If you've ever pitched a data-driven HR strategy only to hit a political wall, you're not alone.
At this year’s HR Analytics Summit in London, One Model’s Steve Hall pulled back the curtain on why so many People Analytics efforts stall out and what it really takes to break through.
Spoiler: it’s not a lack of dashboards. It’s a lack of influence.
With a PhD in I/O Psychology, and experience leading analytics at PPD and Marriott before joining One Model, Steve has seen hundreds of teams face the same invisible barrier: the gap between technical capability and organizational readiness.
Watch Steve's entire presentation.
Let’s talk about the parts of the talk that every People Analytics leader needs to hear.
Leaders say they want “AI insights in minutes,” but most teams are resourced for “Excel on weekends.” Steve put it bluntly: the challenge isn’t can you deliver value — it’s whether you can sell the idea internally before your budget gets cut or rerouted.
This isn’t about becoming a salesperson. It’s about understanding how power, perception, and politics shape what gets funded — and what doesn’t.
To get the resources you need, you have to frame People Analytics as a business imperative — not a nice-to-have, not a toy for HR, and definitely not just a reporting function.
Every org has its own power grid. Ignore it, and your proposal gets blindsided. Respect it, and you build buy-in before you ever walk into the big meeting.
Steve shared a dead-simple but underused tactic: map your stakeholders by influence and interest. Then, have quiet pre-conversations to learn what they care about. Do they understand analytics? Are they skeptical? Do they have the power to kill a project, even if they’re not officially “on the list”?
Because one stakeholder who feels left out? That’s a lost year. Literally.
Steve’s most controversial (but absolutely true) claim:
A dashboard isn’t strategy. It’s the last step in a long chain of data modeling, governance, storytelling, and trust-building. But too often, stakeholders over-index on the visual — and underfund the engine behind it.
Real analytics maturity means investing in:
A unified, flexible data model
Decision-ready narratives, not reports
Teams that can surface and communicate business-relevant insight
People Analytics isn’t just about surfacing KPIs. It’s about answering urgent business questions faster than your competitors can.
Stop saying “we need funding for a platform.”
Start saying:
“We can reduce decision cycle time by 60%.”
“We can deliver accurate workforce insight in hours, not weeks.”
“We can mitigate data risk and end the ‘three headcount numbers in one meeting’ problem.”
Steve made this clear: leaders don’t fund metrics. They fund capability, scale, speed, and risk mitigation.
And if you don’t make the case for urgency? That “we’ll fund it next year” email is already written.
Even if you win the budget, the battle isn’t over. Steve warned of three traps that can sabotage your strategy post-approval:
The IT Detour
Well-meaning IT teams offer to build it themselves, but HR data is not like finance data. Ask about SLAs, flexibility, and speed before you hand over the keys.
The HRIS Mirage
“Didn’t we already buy something for this?” Be ready to explain why your existing systems aren’t built for cross-functional insight, scale, or AI readiness — without making someone defensive about their past purchase.
The Shiny Object Trap
Stakeholders can fixate on one flashy feature and derail the broader vision. Your job? Keep the narrative strategic and holistic — and don’t let the wedding flowers take over the menu.
Steve ended with a challenge: don’t let people analytics be misunderstood as a pet project or productivity hack.
It’s not about making our lives easier. It’s about making the business faster, smarter, and more resilient. When you pitch your strategy, you're not asking for tools — you're offering capability that the business urgently needs.
And when you connect that to real business outcomes, build trust with your stakeholders, and tell the right story?
That’s when you get the skyscraper.
Map your power grid of stakeholders
Build pre-conversations, not surprise pitches
Frame your ask in business terms
Show the cost of inaction
Champion the right solution — not just the one that’s easy to approve
Avoid derailers: IT detours, HRIS mirages, shiny objects
Tell a story that leaders feel — not just understand
Want to learn how to bring this strategy to life in your org with the best people analytics software on the market? We’ve helped hundreds of teams move from “Excel at midnight” to strategic impact — and we’d love to help you build your skyscraper.