Prasad Setty on  

Building a Data-driven Approach to HR 
Course Workbook 
 
 
 

 
 

Building a Data-Driven Approach to Human Resources 

   
Section 1: Welcome to the Course 
Intro Exercise: Introduce Yourself and Share Your Interest in the Course (​Padlet Board​) 
 
Section 2: Building a Data-Driven Approach to Human Resources  

1. ​Human Resources and Data Science​: Apply People Analytics to Your Organization 
(Lecture 4) 3 

2. ​Fundamentals of People Analytics​: Reflect on Your Human Resource Decisions 

(Lecture 5) 4 

3. ​Collecting Data ​for​ HR: ​Map the Talent Flow in Your Organization ​(Lecture 7) 5 

4.​ ​Collecting Data for HR: Develop Your Own “Googlegeist” Survey to Assess the ​ 6 
Health of Your Organization (​ Lecture 7) 

5. ​Collecting Data for HR: Develop a Survey to Map Your Talent’s Goals and How You ​7 
can Support Them​ (​ Lecture 7) 

6.​ ​Complementing Human Decisions with Data​: Design a Framework to Assess Your 
Team Members ​(Lecture 9) 8 

Section 3: The Science of Great Teams 

7​. ​Building Great Teams​: Team Effectiveness Discussion Guide ​(Lecture 11) 10 

8​. ​Diagnostic Tool for Teams​: Respond to the Results of Your Team Diagnostic ​ ​11 
(Lecture 12)  

9​. ​Creating Psychological Safety​: Plan Manager Actions for Psychological Safety 
(Lecture 13) 1​2 

Section 4: Data on Great Managers 

10​. ​Effective Managers​: Customize Google’s New Manager Training​ ​ (Lecture 15) 1​3 

11​. ​Managing People in Social Enterprises​: Assess the Needs of Your Team to be a 
Great Manager ​(Lecture 16) 1​4 

Section 5: Influencing Behavior with Data 

12. ​Data to Influence Behavior Change​: ​Plan to Act Based on Your Data Findings 1​6 
(Lecture 18) 

13. ​Key Takeaway: Data for Fairness​: ​Reflect on People Analytics for Your Work 1​7 
(Lecture 19) 

1 
 

Prasad Setty, VP People Operations at Google 

Building a Data-Driven Approach to Human Resources 

In  today’s  competitive  knowledge  economy,  a  company’s  ability  to  attract,  retain  and 
develop  talent  is  critical.  People  Analytics  uses  data  to  advance  how  organizations  make 
decisions about human resources based on evidence rather than intuition. 

Prasad  Setty  leads  the  People  Analytics  team  at  Google  and  is  a  pioneer  in  this  field.  In  this 
course,  he’ll  offer  you  a  behind-the-scenes  look  at  how  Google  conducts  groundbreaking 
research to distill the characteristics of the most effective teams and managers. 

2 
 

“ 
A lot of the work we did in people analytics was to help me become a better manager. 
-Prasad Setty 

” 

1. Human Resources and Data Science 

Apply People Analytics to Your Organization  
In  lecture  4,  Prasad  talks  about  the  importance  of 
data-informed  human  resources  decisions.  During  the 
course,  you  will  be  applying  the  concepts  he  presents 
to  either  a  real-life  organization  or  a  hypothetical  one 
you  might  like  to  run  in  the  future.  For  the  first  activity, 
describe  the  organization  you  work  for,  lead,  or  would 
like  to  start,  and  describe  it.  Include  data  collection 
methods  you  currently  use  and  how  you  make human 
resource  decisions  in  your  organization-  how  are 
people rated in order to be hired, promoted or fired? 
 
 
Organization Name and Type: 

 
Mission of the organization: 

 
Current Data Collection Methods: 

3 
 

“ 
People Analytics is about helping organizations make better people decisions. 
-Prasad Setty 

” 

2. Fundamentals of People Analytics 

Reflect on your Human Resource Decisions 

In  lecture  5,  Prasad  Setty  explains  what  people 

analytics  consists  of  and  provides  examples  of  how 
it  is  used  in  the  Google  hiring  process.  Think  about 
your  organization  and  some of the information gaps 
that  could  be  filled  by  using  data.  Are  you  using 
data  to  assess  the  flow  of  people  in  your 
organization  and  their  performance?  What 
decisions  could  be optimized by creating indicators, 
collecting data and evaluating it? 

