By Alex Kakungi
Let’s be honest. Obeying quality data when making decisions at work is still a tall order
for many organisations, not just in Kenya but across the globe. And while data is
everywhere — sitting in office dashboards, HR reports, and systems — many of us still
go with our gut or do what we’ve always done. Why? Yes. Perplexing.
This reality made me think about what Martin Heidegger (1889-1979), a German
philosopher, once said about living an authentic life in an inauthentic world. Heidegger
said that even if we live a life of the ‘crowd’, we face the wrath of death ‘alone’. Here,
Heidegger was persuading people to take responsibility for their choices in life. I think
this speaks directly to us as HR professionals. If we want the HR profession in Kenya to
evolve, we must truly become data-driven. Becoming fully data-driven in HR decision-
making, especially in the face of today’s ambient uncertainties, requires authentically
bold leadership.
HR professionals are the voice of the people in organisations. But in this data-rich
world, we must also be the voice of data. As someone with several portfolios, including
HR academic, researcher, and practitioner, I’ve had first-hand experience with how
difficult it is to be a data advocate in decision-making. Recently, a close friend told me
how, guided by data, he led a rather painful downsizing process. The employees who
were laid off perceived him as the ‘devil’s incarnate’, even though he was acting in the
best interest of the company. The interest in saving the company in the aftermath of
COVID-19. He diligently carried out the assignment of downsizing, but little did he know
that he was the last one to face the chainsaw! True to the word, he was shortly laid off,
and the company was wound up.
This was painful. But what I would regard as the most shocking reality was that despite
the HR having the correct data, he presumed that he was to be the ‘last man standing’.
Perhaps, he convinced himself that his role was so important that he would be spared
even after the winding up of the company. He was ‘living in a fool’s paradise’ even when
all data pointed to an imminent closure of the company. So, I asked myself: Why do we
ignore data, even when it’s staring us in the face?
The truth is that many of us are used to making decisions based on intuition,
experience, or even obsolete principles. And when novel data emerges, especially if it
challenges what we know, we panic. We freeze or we reflexively defend ourselves by
reaching for a weapon that we know how to use; old data that we have mastered how to
use, even though the battle has changed. We think that new data in a moment of
uncertainty would leave us open and vulnerable, for we do not know what flank it might
leave exposed. So we grab an old club that we know how to use because we have
swung it many times before, and we beat the surprising novel data to death or run away
before it can make an indelible mark in our mind. You know, sometimes, we reject novel
data not because it’s invalid, but because it makes us uncomfortable. It exposes
weaknesses in systems we’ve defended for far too long.

But here’s the heart of the matter — if we’re always scared and defensive, we’ll never
learn to use new data in making informed HR decisions within organisations. And if this
is the reality, then we’ll never move forward. I think it’s time we start asking ourselves:
As HR professionals, how do we become better at embracing data, especially the kind
that’s bitter to swallow?
Let’s be real: implementing bold, data-driven decisions can be costly. Sometimes, it may
be my job, as I have demonstrated earlier, in a company where a friend of mine, who
was in charge of the layoffs, ended up being declared redundant. But if a company fails
because we refused to act on the right data, shouldn’t we take some of that blame too?
Riding with the tide or ignorantly pleasing the leadership by sticking to obsolete HR data
isn’t professional – it’s contrary to the Certified Human Resource Professional (CHRP-
K) oath that we took to uphold ethical and professional standards as HR practitioners.
Yes. As HR leaders, we shouldn’t fear data-driven HR decisions. We are called to leap
and take bold, data-driven HR decisions, even if they sometimes expose the worst fate
– losing our jobs. To be authentic and make the correct data-driven decisions shouldn’t
be an option but the guiding principle of an HR professional. After all, if all the data
points to an imminent redundancy but for the sake of self-preservation, I give contrary
advice, then I’ll eventually not escape the wrath of the chainsaw. It’s here we’re called to
be authentic as HR leaders by aligning ourselves with the voice of new data when
making HR decisions.
We therefore need to stop treating data as a foe. Instead, we need to see data as a
partner that’s helping us make sense of the crises facing organisations today. Data isn’t
mere numbers. It is reflective insights or solutions to the problems facing us. Data in HR
decisions acts like a navigational compass, guiding organisations toward the ‘True
North’ even amid ambient uncertainties in the world. Data tries to tell us what to fix,
where to focus, and how to grow. But it can only help us if we’re willing to pause, listen,
and reflect on its hums beckoning us to change.
Change is hard, especially when it challenges embedded HR processes. But just like
Galileo Galilei, whose scientific discovery that discredited the old view of the universe
was rejected in his time, facts in data eventually win. Remember, long after Galileo died
in 1642, his science was found valid, and he was declared the ‘Father of Modern
Science’. Similarly, if HR must evolve, then we can’t afford to remain stuck in a rigid
mindset of ‘this is how we’ve always done it’ even when data points to a different course
of action.
Being authentic to data-driven HR decisions isn’t easy at all. Yes, the top managers
may detest being challenged by data that disrupts their status quo. But the solution isn’t
to ignore that data. It’s to use it responsibly, communicate it well, and agitate for change
with integrity and boldness.
I see Kenya’s HR landscape as full of potential. I believe we can be the benchmark for
data-driven HR decisions in Africa, and of course, around the globe. But it won’t happen
unless we have bold champions — people who are ever ready to firmly but respectfully

speak the truth in data, even when it’s unpalatable. We’ve to choose to be HR leaders
who are willing to be unpopular, even if it means facing the wrath of the chainsaw while
doing the right thing.
Data is humming to us. But, are we ready to listen to the humming data? Being an
authentic HR professional in inauthentic workplaces means being willing to stand by
what the quality data hums — even when it’s contradictory, paradoxical or ambivalent.
Be bold. Quality data will validate our bold data-driven HR decisions — even if it’s too
late. I call upon HR leaders to obey data as our guiding star.
The author is a Strategy Advisor at Humanity Praxis, a Non-Governmental organisation. He’s a
reviewer for the Cogent Business and Management journal, published by the Taylor and Francis
Group. He’s a Member of the Editorial Board, British Journal of Business and Psychology
Research by Porcelain Publishing International. He’s a member of the Institute of Human
Resource Management and a part-time lecturer at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and
Technology, Karen Campus. He studied Philosophy, Human Resource Management and
became a Certified Human Resource Professional of Kenya in June 2021.