Big data has the ability to play a significant role in lifting a workforce’s productivity, performance, and engagement – that is, if HR managers knew how to effectively analyze it.

In a recent ITWire article, Peter Howes, VP of SuccessFactors, claims, “Most companies have access to aggregate information about their workforce,” and deems this info in a range of “useless to dangerous.”  This data provides direct insight to why companies have relatively high churn rates.

A churn rate, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, is the percentage of people who leave their job in a calculated period of time.

Companies who are only aware of their aggregate churn rates are putting themselves in a very vulnerable position. With a more in-depth understanding of the workforce, HR would have an extensive understanding of why, in a leading global tech company studied by SuccessFactors, there was an aggregate voluntary termination rate of 8%.

Even more shocking was top performers who were emotionally engaged, had a 16% churn rate, feeling that there wasn’t enough career opportunity. If the company had utilized their informal information, usually gathered in employee surveys, coupled with analytics, HR Managers would have the opportunity to preemptively identify at risk individuals who become bored or disengaged.

Though developing comprehensive HR analytics is time consuming, taking up to five years to totally implement, a positive return on investment is seen in just one years’ time. HR managers must learn how to mull through this data to effectively gain an understanding of how they can implement successful people strategies.