Evidence-based practice (EBP) is an organized method that human resource professionals (people professionals) use to guide and justify their decisions or recommendations (Gill, 2018). It involves the deliberate integration of the best available evidence from various sources (such as organisational data, academic research, stakeholder input, etc) with specific decisions/recommendations, rather than a sole reliance on established practices, personal opinions or anecdotal evidence (Spencer, Detrich & Slocum, 2012). The aim is to minimize bias and improve the efficiency and credibility of HR interventions, ensuring they deliver tangible results which support the organisation’s objectives.
Company X can apply EBP in various ways to improve its service delivery efforts. Firstly, when advising a client on employee retention, Company X can analyse its exit interview and employee satisfaction survey data to identify the most common drivers of employee attrition. This data, once converted into meaningful information, can then undergo integration with academic studies identifying effective retention strategies tailored to the needs of the client. Secondly, Company X can analyse the client’s historical data on cost-per-hire and quality-of-hire from each department for similar roles to advise them on how to allocate its budget across various job boards. Company X will then be able combine reliable internal data with insights from research sources such as the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) to make data-driven and research-backed recommendations on how to recruit while maximising the client’s return on investment.
The EBP method ensures that Company X’s recommendations are both defensible and specific to the context of each client.
