What Does A HR Business Analyst Do?

WHAT DOES A HR BUSINESS ANALYST DO?

Published: July 15, 2025 - The Human Resources (HR) Business Analyst supports data-driven decision-making by conducting in-depth analysis of HR metrics and identifying opportunities to improve business performance. This role develops, automates, and optimizes reports and dashboards using tools such as Excel, Quicksight, and Tableau to ensure accurate and timely insights. The analyst synthesizes complex data into clear narratives and actionable recommendations that strengthen HR strategies, labor planning, and operational efficiency.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Human Resources Business Analyst

1. HR Business Analyst Duties

Business Analysis: Obtains an in-depth knowledge of business priorities, processes, and operational procedures within the HR organisation.
Stakeholder Engagement: Consults with business stakeholders to expertly understand and evaluate current business processes and identify complex business problems and needs, turning those needs into system requirements.
System Optimization: Combines Human Resource and specialized system knowledge to recommend, implement, and plan for optimizations and new features for systems.
Requirements Gathering: Facilitate requirements gathering sessions, drives discussion to focus on what and leads conversations to obtain alignment across business representatives.
User Understanding: Adopt varying approaches to effectively understand business users’ needs.
Needs Analysis: Works to extract any underlying needs and ensures adequate business representation.
Action Management: Lead activities related to follow-ups or actions to finalise requirements.
Documentation Standards: Captures and manages business requirements per Medtronic’s standard and best documentation practices in a way that supports easy future reference.
Solution Design: Understands technical solutioning, captures and delivers high-quality design documentation.
Review Coordination: Organizes requirements walkthrough and ensures business review and approval take place within project timelines.
Technical Liaison: Acts as a liaison between business users and the technical team to successfully translate business requirements to the development team and presents technical options back to customers in a consumable way.
Agile Promotion: Supports all implementation activities, including guiding the team whilst promoting the adoption of agile work practices.
System Testing: Plans and executes unit, system, data, and integration testing and oversees UAT.
Change Management: Works with training and change management to ensure understanding of requirements and assist with material reviews.
Risk Analysis: Inputs to risk analysis and mitigation discussions.
Go-live Execution: Develops functional checkout plans, leads, and participates in go-live activities, including activities related to cutover preparations.

2. HR Business Analyst Details

System Testing: Responsibility for testing Workday or specific components of applications to make sure they work properly and are compatible with other downstream systems.
Issue Troubleshooting: Help with troubleshooting user problems and use problem-solving skills to determine the root cause of issues.
Function Documentation: Assist with the documentation of specific application functionality.
Data Delivery: Partner with business analysts to determine the best way to deliver data to business users.
Report Generation: Learn how to run reports, query a database to generate data and format the data for use by others.
Support Response: Partner with various members of the IT Workday Delivery Team to respond to support questions, enhancements and maintenance requests.
Project Planning: Help with project planning using tools like Microsoft Project.
Enhancement Tracking: Manage the enhancement list on Microsoft SharePoint, Jira, ServiceNow, Trello and PowerPoint.
Ticket Logging: Help with logging and managing tickets with different support and service centres.
Sprint Coordination: Help coordinate and follow up with the Workday Delivery Team BAs to go through the sprint cycle process step by step.
Process Efficiency: Assist the team with coming up with solutions to organize existing data and information to make the enhancement process more efficient.
Incident Reporting: Responsible for tracking and reporting on Requests and Incidents reported by end users in ServiceNow.

3. HR Business Analyst Responsibilities

Business Needs: Be part of a global implementation team in an HR organization and have the opportunity to reflect employees/managers and HR needs by gathering business needs.
HR Advisory: Be a key advisor for HR's various functions based on best practices.
Solution Design: Design holistic and integrated high-level solutions that fit HR business needs, operability and budget.
Stakeholder Review: Participate in and/or lead formal and informal reviews with various internal stakeholders, applying knowledge and experience.
Solution Communication: Responsible for communicating the solution to all stakeholders.
Impact Explanation: Expected to explain the details of new solutions and their impact on HR processes.
Stakeholder Clarity: Ensure that the end-users and all stakeholders understand the solution and receive responses to all open questions and action items.
Solution Documentation: Prepare solution-related documents and specifications.
Test Planning: Create, execute, and maintain accurate and detailed test plans for tools/systems testing.
Issue Resolution: Support the resolution of configuration/implementation-related issues if and when they arise.