What HR decisions could be optimized in your organization? 

 

4 
 

“ 
Any entrepreneur who thinks the culture of the organization is important, should think about 
people analytics. 
-Prasad Setty 

” 

3. Collecting Data for HR 

Map the Talent Flow in Your Organization 
In  Lecture  7,  Prasad  describes  3  “lenses”  through 
which  you  should  view  the  flow  of  people  within your 
organization  ​(1)  hiring  (2)  onboarding  (3)  employee 
experience ​and departing employees. 

For  this  exercise,  complete  a  3-column  chart  that 

maps  the  flow  of  people  through  your  organization. 
What  are  the  key  steps  in  employee 
experience—from  when  they  first  apply  to  when they 
leave  the  organization?  What  data  do  you  currently 
collect  about  each  step  in  the  process?  What  key 
question do you want to answer with this data?  

Step in Talent Flow  Data We Currently Have  Question I Want to Answer or 
Decision I Want to Make  

Ex: application to an open  Ex: # of applicants who apply  Question: Do more women 
position  than men apply to our roles? Of 
the applicants who apply, 
what is the gender ratio of 
people who get interviews? 
Does this reveal any gender 
bias in our hiring process? 
  

     

     

5 
 

“ 
We literally want every googler to talk to us about their experience at Google. 
-Prasad Setty 

” 

4. Collecting Data for HR 

Develop Your Own “Googlegeist” Survey to Assess 
the Health of Your Organization  
In Lecture 7, Prasad suggests developing a survey to get 
a  snapshot  of  the  “health”  of  your  organization.  The 
results  should  reflect  how  people  feel  about  their  work, 
achievements,  the  organization’s  priorities,  their 
coworkers  and  personal  development.  At  Google, they 
call  it  a  “Googlegeist”  survey;  other  organizations  call 
them  “pulse”  surveys.  Look  at  your  talent  flow  and 
develop  a  set of 10 questions to that will give you insight 
into  people’s  experiences.  Reflect  on  how  you  could 
use this information and who you need to share it with. 

Your “Googlegeist” survey 

Ex. ​Do you agree with the following statement: Diverse types of people (i.e. different backgrounds, 
ages, or opinions) are able to work well together at this company? 
1.  
2.  
3.  
4.  
5.  
6.  
7.  
8.  
9.  
10.  

6 
 

“ 
It’s very important to understand what every single person in the organization wants to do 
and how you can help them get there. 
-Prasad Setty 

” 

5. Collecting Data for HR 

Develop a Survey to Map Your Talent’s Goals and 
How You can Support Them. 
In  Lecture  7,  Prasad  talks  about  how  important  it  is  to 
know  about  people’s  life  goals  and  find  ways  to  help 
people  achieve  them.  By  doing  so,  you  will  be  able  to 
retain  top  talent  and  engage  people  who  need  more 
engagement.  Following  the  “Googlegeist”  survey, 
design  a  5-question  survey  to  ask  people  at  your 
organization  about  their  career  projections,  personal 
ventures  and  how  your  organization  can  contribute  to 
their  goals.  Then  reflect  on  how  you  can  use  this  data. 
Who will you share it with at your organization?  

The life goal survey 

Ex. Does ​your manager give you the opportunity to try new things which align with your career goals? 
1.  
2.  
3.  
4.  
5.  

How can your organization support these goals? Who will you share this information with? 

