In the ACT Framework, I have highlighted how Accuracy (Pillar 1) and Completeness (Pillar 2) are critical pillars of the foundation for reliable and actionable people data. The final pillar, Timely People Data, addresses a different but equally challenging aspect - ensuring data is current and relevant to prevent decisions basis outdated or incomplete insights. In this article, I delve into the nuances of how delayed updates impact organisations and offer actionable steps for data timeliness.
Why Timely Data Matters
Timely data is more than a checkbox; it is the lifeline for making accurate, efficient, and strategic decisions. As I have experienced, even the most accurate and complete data loses value if it is not updated promptly. When people data lags behind real-time organisational changes, the repercussions are severe. To cite a few examples:
- Distorted Workforce Costs: One client discovered its total workforce cost was underestimated by 15% because updated compensation details for promoted employees weren’t recorded in the HRMS. This inflated projections delayed leadership approvals for critical hires, ultimately impacting a major expansion project.
- Workflow Disruptions: A client’s failure to update organisational structure changes resulted in reporting mismatches, which blocked leave approvals and disrupted payroll processing. The HR team had to manually address hundreds of approval bottlenecks, diverting time away from strategic tasks.
- Legal and Compliance Risks: Delays in updating demographic changes or role transitions can result in non-compliance with labour laws or DE&I reporting standards, increasing exposure to financial and reputation damage.
- Inaccurate Headcount Reporting: A few unclosed requisition in an ATS created inflated headcount figures, leading senior management to believe the team was overstaffed. This led to an unnecessary hiring freeze, delaying key positions in revenue-critical teams.
Such delays in data updates can cascade into larger operational and financial challenges, creating ripple effects across the organisation.
Challenges in Maintaining Timely Data
While the importance of timeliness is clear, HR teams face several hurdles:
- Siloed Systems: Lack of integration between ATS, HRMS, and payroll leads to asynchronous updates and inconsistencies across platforms.
- Manual Processes: Over-reliance on manual data entry slows updates and increases the risk of errors, especially during high-pressure cycles like appraisals.
- Event-Driven Delays: Changes triggered by promotions, exits, or onboarding often lag due to unstructured workflows and lengthy approval chains.
- Dynamic Environments: Frequent reorganisations, mergers, or acquisitions introduce complexities, making it difficult to keep records up to date.
- Lack of Intent: One of the most critical and overlooked challenges is the lack of intent among teams to update data promptly. There is limited or no guidance to emphasise how timely updates drive decision efficiency and credibility. Further, organisations struggle to link timely data updates to operational outcomes, such as payroll accuracy and compliance.
Steps to Maintain Timely People Data
To overcome these challenges, HR teams can implement the following practical steps and maintain data timeliness:
1. Establish Standardised Update Timelines: Define clear timelines for updating key employee lifecycle events such as new hires, promotions, exits, and compensation revisions. One client implemented a 48-hour SLA for promotion-related updates (role changes, compensation adjustments, and reporting relationships), which reduced payroll mismatches by 30%.
2. Automate Data Updates Across Systems: Use APIs or middleware to integrate systems like ATS, HRMS, and Payroll, for seamless data flow. For instance, syncing ATS with HRMS ensures requisitions close automatically after onboarding, preventing inflated headcount reports.
3. Conduct Regular People Data Audits: Regular workforce data audits help identify data discrepancies and correct them before they cascade into larger issues. Conduct quarterly reviews of organisational structures to align reporting relationships, roles, and teams. These audits involve systematically reviewing compensation, benefits, and headcount data to align HRMS, payroll, and finance systems.
4. Create Event-Driven Update Triggers: Design workflows that trigger immediate updates during key events such as role changes or exits. For this, categorise key events based on their system dependencies and urgency. Then, analyse which systems require updates (e.g., HRMS, payroll, ATS) to reflect organisation context. Schedule real-time updates for critical events (e.g., promotions, exits) and batch updates for non-urgent changes.
Event-Led Data Updates
5. Build Strategic and Technical Capabilities for Data Governance
This requires clearly defined roles for both strategic oversight and technical accuracy. HRBPs play a strategic role in validating regional or functional data, such as promotions, exits, and compensation updates. Complementing this role is, Data Stewards, individuals or teams responsible for technical accuracy, consistency, and integrity of workforce data across systems. By combining HRBPs’ strategic oversight with Data Stewards’ expertise, we can create a robust governance framework that enhances data accuracy and system-wide consistency.
Completing the ACT Framework
With Timely People Data, HR teams can access insights that are as current as they are accurate and complete. The ACT Framework—Accuracy, Completeness, and Timeliness—empowers organisations to build trust in their data and drive confident, strategic decisions.
Have you experienced similar challenges with outdated people data? How do you keep people data updated to reflect current org realities?