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HR Analytics Essay Prompt
PricewaterhouseCoopers is a Big Four Accounting firm that was facing high turnover in a key employee segment—senior associates. This is the second stage in a career ladder that starts at the entry level and ends when one becomes a partner in the firm. One possible solution was thought to be deferred compensation, or delaying the salary of some employees so that those who stayed longer would receive more than those who left earlier.
The firm could also see that those who stayed longer before they left, were more successful in their careers (such as becoming CFO somewhere else). Would deferred compensation keep people there longer? Would people be convinced to stay longer if they knew it was good for their careers?
A survey collected data from current and former employees who had left. This required finding former employees who had had a relationship with PwC and appealing to their ongoing goodwill toward the firm to get them to respond. The final sample focused on those former employees who had left the firm more recently (in the last 15 years rather than those who had left earlier than 15 years or more). Their response rates were better because they remembered their experiences at the firm better than the group that had left before them. The study specifically looked at career outcomes of those who had left, comparison of work–life balance between current employees and those who had left, and drivers of retention for current employees.
The findings and the actions taken by the firm to deal with what they found had clear and positive impact on the problem. The study showed that adding deferred compensation would have had a very small impact on people’s willingness to stay. However, work–life balance (avoiding problems of work obligation negatively affecting things at home) and career development/career progression issues did have a large influence on the problem of people leaving. Work–life balance solutions are frequently manifested as more flexible work schedules, flexible time off, and even child care and elder care to help the employee manage both work and family obligations better.
The actions the firm took reduced voluntary turnover to the goals it had set. One such action was to provide new tools for managers and Human Resources to deal with the workload balance issues that existed. Another successful action was to strengthen the relationship between partners and the associates. Finally, the company focused on coaching and development including training for the partners in these areas. The analytics study showed that the initially offering defined compensation that was not going to solve the problem, but problems flying below management’s radar were causing the high turnover. Management was therefore able to solve the true cause of turnover.
Research the topic of HR analytics and other companies who have used it.  Then write an essay that answers the following questions:
As an HR manager, how would you present to your company the case for using analytics in an old-line HR department?
What resources could an HR professional consult to begin building expertise in this area of analytics?
How can HR analytics help to improve an organization’s overall performance?
Why don’t more companies use analytics to solve HR problems?
How can HR analytics help with strategic planning relating to HR management?
HR Analytics Essay Guidelines
Upon completion of this assignment you should be able to:
Distinguish HR developments with regard to the implementation of HR analytics to reduce turnover and improve retention in a key career ladder stage within an organization.
Instructions
Consider the HR analytics essay information.
Write a three-page paper that demonstrates your understanding of the five questions presented with a focus on being able to distinguish HR developments with regard to the implementation of HR analytics to reduce turnover and improve retention in a key career ladder stage within an organization. Please be sure to write this in essay format.
Your paper will include the following:
An introduction that engages the reader, presents the focus of the paper, and gives the reader an idea of flow of the document.
A compelling demonstration of your understanding of the issues involved in the five questions presented.
A conclusion that reinforces the main ideas of the paper.
You will be responsible for using a minimum of 2 scholarly/peer reviewed sources. Textbooks are not considered a scholarly/peer reviewed source; however, they may still be included as a supplemental reference.
Your research paper is to be a minimum of 3 complete pages in length. Going over the minimum page length requirement is acceptable.
Be as thorough as possible when writing your essay, and remember, this is an academic assignment, so no “text-talk,” no conversational tone, and ABOVE ALL OTHER THINGS… don’t plagiarize! Lastly, spell-check and proofread your work! Failure to follow these steps will negatively impact your grade.
For this course, you will submit the graded activity using Turnitin. An Originality Report will become available within a few minutes after your first submission. Inside the Originality Report will be a Similarity Index. The Similarity Index shows a percentage of the material in your paper which matches other sources found by Turnitin. You will be expected to have a Similarity Index of less than 15%. If your Similarity Index is greater than 15% you will need to review your Originality Report to be sure that you have paraphrased your work appropriately, and cited your sources correctly. 
The Originality Report will help you to avoid plagiarism, and improve the quality and content of your essay. It is strongly suggested that you keep direct quotations to a minimum, and never copy and paste text without proper citations. You have until the activity due date to resubmit your work, however, there will be a 24-hour delay before the Originality Report becomes available. It is your responsibility to submit your activity on time, with a Similarity Index of less than 15%.
General APA Formatting Guidelines:
Font Type: Times New Roman
Font Size: 12 point
Margins: 1 inch on all sides
Spacing: Double-spacing
Alignment: Left
Paragraph Indentation: Use the Tab key to indent all paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin
How to set up your APA Paper: http://gmcga.libguides.com/c.php?g=139410&p=958254
Upload the assignment as a Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) document using the following naming protocol: 
LastNameFirstNameWK3Essay