People Analytics Setup Checklist for HR Teams

People Analytics Checklist

This People Analytics Checklist helps HR teams organize workforce data, define key metrics, establish data governance, and build reliable people analytics processes.

Who this checklist is for: HR leaders, people analytics practitioners, HR operations teams, and managers preparing to implement or mature people analytics capabilities.

1. Planning and Preparation

1. Define key objectives and success metrics for analytics initiatives
2. Map all HR data sources and assign data owners
3. Identify priority HR metrics and required dimensions
4. Assess current data quality and document gaps
5. Establish a project timeline with milestones and owners

2. Compliance and Policy

1. Review applicable legal and regulatory requirements for employee data
2. Define data retention, access, and sharing policies
3. Obtain necessary employee consents and internal approvals
4. Implement role based access controls and permissions
5. Document audit trail and monitoring requirements

3. Data Setup and Implementation

1. Build a prioritized implementation plan with deliverables
2. Configure data pipelines and integration workflows
3. Validate data mappings, keys, and transformation logic
4. Define standardized calculations and definitions for key HR metrics
5. Validate dashboards and reports with HR stakeholders before launch
6. Set up automated data quality checks and alerts
7. Train operational owners on daily data processes

4. Documentation and Records

1. Create and maintain a data dictionary for HR metrics
2. Document source inventories, owners, and update cadence
3. Record processing steps and transformation rules
4. Store consent records, policy documents, and approvals
5. Maintain change logs for schema and report updates

5. Review and Follow Up

1. Schedule regular data quality and integrity reviews
2. Monitor key metric trends and investigate anomalies
3. Review whether people analytics reports are being used effectively by HR and managers
4. Update policies and documentation after major changes
5. Conduct periodic compliance and access audits
6. Provide ongoing training and governance refresh sessions