This blog post title says it all, and we have seen it a lot during the past decade. Data, data, and more data. As an industry, human resources is not the most data-savvy — it’s fully recognized that this is a generalization, and the good news is that, we are trending in the right direction. During the past couple of years, we have seen a massive proliferation of work technology — collaboration, employee experience and data management, task management, etc… One of the great results of this proliferation is the access to high-quality data, notably people data, and its strategic use within HR teams.

Focusing specifically on the tech industry, which experiences the most frequent and intense changes of any industry. SMB tech companies usually run with relatively lean HR teams, and ultimately, resources. Gaining access to “people data” through their work platforms (e.g. ATS, payroll and HRIS) is getting easier, but making sense of this data to strategically drive business decisions is still somewhat elusive. Further, overlaying organizational data with industry data is even more difficult. What are the trends across the tech industry – compensation, well-being, performance, recruitment, etc…? Accessing and obtaining this data is either difficult to find, of poor quality and applicability, or extremely expensive. As a result, more industry organizations are putting resources in front of solving this problem.

Vancouver-based TAP Network has been providing invaluable surveys and reports that have allowed tech companies to benchmark their practices against multiple factors. Most recently, OMERS Ventures launched their first-ever global OV People Practices Survey which is aimed to capture real, relevant and current data about how tech companies are operating in today’s environment. This inaugural research initiative will allow companies to segment data based on many factors including geography and company size, and receive practical and tactical suggestions on how they stack up and where they can improve. If you lead HR at a tech company, this research is for you. To access the survey please click on the button below.

Data will always be a source of competitive advantage, specifically high-quality and usable data. HR leaders in tech companies need to be blending own workforce data and industry data to influence and drive important business decisions. It’s a core competency of HR leaders and practitioners today, and if you need help understanding how to up your data analytics game, please reach out to us to talk. But, at the very least, spend 15-20 minutes and participate in the OV People Practices Survey – you’ll obtain invaluable data that you can leverage for future success.