Why HR Analytics Isn’t Delivering—and How CHROs Can Fix It

For far too long, most companies relied on gut instinct alone to drive people-related decisions. To change this, many HR teams have turned to data, using everything from simple dashboards to advanced predictive models. Now, HR analytics has officially moved from a relatively niche field to a staple function in most organizations. Yet, despite this growing investment, many chief human resources officers (CHROs) still don’t believe HR analytics is delivering real business value.

Only 18% of CHROs say their organizations use data consistently to improve people decisions, while 74% say their analytics capabilities are still limited to basic reporting, according to new Korn Ferry research. In today’s economy, where talent is often the biggest constraint on growth, this is more than a missed opportunity. It’s a strategy blind spot.

On the surface, this disconnect may seem surprising. Since 2020, companies have invested heavily in HR analytics teams and tech, attracting top talent, meeting strong demand, and improving data infrastructure. So, why do CHROs believe they’re not seeing real value?

Many assume the problem is technology. While gaps exist, fixing this tech and data issues alone won’t solve what most CHROs overlook: HR analytics teams are often mispositioned as reporting shops rather than strategic units. Modeled after traditional centers of excellence (COEs), these teams inherit a structure designed for stable service delivery—ideal for functions like compensation, where consistency is the goal. But analytics isn’t a vertical service. To deliver real value, it needs agility, integration, and constant exposure to cross-functional problems. Without this, teams get stuck in operational work instead of delivering forward-looking insights.

The symptoms are easy to spot—overworked teams with underused skills, a proliferation of unused dashboards, and analysts buried in requests but who can’t articulate their impact. If a company’s HR analytics lead presents at industry conferences regularly but doesn’t influence internal business decisions, the problem isn’t talent or technology. It’s organizational structure.

The good news? CHROs can change this dynamic. Follow these three design shifts to unlock the full value of HR analytics.

Design Shift 1: Structure HR Analytics Around Business Problems, Not Functional Silos

Many analytics teams are organized by functions, with data scientists, dashboard builders, and consultants placed in separate subgroups. This structure worked when teams were small and focused on foundational tasks. But at today’s scale, running projects within functional silos can lead to frustrated stakeholders. A project routed to the data science team may result in a machine learning model when what’s really needed is a strategic conversation or a fast visual dashboard.

The fix? Build cross-functional pods around real business problems. Combining diverse skill sets helps teams approach issues from all angles, increasing the chance they’ll deliver useful insights. A workforce planning team, for example, could include a data scientist, business consultant, and visualization expert, all working side by side. This structure reduces handoffs, shortens time to insight, and helps analysts speak the language of the business, not just data. To work effectively, HR analytics teams need to pair this approach with a streamlined intake and scoping process that screens projects early for strategic fit, business value, and built-in time for generating insights.

Most importantly, this design shift reorients the team toward outcomes rather than activities. CHROs can promote cross-functional teams and reward shared ownership of business results.

Design Shift 2: Elevate and Distinguish the Role of the HR Analytics Leader

Research shows heads of HR analytics often report to a COE lead, one level below the CHRO, limiting the team’s visibility and the CHRO’s ability to be a data-driven partner to the business. But when the analytics leader reports directly to the CHRO, it shows a deep commitment to embedding people data into strategic decisions. It also positions HR as a core driver of business performance, not just as a functional expert.

And how the team is positioned matters to both HR and the business. While many vertical HR functions focus on specialization and standardization, HR analytics needs to operate differently. It’s a horizontal enabler that works across the entire employee lifecycle and throughout all HR domains. Structuring it like any other function limits its reach and relevance.

Analytics should be the bridge between talent data and business action. CHROs can elevate the analytics leader’s visibility, expand their team’s mandate, and signal that the team is a strategic enabler, not just a support function.

Design Shift 3: Embed Analytics Into the Business, Not Just HR

Even with the right reporting lines, HR analytics teams can fall short if they’re not embedded in real business decisions. Too often, they serve only HR stakeholders, delivering internal metrics and operational reports rather than addressing the company’s core challenges.

To solve this, integrate analytics into cross-functional initiatives and give analysts direct access to business leaders, not just HR business partners (HRBPs). HRBPs often struggle to translate business needs because they may lack data fluency, are busy with daily tasks, or might unintentionally gatekeep access to decision-makers. Of course, proximity alone is not enough. Some HR analysts may need coaching to strengthen their business acumen and stakeholder engagement skills. Over time, direct exposure to business priorities and repeated practice is the best way to accelerate this development.

Proximity breeds relevance. The best insights come from analysts who deeply understand business goals, trade-offs, and pain points. Most CHROs are now central to driving critical transformation efforts. Through early involvement, HR analytics can help shape business decisions rather than just validate what’s already done. This is critical for teams to drive real impact.

Korn Ferry research shows that when organizations embed analytics into business decision-making, they are twice as likely to improve their leadership pipelines and over three times more likely to place the right talent in the right roles. CHROs can maximize their analytics teams’ impact by involving them in business initiatives early, rather than having them report on them later.

Setting the Right Foundation for HR Analytics

To unlock the full value of their analytics team, CHROs should start asking three foundational questions:

1. Where does the team sit?
2. Who do they serve?
3. Are they solving business problems or just reporting on them?

Answering these questions will lay the groundwork for change. It will be important to resist the temptation to start by focusing on new technologies like generative AI. Without the right structure, even the best tools will just speed up reporting instead of improving business outcomes.

After these questions are solved, CHROs should reorganize analytics work around real needs, elevate the role of the team and its leader, and embed analysts in high-priority business initiatives. CHROs will know their efforts are working when analytics teams start surfacing critical patterns, risks, and opportunities before they’re asked. Other signs of success include analysts driving strategic conversations and business leaders using people data to make decisions, not just report on them.

Above all, CHROs need to redefine success for HR analytics. If CHROs actively reward their analytics teams for providing insights that improve decisions, these teams will naturally start to evolve into functions that help move the business forward.