Mercer’s 2020 Global Talent Trends Study, which includes survey responses of 7,300+ c-suite executives, HR leaders, and employees in 34 countries, identifies 4 trends leaders can harness to “win with empathy” now and post-pandemic. The 4 themes include 1) Focus on futures, 2) Race to reskill, 3) Sense with science, 4) Energize the experience. There are several insights across each of the themes in this 50+ page report. Section 3 speaks to the topic of people analytics and shows that HR has moved data up the value chain and has quadrupled its use of predictive analytics in the last five years — from 10% in 2016 to 39% in 2020 (see figure 25 on p. 38). Among the top 10 analytic questions (p.39) requested from the C-suite is 1) Why is one team high performing and another struggling? 2) What are the key drivers of engagement in our organization? 3) To what extent are there pay inequities by gender and race/ethnicity? This report will take some time to comb through, but each section can provide a few insights as HR organizations continue to plan and prioritize efforts during the pandemic and beyond.
