Coming soon · Step-by-step Guide
Data-Driven HR
A practical guide showing HR professionals how to harness big data, analytics, AI, and connected technologies to transform every core HR function and add strategic value to their organizations.
This is a step-by-step procedural book — we're building it into Stepcode, with a profile to follow.
What it’s about
Human resources has long been one of the most data-rich yet insight-poor functions in any organization, spending its time on administrative tasks while relying on gut instinct for people decisions. In Data-Driven HR, Bernard Marr shows how the explosion of data, the Internet of Things, machine learning, and AI are turning HR into an intelligent, strategic discipline that drives performance across the entire business. Packed with real-world examples from Google, Xerox, IBM, UPS, Marriott, and many others, the book walks readers through building a robust data strategy, sourcing and analysing HR-relevant data, and applying analytics to recruitment, employee engagement, safety and wellness, learning and development, and performance management—all while navigating privacy, ethics, and transparency. Written in a friendly, non-technical style for HR professionals who never intend to become data scientists, it is a hands-on manual for adding measurable value and preparing for the future of work.
The through-line
- Who it’s for
- An HR professional or leader who wants their function to be relevant, strategic, and to add measurable value to their organization and its people.
- The problem
- HR teams are data-rich but insight-poor, spending time on administration and relying on gut instinct rather than evidence for people decisions. They feel overwhelmed by the data explosion, anxious about automation and AI threatening their jobs, and unsure where to start.
- The plan
- Build a data strategy linked to organizational objectives using a 'plan on a page' and six key questions.
- Identify and source the HR-relevant data you actually need across activity, conversation, photo/video, and sensor data.
- Turn data into insights using the right analytics techniques while ensuring privacy, transparency, and good governance.
- Apply data-driven approaches to recruitment, engagement, safety and wellness, learning, and performance management.
- Embrace automation and AI to free HR for strategic, people-focused work and prepare for the future.
- The payoff
- HR becomes a strategic, data-driven function that adds measurable value. · Better, evidence-based people decisions improve recruitment, retention, safety, learning, and performance. · Employees are happier, safer, more engaged, and more productive.
See our guide
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Additional reading
- The Organism · Kurt Goldstein
Maslow sources the term 'self-actualization' from Goldstein and builds upon his holistic view of the organism.
- Explorations in Personality · H. A. Murray, et al.
Cited as providing an 'excellent discussion' on the basic principle of centering motivation theory on goals rather than instigation or behavior.
- Social Interest · Alfred Adler
Maslow credits Adler and his followers for stressing the importance of the 'esteem needs,' which he felt were neglected by Freudian psychoanalysts.
- Wisdom of the Body · W. B. Cannon
Provides the foundational concept of 'homeostasis,' which Maslow uses as the starting point for his discussion of physiological needs.
- Multipliers · Liz Wiseman
Explores how leaders can either amplify ('multiply') or diminish ('diminish') the intelligence and capabilities of their teams, a key concept for creating a positive, low-anxiety environment.
- The Fearless Organization · Amy Edmondson
Provides the foundational research and practical steps for creating psychological safety, which the book identifies as crucial for reducing interpersonal anxiety and encouraging people to speak up.
- Mindset · Carol Dweck
Explains the difference between a 'growth mindset' and a 'fixed mindset,' which is presented as a key tool for helping employees manage perfectionism and see failures as learning opportunities.
- Crucial Conversations · Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, et al.
Recommended as a resource for employees to learn how to navigate difficult, high-stakes conversations, directly addressing the book's theme of moving from conflict avoidance to healthy debate.
- Better Allies · Karen Catlin
The author is quoted on specific, actionable steps for allyship, making her book a practical guide for implementing the principles in Chapter 7.
- Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People · Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald
Explains the science of implicit bias, which is central to the book's argument that leaders need to be proactive allies because 'not being racist/sexist' isn't enough.