Thread: Evidence Based Human Resource Practice

What are the barriers to evidence based practice becoming the norm within the hr profession as it is in medicine, social work and teaching to name just three other professions?

It is estimated that 40% of major management decisions are based not on fact but on individual intuition. Sometimes this works but often such an approach can result in disaster or can leave a lot of money on the table. For example managers who recruit people on intuition, rather than on a detailed analysis of the skills and qualities that will best predict an employees high performance are likely to experience more problems and difficulties within the ongoing employment relationship, ultimately this could lead to litigation.


The good new is that there is an alternative to intuition and gut instinct and that is what I refer to as evidence based human resource practice (EBHRP).

The main benefits of EBHRP are:-

• more informed and effective decisions
• hr policies, practice and interventions based on what works, rather than on guesswork
• the adoption of a more analytical approach using existing information, data, and statistics already likely to be held within the organisation in order to predict outcomes and manage risk.

Richard Payne Chartered MCIPD

Hi Richard, I havent heard of this term before... is it something that you have coined?

I think you are right in that all people (incl. HR people) can make intuitive decisions, particular during interviews, etc, but then a robust HRIS system can help with some of the techincal data (ie sickness rates, performance review scoring)

Is this what you mean?