Evidence-based decisions are good. We all seem to agree on that. But once you do, you run up against a warning from economist Richard Thaler.
“You can’t make evidence-based decisions without evidence.”
So, where do you find evidence to use for your talent development decision making? Look for knowledgeable interpretations of research studies.
Interpretation is important because we live in an age where a lot of junk masquerades as research. My advice is find a knowledgeable interpreter or two who can sort out wheat from chaff, good research from junk. Here are my two prime sources.
Ken Nowack posts on this very blog. Among his many posts is a series on new talent management facts. The most recent is number 29.
Dr. John Sullivan‘s posts appear in a variety of places. I read his material most often on the TLNT web site. Here’s a link to a recent post “How Google Is Using People Analytics to Completely Reinvent HR.”
That title provides a segue to my next thought. If you want to learn to do anything well, a proven path is to find someone who’s already doing it and emulate them. When it comes to the use of evidence to guide talent development, the current masters are at Google.
You won’t make the same decisions about policy and practice that Google makes. After all, your evidence will be different. But that company offers as good a model as we’ve got for how to gather evidence and use it to make talent management decisions. Here are two articles that will give you some insight into Google’s process.
From the Wall Street Journal: “School’s in Session at Google”
From Human Resource Executive Online: “Google Tackles Incentives and Rewards”
