HR doesn’t struggle with not having enough data - we’ve got tons of it. Engagement scores, churn and absenteeism rates, performance ratings, DEI metrics - the works. But can we honestly say we’re brilliant at using that data to drive our people strategies? The answer is probably, “not yet.” So, this episode explores how we can get better at turning data into real insight and how that insight can help us build more trust, better performance, and stronger cultures. Lucy is joined by Jenny Deaborn who’s spent her career helping organisations do exactly that. Her new book, The Insight-Driven Leader, is a practical roadmap for HR teams and leaders who want to make analytics genuinely useful and human.
Drawing on over 100 one-to-one interviews with CEOs, CHROs and board members, Jenny explains why the best organisations aren’t using “magic” HR metrics – they’re just using familiar ones with far more rigour. She unpacks why “regrettable attrition of top performers in critical roles” beats a single company-wide turnover number every time, how to define “top performer” and “critical role” with real fidelity, and why every good HR metric should be in service of a small handful of measures the board genuinely cares about.
They then dig into what it really means to be an insight-driven leader rather than just “data-informed”: connecting people data with customer metrics to show where revenue, risk and growth are truly sitting in your workforce. Jenny shares practical examples of using AI to join up disparate data sources, warning that technology is no longer the barrier – mindset and culture are.
Chapters
02:15 – Jenny’s story: neurodiversity, quotas and the credibility that comes with numbers
08:35 – Business-first HR: the tiny set of people metrics CEOs and boards really care about
16:50 – From data-informed to insight-driven: joining HR, CRM and ERP data (and where AI helps)
25:20 – Is your culture ready for analytics? Plus practical first steps for aspiring insight-driven CHROs
Disruptive HR
Find out more about Disruptive HR: www.disruptivehr.com Get in touch: hello@disruptivehr.com Check out The Disruptive HR Club: https://disruptivehr.com/the-club/
Contact Jenny https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennydearborn/
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