Let’s say you want to introduce a people analytics function or technology to your company for the first time. Or maybe you want to upgrade or expand your company’s people analytics tools. In either case, your reasoning is perfectly clear to you: With developments in artificial intelligence (AI), people analytics are now far more powerful, efficient, and user-friendly than they were before. Your organization can use these tools to solve various problems and even prevent future frustrations.

Adding or enhancing your people analytics tools may seem like an obvious choice. However, you’ll likely still need to convince a few people — for example, HR executives, members of the C-suite, leaders from IT and operations, finance, etc. — to get full buy-in for your plan. A strategic business case will help you win the support you need to obtain tools that will benefit not just your HR department, but your entire organization.

“HR is in a really good position to have a vantage point into how the business operates,” explained Zachary Chertok, research manager for International Data Corporation (IDC). “HR leaders can use this viewpoint to build a business case that’s grounded in tangible value – demonstrating how more intelligent people analytics can address workforce challenges while also laying the groundwork for business-wide insights and impacts.”

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to build a business case for AI-powered people analytics.

Step 1: Identify and specify the business problem

Your business plan should clearly answer this fundamental question: What business problems will you solve by investing in this area? Explain to stakeholders what you want to discover with people analytics and what outcomes they can expect. Remember to speak their language, incorporating and quantifying financial benefits as much as possible.

What should you include in this overview?

• Define the problem: Outline the challenges and pain points you want to solve with people analytics software. For instance, addressing high turnover, accelerating the hiring process, or ensuring fair pay.
• Gather data and evidence: Collect data to support your arguments. Pull from internal metrics like turnover rates, time to hire, and training spend per employee. In addition, document the time and resources required to gather and analyze the data so you can demonstrate the current challenges and gaps. External benchmarks and case studies can also be leveraged to build your case.
• Calculate return on investment (ROI): It’s important to quantify the potential benefits of people analytics in financial terms. Consider both direct savings, like reduced recruitment costs, as well as indirect benefits, like improved HR analyst productivity.

Step 2: Define the proposed solution

Once you’ve identified which problems you want to solve, it’s time to illustrate how the new software will solve them. Begin with a high-level view of the requirements aligned with the needs of your business, including:

• Data platform
• Data integration and harmonization
• Data update frequency
• Third-party data integration
• AI capabilities
• Pre-built insights & dashboards
• Model flexibility
• Scalability and extensibility
• User access

How should you lay out the solution?

• Avoid focusing exclusively on one area of business: Instead, show how modern people analytics enable an enterprise-wide approach, from human capital management and customer experience to spend and finance.
• Outline the technology’s features and benefits: List the key capabilities of the people analytics software you’re pitching. Discuss how each will address the challenges you called out earlier in your plan and establish a foundation that will drive long-term value. Highlight how the software will provide the insights required to drive positive impact, as well as address user experience, ease of integration, and scalability.
• Create a timeline and implementation plan: Establish a realistic timeline for implementation. This plan should include key milestones, expected completion dates, and a clear division of labor. It’s also important to detail the resources required at each stage. Indicate what roll-out will require in terms of personnel, budget, and other key considerations.

Step 3: Build stakeholder buy-in and overcome objections

Today’s people analytics tools are no longer limited to HR. Because it’s a broad business initiative, those advocating for the software need to appeal to more than just HR executives. While it’s crucial to build buy-in among HR professionals, business partners, and leaders, it’s equally important to create alignment with other members of the C-suite.

In fact, people analytics promotes this kind of cross-collaboration between CHROs and their peers, elevating HR’s role all the while. When the CHRO partners with functions across the business, HR becomes a strategic partner. This shift can result in a number of benefits for every department: better budget planning and workforce reporting (Finance), enhanced supplier risk management (Supply Chain), workforce planning (Operations), and more.

You should anticipate and be prepared to address stakeholder concerns and objections. For example, they may:

• Want to know how the software you’re proposing addresses data privacy concerns.
• Have questions about potential integration issues.
• Voice apprehensions about resource constraints.

Upgrade your analytics tools with People Intelligence

With the right people analytics tools, your organization can improve people decisions in HR and beyond. For instance, People Intelligence in SAP Business Data Cloud is a new people analytics solution that promotes business collaboration by:

• Providing access to harmonized data across SAP lines of business.
• Integrating data from third-party systems into SAP Business Data Cloud.
• Offering pre-built workforce insights for HR teams and more.
• Answering analytical questions in natural language via Joule copilot.

To discover how your organization can benefit from people analytics, check out People Intelligence on SAP’s website.

This article is part of a series covering people analytics. Check out the first, second, and third articles.