SEMESTER: Spring 2020

This course is dual listed with the FTMBA.

COURSE NUMBER: EWMBA257.4

COURSE TITLE: People Analytics

UNITS OF CREDIT: 2

INSTRUCTOR: Heather Whiteman

E-MAIL ADDRESS: heather.whiteman@berkeley.edu

PREREQUISITE(S): None

CAREER FIELD: This course will be useful for anyone looking to better understand the power of people in driving organizational success. The course is designed for individuals in or seeking a career as a people manager, human resources professional, business leader or CEO. The concepts from this course will be relevant for all focus areas in which groups of people are required to reach objectives (e.g., business, non-profit organizations, government).

CLASS FORMAT: This class will utilize lectures, discussions, guest speakers, readings, homework assignments and group project work. The course will include the completion of a detailed, realistic business problem in which teams will work together to understand and analyze data about people and provide recommendations/solutions.

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE: Class attendance and participation, homework assignments, and a final group project will form the basis for the class grade.

20% - Class Participation

20% - Homework Assignments

25% - Mid-Term Exam

35% - Final Exam

TOTAL = 100%

REQUIRED READINGS: The Power of People, Nigel Guenole, Jonathon Ferrar and Sheri Feinzig (Pearson Education, Inc.), 2017. Plus selected articles and posts provided within bCourses.

SUGGESTED READINGS: Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals, Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic (Wiley), 2015

ABSTRACT OF COURSE:

People make up one of the largest resources in an organization and are often considered to be the most important resource to success. People analytics brings the concepts of data-based insights to the process of understanding and increasing outcomes for organizations. What “moneyball” did for baseball, people analytics will do for organizations; people analytics will replace the outdated ways of thinking about the management of people in organizations and bring about measurable, observable performance for organizations.

This course will introduce you to the concept of analytics when applied to the various aspects of people at work. The course is introductory in nature, aimed at those who may not have analytics experience or experience managing people or people processes. However, those with analytics and/or talent management skills will still benefit from new concepts and the course will serve as a great opportunity for applied practice.

In this course, you will learn the basics of measuring people at work, how to use the information available to make critical recommendations to senior leaders, and how to tell a compelling story using people data. You will complete analytics (descriptive statistics, correlations, etc.), conduct research, identify business alignment, incorporate data visualization & storytelling, and consider important facets of people analytics such as data privacy, biases, and supporting/refuting analytics. Finally, this course will prepare you to present people analytics outcomes verbally, visually & in a written form that would be expected in a business environment. The course will focus on the application of people analytics in practice and so will rely heavily on discussions and hands-on experiences.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES: Heather Whiteman is a leading expert in the field of people analytics. Heather recently held executive level positions leading teams in the areas of Talent Management, People Analytics, Technology, Learning & Development and HR Operations. She has led organizations through times of hypergrowth, digital transformation, mergers, acquisitions, and restructuring with the use of advanced and data driven talent management techniques. Heather’s passion and focus lies in helping leaders prepare to meet the challenges of the future of work and to leverage the power of data-based insights to bring about business results. Heather has a PhD in Human Capital Management, has worked in companies like General Electric (GE), Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) as well as worked in research & consulting.