Dive Brief:

• Sales, revenue and profits are the prime reason businesses exist, yet few see HR as a way to generate any of those three critical outcomes. But according to HCA Magazine, HR plays a roll in all of those aspects.
• The writer, Mahadevan Natarajan, a senior director at Oracle APAC, says HR can be an effective business driver and a "profit center" by achieving proper headcount and keeping turnover to a minimum, among other things.
• Simply, by using today's cloud-based analytics tools, Natarajan says HR can put the right talent in the right jobs so the company is better equipped to achieve its financial goals.

Dive Insight:

Highlighting the recent PwC Annual Global CEO Survey and words from Oracle CEO Mark Hurd, Natarajan noted that the talent gap is presenting CEOs with significant challenges: 31% said they couldn't innovate effectively, 29% couldn't pursue attractive market opportunities, and 24% had to cancel or delay a strategic initiative.

Part of the solution, Natarajan writes, is for CEOs and HR to have a willingness to become more data-driven. In today’s digital world, analytics systems can deliver insights into every aspect of business, including human capital management. That way, HR leaders can plan ahead "with confidence." Most of these HCM systems are available in the cloud, meaning employers large and small can reap the benefits.

Natarajan cites research from MIT and IBM that found early adopters of talent and workforce analytics best practices have 8% higher sales growth, 25% higher net operating income growth and 58% higher sales per employee. With those outcomes, HR certainly can consider itself a profit center.