Ian Cook
Ian is an advocate for the crucial role that people play in helping companies thrive. His career has focused on enabling people, teams and companies to perform at their best. For the last 15 years Ian has been helping leaders elevate their HR strategies and programs through the effective use of people analytics. At Visier, Ian led the development of our market leading solution and is now focused on the overall strategy for the people analytics business.
The Better Way to Handle Workforce Reduction
Carrying out a workforce reduction can be tricky and sensitive. Use these four steps to determine the right strategy for your organization.
The Holiday PTO Trap: Use This Scientific Method to Avoid Employee Burnout
Employees may be forced to take PTO, but will work at home leading to employee burnout. Learn how to keep your line managers accountable.
How to Prepare for a Recession and Still Avoid Layoffs
Preparing for a recession? Many businesses rush into layoffs which cost them big later. Here’s a smarter way.
How To Reduce Employee Turnover with Workforce Analytics
The right workforce analytics framework should help develop tailored employee turnover solution and design a tailored employee retention programs.
Nine Must-Have Manager Effectiveness Metrics
These nine key manager effectiveness metrics will help your organization motivate talents and reduce high performers resignation rate.
3 People Metrics That Put People at the Center of Your Business Transformation
Many businesses place a low priority on people metrics in their business transformation programs. Here are 3 metrics that put people first.
5 Benefits of a Data-Driven Recruitment Strategy
Data-driven recruitment is key to finding and retaining top quality talent and tell if your recruiting process is working effectively.
5 Learning and Development Questions You Can Only Answer with Analytics
What is holding people back from seeing L&D’s value? L&D teams are struggling to measure the effectiveness of learning outcomes.
Bad Data Can’t Stop Good People Analytics
Don’t let bad data keep you from good business insights! This article explains why you don’t need perfect data quality to make better business decisions.
4 Data-Driven Steps to Increase Headcount on a Budget
Preparing to increase headcount at a large organization is a daunting task. Follow this step-by-step guide for adding headcount on a budget.
How to Prepare for a Recession Part 2: Rightsizing
Recessions make companies consider rightsizing, but layoffs lead to turnover contagion and other damage. This article shows a better way.
The 4 Elements of Analytics Storytelling
To add strategic value, HR analysts must embrace the art of analytics storytelling. Here’s four elements to create an analytics story.
What Makes a Good Manager? 8 Manager Effectiveness Metrics to Know
Good managers are needed more than ever, so how do you know if your org has them? Here are 8 manager effectiveness metrics to track.
New Data: The Great Resignation Will Continue
An update on the resignation data Visier used to predict the Great Resignation that we first detected early in 2021.
Build the Ideal Hybrid Work Model with People Analytics
Even with thoughtful approaches grounded in autonomy and productivity, hybrid work models won’t be perfect. Here are three ways people analytics can help.
Fact or Hype: Validating Predictive People Analytics and Machine Learning
Visier People uses predictive people analytics that are up to 17 times more accurate than guesswork at predicting risk of exit, and movement.
Unlock Your Employee Experience’s Full Potential With Customer Experience Data
Learn how leveraging customer experience data can improve your employee experience, which results in higher productivity and more revenue.
A New Workforce Planning Model: Why Position Management Is Flawed
HR needs a new workforce planning model that doesn't involve using position management. In this article, discover how to better track workforce plans.
A Pandemic-Triggered Change in Job Roles Shows the Extent of Work Disruption
The pandemic's disruption to work is highlighted in recent data from Visier. See how work changed by job title, time period, and industry.
How to Mitigate the Employee Burnout Epidemic
Burnout was one of the main drivers of The Great Resignation. But just as the reasons for burnout are varied, so are the solutions for addressing it.
AI Ethics Codes: Why You Shouldn’t Make Remote Work Compensation Decisions Without One
Hybrid work is shaking up pay strategies, and AI can help. But this does not mean the tech should call the shots.
The SEC Human Capital Disclosures Are In–and the Results Aren’t Good
Human capital reporting is good business. Organizations with a competent people analytics practice have advantages with new disclosure requirements.
How Uber Successfully Enabled Their People Managers with People Analytics
Here’s what the team at Uber did to ensure people managers could easily and securely find the insights they needed to make better talent decisions.
3 Ways People Managers Can Use Employee Experience Insights
Continuous listening and contextual analysis can help organizations take meaningful actions that build positive employee experiences.
Why People Managers Need People Analytics Today
Many organizations struggle to help managers make better people decisions. But others are thriving. What separates the haves from the have-nots?
