Today's guest, Dr. Serena Huang, champions the crucial role of data experts in people teams, showing how people analytics can lead to smarter talent decisions. A globally recognized speaker and innovator, Dr. Huang has a unique background as a data executive at Fortune 100 companies and a Chief Data Officer in the startup world. Her work goes beyond numbers, using data to create healthier, more productive workplaces. A Wiley author and sought-after lecturer at top MBA programs, she’s passionate about empowering the next generation of leaders with data-driven insights. In this episode, Dr. Huang discusses her journey into the people side of business, why data experts are vital to talent teams, and how people analytics can transform decision-making. She also dives into the data behind remote work trends, pawternity, and the inspiration for her book; sharing valuable insights on the art of data storytelling in talent leadership.

Key Points From This Episode:

Winning the fight with talent leadership: the importance of installing data experts on the people team.
She unpacks the value of people analytics and how it generates valuable information.
How she works with CHROs to define their actual problem.
Data storytelling with people data: what makes it different.
The verdict (and her opinion) on pawternity.
We look at the current data on remote work and the push for office returns: making decisions based on informed data (from your people!)
How Dr. Huang decided to write her book and what topic she wanted to focus on.

Quotes:

“What holds people back is the data quality. You can have great dashboards but when the underlying data is not trustworthy, no one is going to do anything with the data.” — @SerenaHuangPhD [0:10:27]

“Having autonomy, having the agency to decide where, how, and what you work on [is what matters] as humans. [And] I think that’s why remote work was so successful during COVID, for a short while, [and] that shocked everyone.” — @SerenaHuangPhD [0:21:38]

“For validation, I also found that people are much happier on Fridays. No matter where you are, no matter where you’re working, [on] Fridays, everyone’s mood is better!” — @SerenaHuangPhD [0:27:58]

“I think we are just starting on this AI journey and what AI can do. So much is yet to be seen!” — @SerenaHuangPhD [0:33:51]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dr. Serena Huang

Dr. Serena Huang on LinkedIn

Data with Serena

The Inclusion Equation: Leveraging Data & AI For Organizational Diversity and Well-being

LHH Recruitment Solutions

Data Storytelling for People Teams with Serena Huang, PhD