At the AHRI National Convention in Sydney this August, Steve lit up the stage with a message HR leaders could not ignore: being data driven is not about dashboards, it is about decisions.
The mandate for data driven HR is crystal clear, but the pathway forward often feels like a maze. Steve’s session, Ignite Your People Data: A Leader's Playbook for Impact and Innovation, cut through the noise with a practical and energizing framework: Identify, Overcome, Leverage.
Steve’s first challenge: Stop looking at HR data.
Yes, you read that right. Instead of obsessing over turnover charts and engagement scores in isolation, start with the business problem.
What outcomes does the business care about?
Where are results slipping, such as customer satisfaction, growth, or capability gaps?
When you link HR data to business outcomes, executives lean in. HR is no longer just tracking metrics. It's solving business problems.
Fear of failure? Skeptics in the room? Steve has been there.
The antidote is the small win. Test quick, low risk ideas with the data you already have. Maybe it's linking absenteeism with performance dips, or exploring whether engagement truly influences customer ratings.
Each quick win builds credibility and appetite for more. As Steve put it, “I would rather get many small wins than wait years for one big win.”
AI is not here to replace HR. It's here to supercharge it.
Steve showed how AI can crunch messy datasets, spot relationships, and even generate compelling visuals and summaries. The trick is to treat AI like a graduate level intern: clear instructions in, useful insights out.
The caveat is to trust but verify. HR leaders must apply their experience and context to ensure AI’s answers pass the common sense test.
The path to becoming truly data-driven isn't linear. It's a winding trail with setbacks, experiments, and breakthroughs.
Steve left the audience with a challenge: What's one thing you can do next week with your data to help the business make a better decision?
Because progress in People Analytics is not about fancy algorithms. It's about showing up at the decision-making table with receipts, clarity, and confidence.
👉 Were you at AHRI NEC 2025? What small wins are you taking back to your organization? Connect with us and let us know what you thought.