7 
 

“ 
One of the things I’ve learned in my career in People Analytics is that data should lead to 
action, and not to the production of more data. 
-Prasad Setty 

” 

6. Complementing Human Decisions with Data 

Design a Framework to Assess Your Team Members 

In  Lecture  9,  Prasad  discusses  the  importance  of 

understanding  data  as  a  means,  not  an  end.  Data  should 
inform  human  decisions  so  they  can  be  made  as 
objectively  as  possible,  but  humans  should  make  the  final 
decision  and  implement  them.  The  following  activity  seeks 
to align individuals with organizational goals and brainstorm 
some metrics to build a People Analytics Framework. Please 
state  your  organizational  goal,  the  activities for three of the 
individuals  in  your  organization,  the  measurable  outputs 
they  produce  and  a  set  of  other  metrics  that  can  rate 
success in each of their positions. For example: 

 
 
Improve health and water quality conditions in targeted communities 
Organizational Goal: 

Plan, budget, oversee and document projects. Work with upper 

Individual Activities:  management and other departments to agree on scope, direction 
and cadence of project. 

# Of project plans completed 

Outputs  # Of projects approved 
# Of projects implemented 
# Of water related diseases reported 

Communication 
Other Metrics  Leadership 
Order  
Negotiation  
Risk assessment 

8 
 
 
 
 
Organizational Goal: 

 
Individual Activities: 

 
Outputs   
 
   

 
Other Metrics   
 

 
 
 
Organizational Goal: 

 
Individual Activities: 

 
Outputs   
 
   

 
Other Metrics   
 

 
 
Organizational Goal: 

 
Individual Activities: 

 
Outputs   
 
   

 
Other Metrics   
 

9 
 

“ 
Team dynamics trump team composition. 
-Prasad Setty 

” 

7. Building Great Teams 

Team Effectiveness Discussion Guide 
In  Lecture  11  we  learn  about  Project  Aristotle,  where 
Google  found that team behavior (how people make 
decisions,  how  they  solve  conflict  etc.)  has  more 
impact  on  team  success  than  the  composition  of  the 
team.  They  identified  five  main  categories  to 
diagnose  teams  and  created  a  tool  to  assess  the 
status  of  teams  in  these  categories.  Please  use  the 
tool  to  assess  your  team  according  to  each  of  the 
categories  and  note  how  you  could  quantify  the 
results  in  order  to  make  a  diagnosis  and  track 
progress. 

 
Psychological Safety 

 
Dependability 

 
Structure and Clarity 

 
Meaning 

 
Impact 

 
How can you track progress in each of 
these areas? 

10 
 

“ 
Once people have gone through the G-Team diagnostics,  
they become better team players, even in other teams. 
-Prasad Setty 

” 

8. Diagnostic Tool for Teams 

Respond to the Results of Your Team Diagnostic 

In  Lecture  12,  Prasad offers Google’s strategy to deal with 

team  deficiencies  identified  through  data  diagnostics. 
Google  encourage  team  conversations,  designs  support 
courses  and  has  specialized  coaches  to  accompany 
these  processes.  However,  every  organization  should 
adapt  this  strategy  to  their  needs  and  assets.  In  this 
exercise,  please  analyze  how  your  case  differs  from 
Google’s and what approach you can take. 

 
 
 
How Does your organization 
differ from Google in terms of 
needs and resources? 

 
How can your organization 
respond to some of the group 
failures identified through the 
team diagnostic? 

11 
 

“ 
More important that the frameworks you use, is the licence you provide for your team to 
open up and create psychological safety. 
-Prasad Setty 

” 

9. Creating Psychological Safety 

Plan Manager Actions for Psychological Safety 
In  Lecture  13,  Prasad  emphasizes  the  difficulty  and 
importance  of  Psychological  Safety  in  the  workplace. 
He  shares  the  story  of  Project  Wing,  where  the  Captain 
of  Moonshots  allows  his  team  to  imagine  all  the  things 
that  could  go  wrong  and  plan  in  advance  how  they 
could  react  to  each  outcome.  For  this  activity,  please 
review  ​Google’s  guide  to  create  Psychological  Safety 
and  think  of  a  strategy  you  could  implement  in  your 
organization. 

How can you increase Psychological Safety in your organization? 

