Why people analytics fail without trust

Bad data or bad processes? Doesn’t matter. What’s broken is the lack of alignment, trust and empathy in the data ecosystem. Empathy? Costs nothing. Active listening? Free. Honest conversations? Free. Shared understanding? Free. These are long-term investments with exponential returns. But they need time and effort. Psychological safety isn’t a “nice-to-have”. Right now, most organizations are optimized for short-term wins and individual glory over collective success. Throwing money at tools and tech won’t fix that. People love to buy the dream and the ”one more thing missing” but without people trusting each other they’re just expensive band-aids on deeper cultural wounds. Talk to people. Really listen. Create pathways for collaboration. Build bridges. The only price is humility and vulnerability. These are the two things that deliver the highest ROI, yet are rarely incentivized. No tool can compensate for that. Not even AI. 😉

HR loves data. But can we make sense of it? Most of the time, no. People analytics is so pivotal for HR. But collecting data isn’t the same as using it. A dashboard full of numbers won’t fix retention, engagement, or culture. Unless HR knows what to do with it. Before diving in, ask yourself: - Does leadership actually care? Approving a budget isn’t enough. They need to act on the data. - Are we tracking what matters? If it doesn’t tie back to business goals, it’s just noise. - Do we understand the ‘why’ behind the numbers? Turnover is up? Why? Engagement is low? Why? Data shows symptoms, not solutions. - Do employees trust us with their data? Without transparency, expect resistance. People need to know how their data is used, and why it helps them. - Are we actually acting on insights? A report means nothing if nothing changes. And one more thing, do we have one source of truth? When data is scattered across ten different systems, no one knows what’s real. A single source of truth is the only way to make sense of it. Because data is only useful if you use it. HR’s job is really to turn data into action. That means: ↳ Asking the right questions before drowning in the wrong data. ↳ Training managers to use insights, not just read reports. ↳ Breaking down silos so HR, finance, and leadership see the full picture. ↳ Communicating data in a way that actually drives change. People analytics can transform HR. But only if you do something with it. PS: How is your team using data to make better decisions?

You can move fast with AI. But are your people still following you? In one org we recently studied, the leadership team rolled out 5 new AI tools in 3 months. → Engineers were told to use AI copilots → HR was told to launch AI onboarding → Sales got AI content tools → Ops got AI automation dashboards → Legal got...nothing On paper, it looked like transformation. In practice, it looked like chaos. Teams didn’t know who owned what Adoption was uneven or quietly resisted Data risks were flagged and ignored Managers were guessing what success looked like This is what happens when speed becomes the KPI. And trust becomes the cost. People stop asking questions. They start avoiding eye contact in reviews. They nod in meetings. Then go back to old ways of working. That’s how AI fatigue sets in. Not because the tech failed. But because the rollout forgot the people. If you're a CXO, ask yourself: → Do your teams know why each AI tool was chosen? → Do they trust the data flowing through it? → Do they feel like part of the process or just a use case? You can’t scale what people don’t trust. And you can’t build trust through memos. At PeopleAtom (now rebranding), we’ve seen organizations reverse this. → CXOs slowing down to bring teams into the “why” → Clear role-based guidelines that reduce fear → Adoption metrics that include trust, not just usage → Peer feedback loops across functions before public rollout That’s what makes AI stick. Not another tool. Not another slide deck. But clear, people-first implementation that earns buy-in. If you're leading fast and feeling friction — you're not alone. DM me ‘CXO’ I’ll show you how other CXOs are handling this without stalling out. Fast is good. Trusted is better.

"We had the data. We just didn’t trust it.” I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard that from a business leader mid-transformation. They had the tools. They had the talent. But when it came time to make a decision, no one could agree on which number was right. This is the quiet cost of misaligned governance. It doesn’t show up as a headline. It shows up in delays, rework, risk escalations, and second-guessing. If your teams can’t answer “where did this data come from?” or “who changed it last?” - then trust breaks down fast. That’s why I’m such a strong believer that governance isn’t a tech initiative. It’s a trust initiative. And trust is what gives business users the confidence to move.

𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼. I learned that the hard way. The idea was solid. The rollout was clean. The data made sense. But the resistance? Loud. Relentless. Unexpected. It wasn't because the project lacked merit. It was because I skipped the most important step: 𝗜 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻, 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁. That’s the difference between announcing change and actually leading it. People won’t commit to what they didn’t help shape. And they won’t trust a process that doesn’t feel like theirs. You can have the best plan in the world. The cleanest rollout. The sharpest deck. But if the people who have to carry it don’t feel connected to it? It won’t stick. It won’t spread. And eventually, it’ll stall. That doesn’t mean you need everyone’s approval. But you 𝘥𝘰 need their trust. And trust isn’t built in the announcement. It’s built in the process. Before you roll out a strategy, make sure you've earned their trust to lead it.