How to Identify the Right People Analytics Projects
When it comes to people analytics, there are always more questions than answers. Learn how to identify the right people analytics projects for your needs.
HR Moments Matter: 3 Compensation Challenges Solved With People Analytics
Discover how you can use data to support the people moments that matter, solving compensation challenges for your employees and your organization.
How HR Can Tackle Diversity Using the Rooney Rule
With President Obama’s endorsement of the Rooney Rule, workforce diversity is center stage. Here are a few diversity metrics you should be monitoring.
How New SEC Disclosure Rules Impact CHROs and CFOs
In August 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopted new disclosure requirements. Here's how people analytics helps you comply.
5 Ways to Improve Diversity Recruiting Efforts
Increasing workplace diversity is tablestakes for organizations. Here are five ways to use people analytics to improve your diversity recruiting efforts.
10 Workforce Intelligence Cures for Improving Nurse Retention
Improving registered nurse retention is a high priority since hospitals perennially face a shortfall of talent. Discover 10 workforce intelligence cures.
How to Develop Better Reskilling Programs and Employee Career Paths
To succeed with reskilling, a “learn-it-all” culture is needed more than ever and a mindset that helps put employees farther on their career paths.
How to Be Agile Through a Volatile Reopening
With an agile framework for decision-making guided by real-time data, organizations can manage fluctuating talent demands in the face of uncertainity.
Key People Metrics to Monitor While Responding to a Crisis
These are the questions you need to ask as your business stabilizes and engages employees during the respond stage of a crisis.
5 Critical Workforce Questions to Ask During a Pandemic
As you develop your COVID-19 response plan, here are 5 critical workforce questions that employers must ask.
The Next Decade of Agile Workforce Planning
In the next decade, the process that supports business agility–workforce planning–will need to become more agile itself. Here's what to expect.
5 Talent Acquisition Mistakes Data Helps You Avoid
Getting more data from sources beyond your ATS is key to hiring success. Here are five talent acquisition strategy mistakes that data helps you avoid.
How to Meet the New Overtime Regulation Using People Analytics
How to Meet the New Overtime Regulation Using People Analytics | Visier People Analytics is a cloud-based analytic application designed to answer critical workforce strategy questions.
Top 10 People Analytics Difference Makers to Look For
From D&I to attracting and retaining top talent–all these topics require fact-based information. Here are 10 ways the right people anlaytics solution helps.
How Turnover Reports Impact HR’s Credibility
To keep good managers, granular insights are key, but employee turnover is often reported as a blanket number. Here's how to overcome the issue.
4 Ways to Build Agile Teams Using People Analytics
4 Ways to Build Agile Teams Using People Analytics | Visier People Analytics is a cloud-based analytic application designed to answer critical workforce strategy questions.
3 Ways People Analytics Prepares You for the Future
There are three areas where predictive people analytics makes a positive impact: the recruiting process, personalizing work, and identifying skills gaps.
Why HR Should Go Above and Beyond the New ISO Standards
While compliance with the new ISO standards are not mandatory, business leaders should take them seriously. Here's how people analytics can help.
Enhance Employee Performance with ONA
ONA can uncover the collaborative social structures that enhance employee performance and productivity of the organization. Here are two ways to use ONA.
How Neurodiverse Employees Move Your Business Forward
Discover how neurodiverse employees with specific cognitive profiles will be best supported within your business and how to hire for these individuals.
Prevent Collaboration Overload Using Organizational Network Analysis
Highly collaborative employees are often quiet drivers of business performance. Discover how to help your helpers with Organizational Network Analysis (ONA)
3 Ways to Use People Data to Improve the Employee Lifecycle
Discover how analyzing data from the employee lifecycle can help identify the levers to pull that improve employee retention, productivity, engagement.
Justify a Job Offer’s Salary with Data
When considering a job offer, make sure to justify the proposed salary by asking four questions of your workforce data, and boost offer acceptance rates.
Why Agile Workforce Planning is Key to Organizational Success
What are the main elements of agile workforce planning? Continuous activity, awareness, collaboration, and flexibility. Here is why each is important.
Avoid Holiday Retail Worker Shortfalls with What-If Analyses
If you work in HR for retail and need to avoid holiday worker shortfalls, follow these four steps to apply a what-if analyses to your workforce data
12 Ways to Get C-Suite Buy-In for Great HR Initiatives
Imagine a world where every great HR initiative gets properly funded. Follow these suggestions to get C-suite buy-in for great HR initiatives.
