Making People Data Matter:
Why Insight Beats Reporting
From reporting for the sake of it to asking ‘why does this matter?’
Rethinking Data in Your Organisation
Most HR teams are sitting on a wealth of people data. The challenge isn’t access to numbers – it’s whether those numbers are actually informing decisions that matter.
In my conversation with Lorna Moles, Director of Farrell HR, we explored why so many organisations struggle to move beyond routine reporting, and how people data becomes genuinely valuable when it is used to build insight, influence strategy, and support better leadership.
Why Are We Reporting This?
It’s easy to fall into the habit of producing the same starter and leaver numbers, or running headcount reports each month, just because “that’s what we’ve always done.” But this approach often ends up with HR reports gathering dust, never actually informing a single business decision. The simple question to start with is:
What is the purpose of this data?
If you stopped producing a report, would anyone actually notice or care? I once heard of an HR manager who did just that – she stopped a regular report, and nobody chased her. It’s a stark reminder that if your data isn’t provoking questions or driving action, it’s not adding value.
Make Data Relevant and Strategic
So how do you make sure your reporting is actually useful? It starts with the business strategy. Too often, people data sits over here in one silo while business goals and strategies sit over there. Instead, data should be woven directly into the fabric of what the business is trying to achieve. If growth is the aim, maybe it’s about recruitment and talent metrics; if it’s stability, look at retention and turnover. The point is, data should be chosen and shaped by the questions leaders are already asking.
Importantly, meaningful data is rarely just numbers. It’s also the stories, feedback, and context that sit behind those figures. I’ve seen real shifts in organisations when they use conversations, focus groups and qualitative feedback to make sense of what’s really happening – data is richer (and has more impact) when it’s about people, not just statistics.
Storytelling: The Secret Weapon
Presenting a spreadsheet full of numbers rarely changes minds or hearts. What does is the ability to recognise the patterns in your data, ask “what’s the story here?” and translate it into something leaders and managers understand. For example: if engagement scores drop significantly in one part of your business, don’t just report the result and move on. Instead, go and talk to people, understand what’s changed on the ground, and then link those findings back to business outcomes – like customer complaints or productivity. It’s that curiosity and drive to get beneath the numbers that separates value-adding HR from the perfunctory.
Don’t Forget the Managers
Managers need to be curious, too. It’s a common complaint that they’re too busy or don’t know where to start when it comes to analysing data about their teams. Automation can help, but it’s just as crucial to sit with managers, walk through what the data means, and coach them to notice patterns – not just problems. Helping managers notice their red flags, ask better questions, and see what sits beneath the surface is often the difference between a thriving team and a struggling one.
If You Remember One Thing…
Communication is crucial. Whatever numbers or feedback you collect, how you talk about it – good, bad, or mixed – is what makes the difference. Data alone doesn’t drive action. It’s the meaning you make from it, and the conversations you create around it, which will prompt change, earn trust, and help your business move forward.
If you’re still reporting the same numbers because it’s expected, maybe it’s time to stop and ask what matters – and who really benefits. The real value in people data comes when it stops being just HR’s job and starts being seen as essential business intelligence.
If you want to talk through how your organisation can use people data more intelligently, get in touch.
Click here to listen to me talk about this topic.
