Content & Faculty
Each week, a different facet of People Analytics will be explored. The lectures cover both academic and practical insights. The transfer sessions will consist of peer-to-peer exchanges where participants can share their experiences in applying the course knowledge and analytics to their current work.
Kick-off - Dr. Simon Schafheitle
6 October 2022, 09:00-16:30 CET, hybrid
During the first session you will get to know the faculty, e-meet each other and clarify your expectations as well as the general learning objectives.
Networking event with alumni reunion
6 October 2022, 16:30-21:00 CET
Module 1: People Analytics – It’s not just about Data but also about Mindset! - Dr. Simon Schafheitle & Prof. Dr. Antoinette Weibel
Date tbd, 08:15-10:15 CET
People Analytics is a popular new trend and powerful tool for improving HR decision-making. However, to unfold its full potential, leaders need to change their mindset and implement digital literacy and trust as prevailing principles inside the organization.
Learning Outcomes:
- Understand the basic principles of evidence-based management to familiarize yourself with the change of mindset
- Translate complex business challenges into root-cause relationships suitable for People Analytics practice
- Experiment with an evidence-based mindset using concrete people issues from your business practice
Transfer Session, 11:30-12:30 CET
Module 2: Beyond Happy Sheets – How to Turn People Analytics Insights into Business Impact! - Dr. Simon Schafheitle & Dr. Lucia Görke
Date tbd, 08:15-10:15 CET
Who hasn‘t heard the phrase «garbage in, garbage out» before? The full potential of People Analytics can only be achieved if the quality of the data is good.
Learning Outcomes:
- Understand the basic premises of social science metrics to become an advocate and critical sparring partner in People Analytics projects
- Learn how to improve the data of your current People Analytics projects
- Apply best practices in collecting and analyzing the right data and turning the results into concrete business recommendations
Transfer Session, 11:30-12:30 CET
Module 3: Fail fast, but fail small: Why #Experimentability is today’s most important management resource - Gerhard Fehr
Date tbd, 08:15-10:15 CET
Reduce complexity and uncertainty in your organization. In an increasingly digital, rapidly changing world, human behaviour is fundamentally changing.
Learning Outcomes:
- Understand the impact of experimentation on business success
- Learn how to implement a culture of experimentation
- Discover how to design a good experiment
- Learn from best practices how to change your company with #Experimentability
Transfer Session, 11:30-12:30 CET
Module 4: Happimetrics - How Measuring Emotions with AI Increases Individual Happiness and Business Performance - Prof. Dr. Peter A. Gloor
Date tbd, 08:15-10:15 CET
Knowing what makes you happy will make you happier! Analyzing people’s communication patterns and making them self-aware by mirroring their behavior back to them in a privacy-respecting way will increase individual happiness and team performance.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand how Positive People Management and Trust lead to organizational excellence
- Learn how HRM contributes to employee engagement and happiness
- Discover the secret to positive teamwork. Know what roles HR and Inclusive Leadership play
Transfer Session, 11:30-12:30 CET
Module 5: Implementation and Use of People Analytics from a Legal Perspective - Prof. Dr. Isabelle Wildhaber & Dr. Boris Dzida
Date tbd, 08:15-10:15 CET
Our empirical studies show that data-based People Analytics tools are being tried out and implemented very widely, but often rather carelessly.
Learning Outcomes:
- Understand the legal framework for using People Analytics tools
- Understand legal issues from an employment law and data protection law perspective
- Recognize the legal risks related to the implementation and use of People Analytics tools
Transfer Session, 11:30-12:30 CET
Module 6: Leadership & Decision-Making in the Age of AI - Prof. Dr. Miriam Meckel & Léa Steinacker
Date tbd, 08:15-10:15 CET
In this module we present results from our empirical study on decision-making in the age of AI and discuss the benefits, pitfalls and emerging issues around the changing nature of work and leadership due to its increasing automation.
