people analytics

Definition

Using data and statistics to make workforce decisions, transforming HR from gut feelings into spreadsheets. It's great until you realize they're tracking your bathroom breaks and email response times.

Example Usage

Our people analytics dashboard shows I'm 'below average' in collaboration because I decline meetings that could be emails.

Origin

Emerged in the 2000s-2010s as HR adopted data science methodologies, popularized by Google's People Operations

Fun Fact

Despite heavy investment in people analytics, many HR teams still make decisions based on which VP yells loudest in the meeting.

Source: Data-driven HR and workforce planning terminology

Related Terms

Advanced

position control

A budgeting and workforce planning system that manages the number and type of authorized positions rather than just headcount. It's bureaucracy's answer to the question 'how many people can we afford?'

👥 Human Resources

Intermediate

gross misconduct

Employee behavior so severe it justifies immediate termination without notice or severance, like theft, violence, or spectacular insubordination. The employment equivalent of a capital offense.

👥 Human Resources

Advanced

acculturation

The anthropological term for when cultures collide and one (usually the smaller or newer one) starts adopting the customs, values, and Starbucks preferences of the other. It's the process immigrants and minority groups experience when adapting to a dominant culture, or what happens when your startup gets absorbed by a corporate giant. Think cultural osmosis, but with power dynamics.

👥 Human Resources

Intermediate

job enlargement

The practice of expanding an employee's role to include more tasks at the same level of responsibility. It's giving someone more work without calling it a promotion or raising their pay.

👥 Human Resources

Beginner

Soft Skills

The non-technical abilities like communication, empathy, and not replying-all to company-wide emails. They're called "soft" because the corporate world still hasn't figured out that they're actually the hardest skills to master and the most critical for not getting fired.

👥 Human Resources

Beginner

absence

The state of not being present where you're expected to be, meticulously tracked by HR departments with the enthusiasm of bounty hunters. In corporate settings, unplanned absences are treated like minor felonies, while planned ones require filling out forms in triplicate six months in advance. The number one cause of passive-aggressive emails from managers who 'just wanted to check in' about your whereabouts.

👥 Human Resources

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