Tackle Employee Turnover With Strategic Leadership Development Investments
L&D is experiencing increased scrutiny from the business. Follow these 3 steps to build a strategic leadership development program that drives retention.
Cybersecurity Talent Shortage: Why HR Needs to Map Unconventional Career Paths
If you are an HR leader who needs to ward off a cybersecurity talent shortage, here’s how to can use your workforce data to find data security guardians.
6 Steps for Making Smart Decisions With Wearables Data
Wearables call for the same approach you would use for any information coming from your HRIS. Follow these steps to get the most out of your wearables data.
How to Measure Learning and Development’s Business Impact
Measuring the effectiveness of L&D on business results is a challenge for learning leaders. Discover how to speed up your learning analytics proficiency.
To Succeed at Talent Acquisition, Go Beyond Your Applicant Tracking System
Many recruiters rely on their Applicant Tracking System to reveal quality of hire, but this system has an inherent flaw. Discover its limitations.
A Data-Driven Guide to Dealing with Toxic Employees
Toxic employees spread their behavior to others. Read on for data-driven best practices that will help you identify and manage your toxic employees.
How to Improve Recruiter Efficiency By Slaying Dirty Data Issues
I’s possible to keep your ATS, clean your dirty data, and get better insights into your recruitment processes. Here is how.
Think You Know Your Total Cost of Workforce? Think Again
Do you have a detailed and accurate understanding of your total cost of workforce (TCOW)? Here's how you start to get more data accuracy.
5 Ways People Analytics Solves Retail’s Top Workforce Issues
Retailers with the right employees see the highest average purchase value, the best customer satisfaction, and the most repeat store visits, but there are challenges to achieving these outcomes. Here are several ways analytics helps solve the retail industry’s most pressing workforce challenges.
Why Benchmarking 2.0 is a Must-Have for Influential HR Leaders
The demands of a volatile business world will lead to the rise of what I call HR benchmarking 2.0. Delivered within an analytics platform, it takes a CEO...
5 Ways Your HRMS Hinders Data-Driven Decision Making
Before you dive deeper into your HRMS project, it’s important to know what it will really take to get hr analytics. Here are truths about HRMS analytics.
How to Reduce Workation-Induced Employee Absences
To determine whether workation-related stress is driving up employee absenteeism, look at your historical data for evidence by following these steps.
How People Analytics Helps Prevent Another Bad Hire
Adopting HR analytics can help your recruiting team prevent another bad hire. There are few steps recruiters can take to improve their quality hire numbers.
How to Compete For Talent Against the Amazons of Your Industry–and Win
What can recruiters do to compete against Amazon for quality hires and talents? Data-driven recruitment is one smart strategy.
How Businesses Will Win in An Era of Uncertainty
How Businesses Will Win in An Era of Uncertainty | Visier People Analytics is a cloud-based analytic application designed to answer critical workforce strategy questions.
Measure Quality of Hire With These Three Critical Factors
Talent Acquisition analytics are a way to measure quality of hire, provided you know the right measures to monitor and you look beyond the data in your ATS.
Build vs. Rent: Don’t Crash on the Do-It-Yourself Iceberg for People Analytics
Build vs. Rent is a dichotomy in tech buying, but what does it mean when applied to people analytics? Should you build your people analytics solution?
Opioid Crisis: Determining the Impact to Your Workplace
When it comes to dealing with opioid addiction in the workplace, it’s not clear what’s needed most from HR. Follow these steps to tackle this issue.
7 Surprising Facts HR Pros Should Know About the GDPR
As a comprehensive law that is designed to give Europeans more control over their personal data, the GDPR contains some nuances that may surprise you.
How to Keep HR and Finance in Sync on Workforce Planning
An effective workforce planning process requires that HR and Finance work as a team. Here are how HR and Finance can keep in sync during three core stages.
Scenario Planning Basics for Strategic Talent Planning in a Brexit World
Scenario planning - When HR teams can gather all the workforce data and model talent scenarios, they can re-plan more aggressively. How? Follow five steps.
How To Use Cohort Analysis for Better Workforce Decisions
Here are some common scenarios where data-driven cohort analysis can aid in getting the insights needed and making better workforce decisions.
Post-Brexit Workforce Challenges: How to Strategically Plan Through Ambiguity
The way Brexit will impact your organization will vary. Discover how successful HR leaders currently deal with brexit-related workforce challenges
Curbing Employee Turnover Contagion in the Workplace
Quitting is contagious. Here are four ways you can curb employee turnover contagion in the workplace using a data-driven approach.
