The future of people analytics: expert insights from Ian Pinkett, Global People Analytics Director at Arcadis
Frazer Jones has been placing HR analytics professionals for over 10 years and is a market-leading expert in sourcing the best people analytics talent in the UK and globally. We have a specialist team focusing on the HR technology and people analytics function, and we’ve been connecting with industry leaders to share their data-driven insights.
I had the pleasure of meeting Ian Pinkett at the HR Analytics Summit last year, and we’ve stayed in touch ever since. Ian is the Global People Analytics Director at Arcadis, a multinational company delivering intelligence-driven sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets. Arcadis has a workforce of approximately 36,000 employees across more than 30 countries.
Ian joined Arcadis in 2019 after a diverse career spanning finance, manufacturing operations analytics, workforce planning, and people analytics. His extensive experience includes roles at major organisations such as Amazon, Severn Trent Water, Saint-Gobain (British Gypsum), E.ON, BBC, Co-operative Group, Northern Foods, and Marks & Spencer.
With a wealth of expertise in people analytics, Ian shares his insights on human capital, opportunities, challenges, and the future of work in this fast-evolving field.
Talking data, reporting, and insights – where do you see the biggest opportunities for organisations?
With my people analytics head on, I would say that the biggest opportunity right now is understanding your workforce. This can be achieved by analysing employee turnover trends, whether from a leave reasons perspective or through skills gap tracking.
However, one of the easiest wins in this space is through employee sentiment analysis – gathered via employee engagement surveys or, if privacy policies allow, internal social media analysis. Companies can leverage machine learning and algorithms to process big data more efficiently. Tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft AI or any internal artificial intelligence apps enable businesses to conduct predictive data analysis, offering real-time insights into workforce.
What do you think are the biggest challenges facing people analytics?
Investment and stakeholder buy-in.
In large organisations, securing investment in people analytics teams requires alignment across multiple departments, including HR leaders, finance, technology, and privacy teams. Additionally, demonstrating the business value of data-driven decision-making processes is essential for obtaining support.
Another challenge is data collection and visualisation. While many companies have access to vast amounts of HR data, few have the operating models in place to derive actionable insights. Organisations must invest in HR systems and data scientists to maximise the impact of their analytics strategy.
How do you best secure stakeholder buy-in and investment to drive HR tech and analytics forward?
The key is to tie people analytics directly to business strategy. With the rise of ESG reporting requirements and the increasing influence of ethical investment, non-financial metrics now play a significant role in shareholder decision-making.
Demonstrating how predictive analytics can influence performance management, retention, and employee experience strengthens the case for investment in HR technology and automation. If business leaders see a clear route from data insights to commercial impact and business performance, securing investment becomes much easier.
What does the future of people analytics look like for you?
Democratisation through AI and automation. Simply giving stakeholders access to dashboards is no longer enough. They need to understand the insights and know how to act on them.
This is where artificial intelligence and machine learning will bridge the gap – highlighting potential risks, opportunities, and predictive insights. AI-powered tools will enhance decision-making, ensuring that people analytics professionals can deliver better decisions for their organisations.
With advances in HR systems and data-driven HR functions, HR teams will be able to provide real-time workforce analytics that support more agile business strategies.
What are the most significant learnings from your career so far?
It’s okay to have a non-linear career path. Every experience contributes to your unique expertise in human resources and people analytics.
Make career moves with your head, not your heart. Moving for a specific leader can be risky – people move on, and so should your career rationale.
What advice would you give to someone looking to advance their career in people analytics?
Jump in! People analytics is still a young discipline, meaning there is huge growth potential.
With rising demand for data-driven insights, CSRD reporting, and the EU Pay Transparency Directive, the importance of HR analytics strategy is only increasing. It’s an exciting time to enter the field and shape the future of work.
When hiring for your team, what key qualities and skills do you look for?
- Cultural fit – alignment with the company’s ethics, values, and behaviours is essential for long-term success
- Data confidence – people data is often incomplete or imperfect, so candidates must be comfortable working with large, complex datasets
- Storytelling and translation skills – stakeholders need to understand the data-driven insights. The ability to translate numbers into actionable business outcomes is a key differentiator in people strategy.
A huge thank you to Ian Pinkett for sharing his valuable insights on HR analytics, automation, and data-driven HR strategy.
If you are an HR professional working in people analytics or HR tech and would like to share your own industry perspectives, reach out to me to discuss potential collaborations.
About Ian
Ian is an analytical, result-driven professional with comprehensive international experience in areas of strategic resourcing management, labour and capacity planning, integrated business planning, data analytics, and continuous improvement acquired in industry-leading companies. He is well versed in providing cross-functional leadership and overseeing associated functions to include strategic planning and forecasting, process enhancement, business analysis and modeling, performance optimisation, resource alignment, management reporting, cost reduction, people development, and relationship management.
