Your company does probably not have it and if it does, it cannot work with it effectively. However, once it enters the field of HR, it will be a revolution. We are talking about the so-called big data - a phenomenon which has recently received an increased attention in connection with the issue of corporate management. What does "big data" exactly mean and what can we expect from it in HR? These questions have recently been asked by the staffing.org websitewhich alsoprovided the following answers.

The term refers to a large collection of data the volume of which is so large that it cannot be analyzed and processed using the existing hardware and software. The data may include records of business transactions, records of various employee activities as well as e-mails or photos. All the computers, phones, cameras and other devices connected to corporate data networks simply generate vast amounts of data that can help companies discover interesting contexts and possibilities of further development.

Almost every HR professional was sometimes criticized because of not having been able to empirically prove the relationship between the human capital management and the company's profitability. Being able to process big data can, therefore, start a real revolution in HR. The existing technology helps us answer questions such as: How long should the recruitment of a new employees take? How much money should it cost? What kinds of people are the best for the company and where to find them? How can we keep them?

Big data promises to interconnect various separate databases containing information on recruitment, compensation, performance, training and development, employee turnover, etc., so that we can answer the questions of whether there is a correlation between:

• experience and job performance,

• wage increases and productivity,

• development programs and fluctuation rates,

• length of employment and productivity,

• quality of hire and companies' profits, etc.

The use of big data in HR has already started at the largest employers and software vendors. They have sufficient data as well as resources to develop the necessary algorithms and models of data processing. You can, however, start today as well by collecting HR data and keeping it up to date.

The huge potential of big data and the interest of companies in big data processing was demonstrated e.g. in the latest global research by Cisco called the Cisco Connected World Technology Report. You can read more about the report in the press release or directly on the page with the report's results.

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