Put Your Employee Engagement Data to Work in 5 Steps
The key is to link employee engagement data with other critical indicators. By following these five steps, HR can achieve this goal.
Employee Turnover is Highest in January: How to Keep Critical Employees from Leaving
So what should companies be looking for to reduce voluntary employee turnover? Here are few telltale data points that all companies should be measuring.
4 Questions HR Leaders Need to Ask About Holiday Workers Now
Experiencing a staffing shortfall? As the shopping season reaches its peak, here are 4 analytical questions HR leaders need to ask of their workforce data.
3 Ways To Increase Workplace Safety Using People Analytics
Workplace safety is a top concern across a wide range of industries. Discover 3 areas where an analytical mindset can help you increase workplace safety.
3 Data-Driven Ways to Better Manage Compliance Training
Need to uncover insights from your learning data to stay ahead of compliance risks? Here are a few ways analytics helps you achieve this.
DACA Uncertainty: Be Prepared With Your Workforce Data
Will 700,000 employed DACA recipients be pushed out of the country’s workforce?
How to Hire More Diverse Talent Using Workforce Analytics
To advance diversity into the workplace, use a scientific approach that reveals the facts about your recruitment process, particularly the red flags.
Why Hiring More HR Analysts Won’t Improve Your Analytics Function
By shifting the expectations of the role of the HR analyst, CHROs can make their HR analytics team the core of their people strategy. Read how.
Do Workations Increase Employee Absenteeism?
Workations have become so common that the idea of unplugging doesn’t feel normal anymore. An Intel study found that more than half of U.S...
The Recruiting Data Goldmine Your Applicant Tracking System Is Hiding
Recruiters need to stop relying on the embedded analytics in their Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to provide the data they need to make recruiting and ...
What is HCAHPS and What Does it Mean for Healthcare Worker Engagement
What is HCAHPS? How can healthcare providers improve healthcare worker engagement so that they can continue to provide excellent service to patients?
New Hiring Manager Study Says Talent Acquisition Must Be More Data-Driven
This 2016 Hiring Manager study revealed the challenges faced by hiring managers in measuring the long-term impact of talent acquisition and other areas.
Navigating New Overtime Rules and Changes with HR Analytics
The new overtime rule around raising the overtime minimum threshold to $47,476 won't have data-driven HR professionals sweating so long as they have a solid HR analytics capability in place
Workforce Analytics 101 [Infographic]
This Workforce Analytics 101 article explains why managing your workforce has never been more complex and how a data-driven approach can make it easier.
How Do You Improve Your Candidate Experience? Look At Your Data
Improve your candidate experience with a data-driven approach to talent acquisition as well as expert tips from Tim Sackett, Sharlyn Lauby, and more.
4 Best Practices For Choosing the Right HR Analytics Technology
With so many technology options to choose from, it can be hard to make a decision. Here are best practices for choosing the right HR analytics technology.
3 Ways Workforce Intelligence Enables Better Workforce Risk Management
For better workforce risk management, HR leaders need to focus on building stronger HR analytics capabilities. Here are examples of analytics in action.
Should HR Let Employees Watch the Summer Olympics at Work?
Is it a good idea to let employees watch the Olympics at work or will it affect their productivity? Here's how data can help uncover the truth in this matter.
Workforce Planning Collaboration: The Talent Acquisition and HR Partnership
Proper workforce planning collaboration is key to ensure success. The talent acquisition and HR teams must work together in several different ways.
Prepare for Nurse Retirements and Shortage with Intelligent Workforce Planning
With nurse retirements set to increase, patient outcomes (measured by HCAHPS scores and readmission rates) are in jeopardy and the growth in demand for care is outpacing the supply of nurses.
Avoid the Hidden Costs of Unused Paid Time Off
It's becoming all too common to receive emails from people working through the holiday season, even if they have paid unused PTO (paid time off).
How to Connect your Engagement Survey Results to Business Outcomes
Engagement surveys are a mainstay in the arsenal of HR tactics. But do you know how engagement actually affect workforce outcomes?
Boo! Four Scary Employee Engagement Situations to Avoid With Better Survey Data Analysis
Here are four scary employee engagement situations to avoid, along with handy survey analysis tips that can help you foster a motivated workforce.
How to Fix a Flawed Retention Program by Climbing the Analytics Ladder
To fix a flawed retention program, HR teams need to move up on the analytics ladder to exploratory, predictive, and guided analytics rungs. Learn how.
