Question

Should an algorithm tell companies who to promote to senior management roles? What considerations should HR managers keep in mind as they use ‘big data’ in their leadership development planning?

Answer 1

Consideration for senior management roles is a very important decision to be made as it can have serious repercussions if done wrong.

Big Data i.e. Data analytics is being utilized in all the organizations among all the different verticals of the company right from Finance, Marketing to Sales, HR etc. It is important to realize that just relying on Big Data for all the decisions would be detrimental considering that there may be errors which may and do crop in. We cannot assume that the decision reached by a machine algorithm is 100% correct. It can be definitely correct to some extent.

Thus when HR managers take decision regarding promotions to senior management roles, an important aspect is the human element i.e. the promoted person's temperament and expertise in his/her domain, behavioral and attitude of the person, teamwork and cooperation. These are just a few attributed which i think may not be measured by Big Data algorithm as these are more qualitative in nature.

Quantitative analysis by Big Data can be relied on because it would quantify stuff that is possible and hence measurable. But attributes such as those highlighted above need to be viewed separately. Also corporate governance standards being followed by the person, his/her familiarity and loyalty to the organization, the speed and accuracy of making crucial decisions, being there for the company when needed the most are some other factors which need to be viewed separately apart from Big Data.

Thus HR managers should keep in mind the above considerations in their leadership development planning.