Learning Outcomes:
- Gain insights into new data on leaders' reaction to the integration of technology into their practice
- Evaluate the advantages and challenges of AI-enabled decision-making
- Reflect on the key socio-technical and psychological effects arising from the deployment of such systems
Transfer Session, 11:30-12:30 CET
Module 7: Death by the leaderboard and other follies - How to use People Analytics in a thoughtful way to drive employee outcomes - Dr. Anastasia Sapegina
Date tbd, 08:15-10:15 CET
People analytics is a rapidly expanding area of people management in organizations. Collecting and analyzing complex chains of employee data holds many promises for well-informed and evidence-based workforce decisions.
Learning Outcomes
- Gain insights into the potential "dark side" of People Analytics
- Understand how different features of People Analytics impact employee outcomes at the individual and team level
- Understand how to use People Analytics in a balanced way- to drive employee performance, well-being, and collaboration
Transfer Session, 11:30-12:30 CET
Module 8: You Cannot do it Without Trust - Prof. Dr. Antoinette Weibel
Date tbd, 08:15-10:15 CET
People Analytics and Datafication are powerful tools – however, a fool with a tool remains a fool.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the centrality of trust for business excellence and People Analytics
- Design technological solutions in a way that enhances or at least does not undermine trust
- Understand a «being digital» culture that enables «machines to serve humans» and not vice versa
Transfer Session, 11:30-12:30 CET
Follow-up, farewell & virtual apéro
Date tbd, 18:00-19:30 CET
Faculty
Dr. Simon Schafheitle: University of St.Gallen (FAA-HSG)
Simon Schafheitle is an International Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Chair for Human Resource Management of Antoinette Weibel at the University of St. Gallen (FAA-HSG). He received his doctorate from the University of St. Gallen in 2020 focusing on the impact of datafication technologies on 21st-century workplace architectures, particularly emphasizing the dual relationship of trust and HR control. Currently, he is launching a research project aiming at a more nuanced understanding of how “intelligent” technologies impact Performance Management Systems, for instance, what it means if a robot sets employees’ goals or if an algorithm incentivizes or punishes employees. His research interests lie in the areas of "SMART Workplaces", new technologies in human resource management and leadership, digital mindsets, trust in and between organizations, employee engagement, and motivation, as well as in the tradition of evidence-based management. In terms of research methodology, he is particularly attracted to creative research methods that have received little attention in management research to date, including mixed-methods designs, field experiments, Boolean algebra, as well as design thinking, and inventive engineering approaches.
Prof. Dr. Antoinette Weibel: University of St.Gallen (FAA-HSG)
Antoinette Weibel is a Trust- and Organization researcher and Full Professor for Human Resource Management at the University of St. Gallen. She is the Director of the Institute for Work and Employment Research at the University of St. Gallen (FAA-HSG) as well as President of the Executive Committee of the Institute for Systemic Management and Public Governance. Antoinette Weibel is the outgoing President of the First International Network on Trust Researchers (FINT). Her most recent research projects focus on how algorithms influence trust in the workplace and what companies can do when they are confronted with stakeholder distrust.
Dr. Lucia Görke: Nestlé
Lucia Görke currently works as a Senior Data Analyst and Employee Experience Lead at Nestlé in the People Analytics department. Previously, she completed her PhD at the Graduate School of Decision Sciences at the University of Konstanz and at NYU. Thematically, she worked on how autonomous teams show better performance compared to managed teams when using goal achievement strategies. During her PhD, Lucia also worked as a consultant for a Swiss financial services company. Prior to that, she held numerous roles at Allianz SE. When Lucia is not analyzing data at Nestlé, she is teaching at the University of St. Gallen and goes hiking in the mountains.
Gerhard Fehr: Fehr Advice
Gerhard Fehr is an applied behavioural economist, executive behavioural designer und CEO of Fehr Advice & Partners AG.
