essey

Background

PricewaterhouseCoopers is a Big Four Accounting firm that was facing high turnover in a key employee

segment—senior associates. This is the second stage in a career ladder that starts at the entry-level and

ends when one becomes a partner in the firm. One possible solution was thought to be deferred

compensation or delaying the salary of some employees so that those who stayed longer would receive

more than those who left earlier.

The firm could also see that those who stayed longer before they left were more successful in their

careers (such as becoming CFO somewhere else). Would deferred compensation keep people there

longer? Would people be convinced to stay longer if they knew it was good for their careers?

A survey collected data from current and former employees who had left. This required finding former

employees who had had a relationship with PwC and appealing to their ongoing goodwill toward the

firm to get them to respond. The final sample focused on those former employees who had left the firm

more recently (in the last 15 years rather than those who had left earlier than 15 years or more). Their

response rates were better because they remembered their experiences at the firm better than the

group that had left before them. The study specifically looked at the career outcomes of those who had

left, the comparison of work–life balance between current employees and those who had left, and

drivers of retention for current employees.

The findings and the actions taken by the firm to deal with what they found had a clear and positive

impact on the problem. The study showed that adding deferred compensation would have had a very

small impact on people’s willingness to stay. However, work–life balance (avoiding problems of work

obligation negatively affecting things at home) and career development/career progression issues did

have a large influence on the problem of people leaving. Work–life balance solutions are frequently

manifested as more flexible work schedules, flexible time off, and even child care and elder care to help

the employee manage both work and family obligations better.

The actions the firm took reduced voluntary turnover to the goals it had set. One such action was to

provide new tools for managers and Human Resources to deal with the workload balance issues that

existed. Another successful action was to strengthen the relationship between partners and associates.

Finally, the company focused on coaching and development, including training for the partners in these

areas. The analytics study showed that the initial offering of defined compensation was not going to

solve the problem, but problems flying below management’s radar were causing the high turnover.

Management was, therefore, able to solve the true cause of turnover.

The Assignment

You must research the topic of HR analytics and other companies that have used it. Then

write an essay that answers the following five questions (support your arguments with

related sources, citations, AND examples):

1. As an HR manager, how would you present to your company the case for using

analytics in an old-line HR department?

2,. What resources could an HR professional consult to begin building expertise in this area of

analytics?

3. How can HR analytics help to improve an organization’s overall performance?

4.Why don’t more companies use analytics to solve HR problems?

5.How can HR analytics help with strategic planning relating to HR management?

Essay Guidelines

Upon completion of this assignment, you should be able to:

Distinguish HR developments with regard to the implementation of HR analytics to reduce turnover and

improve retention in a key career ladder stage within an organization.

Instructions

Consider the above HR analytics essay information.

In at least 3 body pages of research, demonstrate your understanding of the five questions presented

with a focus on being able to distinguish HR developments with regard to the implementation of HR

analytics to reduce turnover and improve retention in a key career ladder stage within an organization.

These 3 pages must include an introduction, body pages, and a conclusion-see the next section.

You will also need two additional pages that include the title page and reference page.

Thus, the minimum for the entire paper is at least 5 pages. Please be sure to write

this assignment in essay format with paragraph headings, indentations, citations,

and double-spacing.

What will your paper include?

An introduction that (a) engages the reader, (b) presents the focus of the paper, and (c) gives the reader

an idea of the flow of the document.

Body pages that include a compelling demonstration of your understanding of the issues involved in the

five questions as presented above.

A conclusion that reinforces the main ideas of the paper.

You will be responsible for using a minimum of 2 scholarly/peer-reviewed sources. Textbooks are not

considered scholarly/peer-reviewed sources; however, they may still be included as supplemental

references.

Again, your research (the body pages) is to be a minimum of 3

complete pages in length. You must also include a title page and a

reference page, which are 2 additional pages. Going over the

minimum page length requirement is acceptable.

General APA Formatting Guidelines