LPA Blog Assignment

April 06, 2020

Read The Full Prompt

Organizations, from startups to multinationals to non-profits to sports teams, are using employee data in new and exciting ways. They are typically trying to improve efficiency, performance, or both, leading to a variety of intended and unintended consequences. Using employee data in new ways often has important implications for employee privacy, company transparency, ethics, and organizational culture.

Your assignment is to identify an article, blog post, or other public source of information about an issue related to People Analytics. This could be a description of an organization’s use of employee data in a particular way, commentary about the field as a whole, an opinion on a particular practice related to People Analytics, or anything else that is relevant to the field. For examples of articles related to the course, visit the PeopleAnalytics@Harvard website.

Write your own reaction to your chosen article in the form of a short blog post. What is your point of view about the issues in question? Are you a proponent? A skeptic? Does your article describe a particularly effective use of data that should be emulated by other organizations? Or do you think it describes an ineffective or troublesome practice? You should go beyond simply describing what is in the article and articulate your own point of view on the topic.

Create an approximately 600-word post to make your contribution on d3.harvard.edu by 6pm on Monday, April 6. Please include a link to the material you write about. Feel free to use graphics, data, videos, and links to other sites to corroborate your points.

After posting your own blog, please comment on three posts by other students by 6pm on Tuesday, April 14. Selected posts will be discussed in class.

If you have any problems with the digit.hbs.org platform, please email diplatform@hbs.edu for help, and visit the digital platform resources page for helpful advice.

Submitted (57)

Moneyball and Soccer
Georges Badawi
Posted on April 5, 2020 at 4:53 pm
Was Brad Pitt really onto something? How data analytics is changing the way soccer clubs scout and sign new players
The Ethics of People Analytics
Caroline Stedman
Posted on April 9, 2020 at 4:56 pm
A Review of “How to Ethically Secure People Analytics” by Andy Hames, Senior Vice President North America, People First
Nudging your way to the top?
M Williams
Posted on April 10, 2020 at 4:27 pm
Sweetgreen, among other companies, is leveraging nudge theory to engage their workforce.
AI in Predicting Candidate Potential
K Shen
Last modified on April 10, 2020 at 6:32 pm
Can an algorithm really evaluate a person's potential?
BetterUp: Finding the best coach for you at the right moment
Miho Sakuma
Last modified on April 11, 2020 at 12:02 pm
BetterUp’s algorithm can predict your needs, match a coach, and measure effectiveness of your development. Sounds terrific, but should we rely so much on algorithm?
Locked in by Algorithms?
Paula Álvarez
Posted on April 11, 2020 at 12:47 pm
In courts around the country, risk-assessment algorithms determine who gets bail and who has to stay locked up. Can we avoid perpetuating the systemic biases of the justice system with these automated tools?
Wisdom of the Crowd: Interviewing Your Network with Searchlight.ai
John Keck
Posted on April 11, 2020 at 4:05 pm
Searchlight.ai offers a new way to leverage references in the job application process, interviewing your network to qualify you as an applicant.
Books and Movies in the era of AI
Haerin Lee
Last modified on April 11, 2020 at 10:38 pm
Will AI help writers creating better content, or will it destroy the creative nature of it?
The risks of collecting employee health data
Amina E
Posted on April 12, 2020 at 10:38 am
Link to article A Washington Post article from 2019 describes an increasing trend in employee wellness programs, with employers collecting detailed health data like step count, hours of sleep, and more. The article describes employers calling individual employees to congratulate [...]
HireVue: A face-scanning algorithm decides whether you deserve the job
vertigo
Last modified on April 12, 2020 at 4:06 pm
While we observe more and more recruiting processes are automated, HireVue is providing AI-driven interview analytics. Are you comfortable when they say your facial expression can tell whether you are qualified for the job?
Building Bridges with AI
AA
Last modified on April 12, 2020 at 11:26 pm
How the UN is using artificial intelligence and algorithms to facilitate more inclusive peace negotiations.
Organizational network analysis: overcoming common pitfalls
Hersh Patel
Last modified on April 15, 2020 at 10:46 am
Experts argue how organizational network analysis has fallen short of its promise, but an organization's approach makes a big difference.
A New Opportunity for Cost Cutting through People Analytics: Employee Retention
Oguz Karatay
Posted on April 12, 2020 at 9:39 pm
In 2019, IBM noted that its artificial intelligence can predict with 95% accuracy which workers are about to quit their jobs[1]. It is a remarkable achievement as cost of employee replacement is estimated to be between 30 and 400% of [...]
Forever a Student Driver? Data Monitoring in the Trucking Industry
jlaydon
Posted on April 13, 2020 at 8:08 am
This blog explores the future of data mining in the trucking industry. Although at first glance, monitoring the brain activity of a driver might appear to be a gross violation of privacy, it may be a better alternative than current [...]
What if companies could monitor your concentration?
K Fukagawa
Last modified on April 13, 2020 at 10:40 am
Schools in China are monitoring children's concentration levels using AI - can we imagine similar moves at the workplace?
Uplevel: Quantifying Productivity in a Distracted World
GGL
Last modified on April 13, 2020 at 12:17 pm
Uplevel, a Seattle-based people analytics and productivity startup, emerged from stealth mode in January 2020 and announced a $7.5M seed financing from Madrona Venture Group, Norwest Venture Partners, and Voyager Capital.
Humans versus robots: When we take performance tracking too far
mwhittenberger
Last modified on April 13, 2020 at 12:55 pm
Amazon has experimented with a variety of tracking systems for warehouse employees, including tracking wristbands and automated termination. What are the human costs of these systems, and how can they be best corrected?
People analytics during a pandemic: new opportunities?
tf
Posted on April 13, 2020 at 2:30 pm
As the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic pushes office work to digital platforms, employees are creating more, and more complete, communications data than ever before. Should companies view this as an opportunity to roll out new analytics tools?
Predicting who will fail and when – a Marine Corps study with broad implications
Blake Wilson
Posted on April 13, 2020 at 2:58 pm
This post explores the potential of people analytics in a military environment. Using a study of from USC involving Marines in a training environment, it argues that a focus on quantifiable and objective data is necessary for widespread adoption of [...]
AI as Talent Scout
Hanyin Cheng
Posted on April 13, 2020 at 3:29 pm
Using analytics to identify nontraditional job candidates who are as qualified and high performing as traditional candidates
Should companies use platforms like Zoom and Slack to track employee productivity?
Aurora Turek
Last modified on April 13, 2020 at 3:52 pm
With millions of employees collaborating virtually with their colleagues via platforms like Zoom and Slack, companies now have access to a plethora of data that could be used to track the productivity of their employees. But should they use it?
Your Instagram Told Me So…
Jade Enns
Posted on April 13, 2020 at 3:47 pm
Social media data is being analyzed to measure employee engagement and to preempt dangerous student behavior. Should it be used to predict mental illness?
Can an AI recruiting platform be biased towards disabled people?
SN
Posted on April 13, 2020 at 4:16 pm
HireVue is an AI hiring platform that helps to assess more candidates with presumably less biases. However, the technology behind it might be biased against disabled candidates even more.
Digital Contact Tracing & COVID-19
Pallavi M
Posted on April 13, 2020 at 4:40 pm
In a desperate effort to #flattenthecurve, many countries have employed various forms of tracking technology to identify infected citizens and monitor quarantines. Should we be concerned?
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