole Hazard, Jesper Petersen, Nigel Guenole, Lewis Garrad, Richard Rosenow, Sophie Rwegera Khadhraoui and indeed everyone else who took the time to read, share and comment. Your support means a lot!