Human resources professionals are looking for the best and most responsible use of Artificial Intelligence and people analytics systems, according to recent research conducted by the Society of Human Resource Management.

People analytics is the practice of collecting and analyzing employee (or applicant) data to understand, improve and optimize business outcomes. AI-driven people analytics refers to applying computer algorithms to this data to generate workforce-related recommendations, predictions or decisions.

"HR leaders are increasingly looking to people analytics as a tool to answer key business questions, as 71% of HR executives whose organizations uses people analytics say that people analytics is essential to their organization's HR strategy," said Alex Alonso, SHRM’s Chief Knowledge Officer.

"If HR professionals and leaders use people analytics and AI appropriately, they can make more effective decisions, improve the employee experience and impact the bottom line," he adds.

Among HR executives who use people analytics, both with and without AI, only 3% believe their organizations are very well prepared to deal with the potential lack of transparency around how AI makes decisions, called the “black box problem.”

Of the 9% of organizations that do use AI-driven people analytics, only 19% of those polled are very confident that their AI-driven people analytics tools eliminate bias, while 70% are somewhat confident, and 11% are not confident their tools are unbiased.

Among those polled who say their organization uses people analytics, 82% say their organization uses it to assess employee retention and turnover and 71% use it to assess recruitment, interviewing and hiring.The full SHRM research report, including seven best practices for organizations to consider, is available at: https://shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/research-and-surveys/Pages/The-Use-of-People-Analytics-in-HR.aspx