Last year, I had the pleasure of attending the Festival Of People Analytics (FOPA) – an annual gathering organized by 3n Strategy that brings together the leading academics, practitioners, technologists and experts in the SAP SuccessFactors People Analytics community.

FOPA is a multi-stream event, with days aligned to specific themes such as ‘Culture’, ‘Strategy’, ‘Research’, and it even has a day dedicated to SAP SuccessFactors featuring customers and ‘Ask Me Anything’ panel session featuring the SAP SuccessFactors product team.

I had a chance to chat with Nigel Dias, managing director of 3n Strategy, and the chair and founder of the HR Analytics ThinkTank research, to discuss this year’s FOPA which runs from June 12-15.

Q: What is the story of FOPA?

FOPA started a year ago as an opportunity to bring together the SAP SuccessFactors People Analytics community to learn from one another and to work together to champion the discipline, both in industry and through academia.

There are so many different voices, interests and aspects within People Analytics: academic researchers, software technologists, C-level executives, business consultants and HR managers. All of them have a stake and a position in People Analytics, but they also each have different goals and objectives that they use to achieve.

FOPA unites these individuals under a common umbrella whilst also recognizing the varied approaches to the subject. We call it a “Festival” as it is a celebration of SAP SuccessFactors People Analytics and not just another ‘dry’ industry conference!

Q: And what is the thinking behind this year’s tagline: “Unlocking the power of your workforce”?

We chose this tagline because it connects to the heart of what people analytics is, which is to say: it is about using data to make better people decisions and unlocking the potential of current and future workforces.

In today’s highly competitive and rapidly evolving business environment, it is the business leaders who can make the best choices that will be the most successful. People analytics is the art of using HR data to answer questions for a people leader, so that they are more likely to make the best choice. People analytics turns good HR into great HR, unlocking the power of your workforce.

With this in mind, the Festival is a celebration of data-driven HR, where we will hear from leaders who are using data to answer questions about everything from hiring, retention, training, development, and succession planning and more. Whether the stories are about success or failure, simple analytics or complicated, about technology or about data-driven culture, all the speakers will provide an insight into how people analytics helps them make better choices, and ultimately enable their organizations to achieve their HR and business goals.

So, we chose the tagline “Unlocking the power of your workforce in 2023” to communicate the importance of people analytics for businesses today and to inspire attendees to leverage this powerful tool to unlock the full potential of their workforce.

Q: I really enjoyed last year’s SAP SuccessFactors ‘Ask Me Anything’ Panel – is that back on again?

Yes, we’ve got an excellent group of SAP SuccessFactors representatives who will be speaking at this year’s AMA panel. They include: Mick Collins (Global VP People Analytics), Laisha Sokpa (Senior HCM advisor) and Soren Hojby (Snr. Director of Product Management).

SAP SuccessFactors customers literally capture millions of data points about their employees, and they want to use it to do better analytics and reporting and become more data-driven. The panel was incredibly popular with attendees that use SAP SuccessFactors as it really is an opportunity to ask their product team anything and – to the credit of the panellists – they don’t shy away from answering the tricky questions!

This is a great opportunity for SAP SuccessFactors customers – and prospects – to learn “straight from the horse’s mouth” where SAP SuccessFactors as a product and as an organization is going over the coming months.

Q: What else can be expected on the SAP SuccessFactors Day? 

We’re keen to not just platform the SAP SuccessFactors team themselves, but also to make FOPA a forum in which SAP SuccessFactors customers can be heard and share their experiences of implementing and using SAP SuccessFactors tools.

This year, we have c-level executives from SAP SuccessFactors customers such as Manchester Air Group, Ball Corporation and Glanbia presenting case studies and being interviewed on their use of SAP SuccessFactors Workforce Analytics and report stories.

SAP SuccessFactors customers will present on topics such as How To Engage Internal Stakeholders After Implementing SAP SuccessFactors and reveal their results.

Q: That sounds exciting. I’ll be sure to watch those sessions. Any final words?

This is the best opportunity for SAP SuccessFactors customers and prospects to see how best-in-class companies are using the SAP SuccessFactors People Analytics tools to achieve their HR and people goals.

To register and learn more about Festival Of People Analytics, go here.