HR ANALYTICS MATURITY AND DECISION QUALITY IN STRATEGIC WORKFORCE PLANNING: EVIDENCE FROM DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between HR analytics maturity and decision quality in strategic workforce planning among deposit money banks (DMBs) in Rivers State, Nigeria. Grounded in the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory and the HR Analytics Maturity Model, the study adopted a cross-sectional survey design. The population comprised HR directors, managers, and senior HR officers across 22 licensed deposit money banks operating in Rivers State. A sample of 220 respondents was selected using stratified random sampling. Data were collected via structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression analysis. The results revealed a significant positive relationship between HR analytics maturity dimensions data infrastructure quality (r = .612, p < .05), analytical capability (r = .574, p < .05), and strategic alignment of analytics (r = .649, p < .05) and decision quality in strategic workforce planning. Multiple regression results showed that the three dimensions jointly accounted for 61.4% of the variance in decision quality (R² = .614, F(3, 216) = 114.83, p < .001). Strategic alignment of analytics emerged as the strongest predictor (β = .341, p < .001). The study concludes that the maturity of HR analytics infrastructure significantly enhances the quality of workforce planning decisions in Nigerian deposit money banks. It recommends deliberate investment in data infrastructure, upskilling of HR professionals in analytical competencies, and alignment of analytics initiatives with corporate strategy.