Four Questions Strategic HR Pros Ask to Drive a Culture of Ethics in Financial Services
Here are four questions that will yield nsights about manager misconduct, so that you don’t have to rely on guesswork when building a new culture of ethics.
From Healthcare Worker Engagement to Patient Satisfaction: Your Six-Step Guide to Building a Service-Value Chain
If you work in healthcare HR, the following six steps are for you. Use these to address healthcare employee engagement impacting patient satisfaction.
Five Awesome Recruitment Metrics for Tech Innovation Success
Tracking recruitment success to drive tech innovation - Here are five indispensable recruitment metrics that will help you efficiently land quality talent.
Five Essential Fixes for Amateur Talent Management Tactics
Here are five common amateur talent management tactics, and what you can do about them to get your organization back on track.
Do Workations Increase Employee Absenteeism?
Workations happen when your employees don't "turn off." Research shows what impact workations can have on employee health and the business.
Rising Wages: Time to Know Your Total Cost of Workforce (TCOW)
Your total cost of workforce (TCOW) is about more than just your total compensation figures. Use this post to get the most from your TCOW.
Counter Offers: Know When to Hold’em or Fold’em
HRBP's are approaching counter offers like a game of poker. How do you avoid losing top talent to a higher paycheck? Should you jump to a counteroffer?
Launch Bold Employee Retention Programs That Work: Avoid Copycat HR
Unique, well-designed employee retention programs are key to attracting and keeping scarce talent. Here's what you need to know to build the right one for your organization.
How to Explain Human Dynamics to Execs Focused on the Bottom Line
Understanding human dynamics is important to solving common workforce issues and when combined with analytics, HR can become more strategic in their advice to executives.
This is What Talent Management Will Look Like By The Year 2018 — Are You Ready?
The next step in the talent management evolution is to focus on making decisions with more “scientific” rigour using interconnected data elements.
The Beginner’s Guide to Championing a Data-Driven Culture Within HR
By championing a data-driven hr culture, you can elevate your business value as a strategic player. Ask the right questions, focus on action.
Why Extend HR Data to Business Leaders?
Successful organizations make data-driven people decisions, plain and simple. Arm your business leaders with direct access to HR data with Workforce Viewer.
Finding the Right HR Analytics Software: The 5 Most Important Questions You Need To Ask
How do you choose the right workforce intelligence solution for your company? Read on for critical questions to ask of your HR analytics software.
Succession Planning Success: The Golden Rules for Future-Proofing Your Business
Succession planning is about managing the risk associated with any type of critical skills gap. Here are golden rules of fact-based succession planning.
Want to Shape HR Strategy? Use this Storytelling Method to Establish Credibility
Establishing credibility on any given talent issue (retention, recruitment, or succession planning...) is a two-phased process. Let’s go through both.
How You Can Avoid the Headcount Trap in Three Steps: Data-Driven HR Strategy Series, Part 4
Don't get caught in the headcount trap! Follow these three steps to ramp up the business value you get from headcount metrics.
How To Retain Top Performers Without Breaking the Bank: Data-Driven HR Strategy Series, Part 3
Higher salaries don’t always produce winners. Underpay your employees, and risk losing your best and brightest. Retain your star performers with these tips.
De-Mystify Diversity With These 5 Critical Steps: Data-Driven HR Strategy Series, Part 2
Diversity can be a powerful thing for businesses. But getting an accurate view of diversity is easier said than done. Here are diversity metrics to use.
5 Must-Have Metrics for Recruitment Success: Data-Driven HR Strategy Series, Part 1
Recruitment success requires a balance of experience and data to land great talent. These 5 must-have recruitment metrics will help refine your process.
Data Doesn’t Have to be a Four Letter Word
You don’t need to let dirty data hold you up on your workforce analytics journey. Here are four top tips for dealing with your dirty data.
How to Uncover FMLA Abuse With Big Data
Whatever you call it, unwarranted employee absences -- particularly those that fall under the category of FMLA abuse -- can be tricky to track and manage.
Five Must-Have Links for Timely, Complete HR Analysis
They have yet to write the book “Workforce Analytics for Dummies.” Until they do, here are give must-have links for timely, complete HR analysis.
Five Signs Your Company’s HR Strategy is Stuck in the 90s
Since the 90s, increased global competition and technology advances have changed the pace of business. For many, HR Strategy is stuck in the 90s still.
What Every Employer Should Know About Top Performers
21 percent of American workers plan to change jobs in 2014. It’s crucial to know which of your top performers are at risk of leaving and why.