 

12 
 

“ 
People join great organizations but they leave bad managers. 
-Prasad Setty 

” 

10. Effective Managers 

Customize Google’s New Manager Training 
In  Lecture  15,  Prasad  talks  about  how  Google  tries  to 
maximize  efficiency  and  avoid  bureaucracy  in 
management.  Project  Oxygen  was  an  attempt  to 
define  a  good  manager. After 18 months of research, 
they  found  8  common  behaviors  of  highly  successful 
managers  and  developed  indicators  to  rate  them. 
Please  reflect  on these indicators, whether they apply 
to  your  organization  and  adapt  them  as  needed. 
Then  have  members  of  your  organization  rate 
management  with  this  tool  or  do  it  yourself  as  a 
reflection  exercise.  More  information  from  ​Google's 
New Manager Training Slides​. 
 
Good Coach   

Empowers Team- no micromanaging   

Expresses Interest in Team member’s Success   

and Well-being 

Is productive and results-oriented   

Is a good communicator   

Supports career development   

Clear vision/strategy for team   

Has important technical skills   

13 
 

“ 
Most of us manage people in the way we want to be managed rather than the way they want 
to be managed. 
-Prasad Setty 

” 

11. Managing People in Social 

Enterprises 
Assess the Needs of Your Team to be a Great 
Manager 

In  lecture  16,  Prasad  highlights  the  importance  of 

managers  knowing  the  needs  of  the  people  they 
manage.  Some  people  need  more  help,  others 
reassurance,  some  want  to  have  buy-in  and  others 
more  independence.  Everyone  can  shine,  they  just 
need  to  be  managed  in  different  ways.  Your  job  as  a 
manager  is  to  help  people  succeed  and  to  be  a 
tie-breaker  when  decisions  need  to  be  made.  In  the 
next  activity,  please  analyze  the  different  needs  of 
three  different  team  members  in  your  organization. 
Example: 

Name:  Kweku Assana 

Kweku is very social and proactive. He likes to share his work with his peers before 
Needs: 
he presents it to management, and present it to management before it is 
implemented or presented to people outside the organization. He also likes to 
listen to his peers for inspiration and give his feedback, as a form of contributing. 
Kweku would benefit from a manager who gives him food for thought, allows him 
to collaborate with his peers, provides the necessary space for him to develop his 
ideas, and validates his work.  

14 
 

Name:   

 
Needs: 

Name:   

 
Needs: 

Name:   

 
Needs: 

15 
 

“ 
Actions based on People Analytics can be divided in three areas: changing mindsets and 
behaviors, policy changes and process redesign. 
-Prasad Setty 

” 

12. Data to Influence Behavior Change 

Plan to Act Based on Your Data Findings 

In  Lecture 18, Prasad describes three main areas of action 
based  on  People  Analytics:  behavioral  change,  policy 
change  and  process  redesign.  According  to  him,  you 
must  be  a  good  communicator  to  spark  behavioral 
change  (what  do  you  want  people  to  know,  feel  and 
do?).  He  provides  examples  of  policy  changes  and 
process  redesign  based  on  data.  Finally,  he  concludes 
that  good  managers  are  those  who  value  feedback,  are 
transparent  and  use  data  to  act.  Please  reflect  on  what 
actions you could take based on People Analytics.  

Change Mindsets and Behaviors   

Policy Changes   

Process Redesign   

16 
 
 

“ 
One of the key attributes that anyone looks for in their employment experience is that 
decisions are made with fairness and rigor. 
-Prasad Setty 

” 

13. Key Takeaway: Data for Fairness 

Reflect on People Analytics for Your Work 

In  Lecture  19,  Prasad  makes  the  argument  that  basing 

Human  Resources  decisions  on  data  and  standardizing 
criteria  for  assessing  teams  and  individuals  is  a  matter  of 
fairness  and  respect.  Measuring  all  people  with  the  same 
tool  has  been  a  heated  debate  in  education  for  a  long 
time.  Please  reflect  on  the  possible  positive  and  negative 
contributions  of  People  Analytics  on  your  organization, the 
sector that you work in, and the workforce overall. 
 
 
 
Is People Analytics appropriate for your organization? 

 
If you would like to share your thoughts, please post them in this ​padlet board 
 
 
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