As an entrepreneur, he was the founder of one of the first business consultancies specializing in behavioural economics back in 2010. Over the last ten years, he and his team have made it the European market leader in behavioural design and experimentability. He is a personal advisor to many politicians, board members, CEOs and top managers in companies. His personal mission is «to enable companies and politics to experiment with plenty of inspiration»
His passion: #Experimentability #Behavioral Design #Leadership
Prof. Dr. Peter A. Gloor: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Peter A. Gloor is a Research Scientist at the Center for Collective Intelligence at MIT where he leads a project exploring Collaborative Innovation Networks and Happiness. He is also Founder and Chief Creative Officer of software company galaxyadvisors, and Honorary Professor at University of Cologne and Jilin University, Changchun, China. Earlier he was a partner with Deloitte and PwC, and a manager at UBS. He got his Ph.D in computer science from University of Zurich and was a Post-Doc at the MIT Lab for Computer Science. His most recent books are “Sociometrics and Human Relationships” and “Swarm Leadership and the Collective Mind”.
Prof. Dr. Isabelle Wildhaber: University of St.Gallen (FAA-HSG)
Isabelle Wildhaber, LL.M., is a Full Professor for Private and Business Law at the University of St. Gallen. She is admitted to the Bar in Switzerland and to the Bar in New York First Department, having worked for Swiss and American law firms in Basel, New York and Frankfurt a.M.
She has conducted research and published on the legal implications of artificial intelligence and robotics at the workplace, with a particular focus on Swiss law.
Dr. Boris Dzida: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer
Boris Dzida is a partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and a member of the firm’s global Executive Committee. He is also the global head of the firm’s People & Reward practice group. His practice focuses on employee data protection and privacy, employment law in M&A transactions, and the restructuring and reorganisation of companies. He is also a lecturer at the University of Hamburg.
Prof. Dr. Miriam Meckel (MCM-HSG)
Miriam is Professor for Communication Management at the University of St.Gallen and the founding publisher of "ada", a training platform to equip organizational change makers for the digital age. From 2014-2018 she was the editor-in-chief and publisher of the magazine WirtschaftsWoche, Germany's weekly business publication. Before joining WirtschaftsWoche, Miriam was the Managing Director of the Institute for Media and Communication Management at the University of St.Gallen. Previously, Miriam spent four years in politics at the Office of the Premier of the German State of North Rhine-Westphalia, first as Undersecretary for Media and government spokeswoman, then as Undersecretary for Europe, International Affairs, and Media. Miriam is an award-winning speaker and a bestselling book author who has published prolifically on the development of the Internet, digital life and the future of journalism.
Léa Steinacker: ada
Léa Steinacker is an award-winning journalist, researcher, and entrepreneur. She is the Co-Founder and Chief Operations Officer of "ada", a technology start-up for organizational development that equips workers for the future. Previously, Léa served as the Chief Innovation Officer of WirtschaftsWoche, Germany's leading business magazine, where she covered the future of work and socio-technological change. Prior to joining Handelsblatt Media Group, Léa worked with social justice NGOs in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. She was selected as a Forbes 30 Under 30 leader, one of Medium Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30 journalists, and an Atlantik Bruecke Young Leader. In 2011, she was awarded the Henry Richardson Labouisse Prize. Léa holds degrees from Princeton University, and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and has defended her PhD dissertation at the University of St. Gallen on the social implications of artificially intelligent systems.
Dr. Anastasia Sapegina: University of St.Gallen (FAA-HSG)
Anastasia Sapegina, Ph.D., is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Work and Employment Research at the University of St. Gallen (HSG). She received her Ph.D. at the Chair of Human Resource Management at the University of St. Gallen. Anastasia’s research focuses on the dark side phenomena in organizations. It investigates the role of people management practices in inducing adverse employee outcomes in organizations (e.g., malicious envy, knowledge hiding, and employee “ill-being”). Anastasia is also a scientific project leader to a project on distrust in stakeholder networks at the Institute.
