Evidence-Based Decision Making
As you have read in the text, sociologists analyze data gathered in society and within organizations to understand more about the social problems that can occur within society related to organizations (e.g., globalization, environmental issues, etc.). Analyzing data also helps sociologists understand how social problems can occur within organizations in relation to specific groups (e.g., women, older workers, etc.). Gathering and analyzing data to understand these workplace issues is not only the job of sociologists as part of research projects, but also the job of human resources (HR) practitioners within organizations. Human resource practitioners often perform research about their workforce to understand how workers feel about their environment or their experiences of work.
To help you answer the questions below, please read the article “Becoming an Evidence-Based HR Practitioner (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.” and watch the video, HR meets Science at Google with Prasad Setty. (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Answer the following:
- How does using data-based evidence help HR practitioners in organizational decision making?
- In the video, Prasad Setty presents the ways Google has used varied forms of research for evidence based decision making. Based on the video, what types of research have they used and for what types of issues?
- The article and text you read this week present examples of research methods. Sometimes HR wants to understand the experiences of specific groups in their work force. If you were an HR practitioner and wanted to understand the experiences of the older workers (those aged 55 and older) in your organization, what research methods would you use to do so? State the type of research method and explain why you have chosen this method to understand your older workers.