4. HR Business Analyst Job Summary

Data Analytics: Work confidently and independently in an often ambiguous work environment, proactively identifying the analytics needs and solutions of the HR and Ops organizations.
Insight Generation: Derive recommendations with significant business value from in-depth analyses that have an impact on multiple teams.
Domain Expertise: Share deep domain/process expertise across a growing BA population in the HR ATS space.
Business Reviews: Write papers and/or other business review mechanisms, like weekly, monthly, and quarterly business reviews.
Data Visualization: Expertise with data visualization tools (ex., QuickSight, Tableau).
Subject Expertise: Act as a company-wide asset and SME for HR Surface Transportation data.
Project Planning: Develop and track the status of detailed execution and change management plans for enterprise-wide Human Resources-related bodies of work.
Goal Tracking: Design reports to track the achievement of goals.
Report Creation: Create presentations using Excel and PowerPoint.
Report Production: Produce Daily, Weekly, and Monthly reports for Management using Workday HCM, Excel and related systems.
Meeting Support: Maintain minutes for various meetings.
Deadline Adherence: Follow procedures and adhere to due dates with minimal supervision.
Capacity Planning: Translate alert/request volumes into support HC requirements.
Cross-team Alignment: Gain consensus and get multiple technology teams to work together toward timely onboarding task completion.
Clear Communication: Provide clear and concise guidance through emails, via phone, with a confident tone.

5. HR Business Analyst Accountabilities

Interpersonal Communication: Utilizes interpersonal skills when working with various customers and peers to accomplish goals
Stakeholder Engagement: Develops ongoing relationships and interactions with internal stakeholders and applicants
Client Understanding: Utilizes an in-depth understanding of client needs to manage expectations
Customer Responsiveness: Responds quickly to client needs and concerns
Process Analysis: Partners with HR management and their customers to analyze work process design and flow, improve processes and leverage the return on technological capabilities
Vendor Management: Serve as a super-user point-of-contact and vendor liaison for the department
Cultural Awareness: Conducts self in a manner that is congruent with cultural diversity, equity, and inclusion principles
Employee Engagement: Contributes towards the improvement of department scores for employee engagement, peer-to-peer accountability
System Support: Provides support for HR data and end-user needs, including researching and resolving system end-user functional problems, unexpected results or process flaws, and access to vendor systems
Project Documentation: Develops and maintains project documentation that is clear, concise, and unambiguous
Report Generation: Generates reports and queries utilizing appropriate reporting tools
Standard Reporting: Assists in the development of standard reports for ongoing customer needs
Data Analysis: Analyzes data from multiple databases in support of department needs
Data Integrity: Helps maintain data integrity in systems by running queries and analyzing data
Regulatory Compliance: Maintains compliance documents and generates monthly, quarterly and annual reporting for management (EF)
Issue Resolution: Identifies and facilitates the resolution of issues that arise during a project
Comparative Analysis: Compares data from different sources to draw conclusions
System Maintenance: Assists with tasks identified by management to support system maintenance efforts
Project Support: Manages simple to moderately complex project/process improvement under the supervision of management
Data Measurement: Understands and uses qualitative and quantitative measurement and data collection design principles to assist with organizational human capital needs, FTE management (cost control, position management)
Resource Efficiency: Utilizes resources with cost effectiveness and value creation in mind
Task Prioritization: Self-motivated to independently manage time effectively and prioritize daily tasks, assisting coworkers
Process Improvement: Provides recommendations for process/customer service improvements, innovative solutions, or major variations from established policy
Trend Awareness: Maintains awareness of current trends on job-specific knowledge by attending training courses and professional organizational meetings and reading job-related professional journals/publications
Self Development: Seeks opportunities to identify self-development needs and takes appropriate action
Career Planning: Ensures own career discussions occur with appropriate management
Development Planning: Completes and updates the My Development Plan on an ongoing basis

6. HR Business Analyst Functions

Executive Support: Working directly with the EVP HR to provide analysis, measurement and communication on pay and performance, employee satisfaction, budgets and delivery of Global Logistics HR processes
Workforce Planning: Provide key operational, data and project support to the Global Logistics HR team including delivery of key data for headcount/labour cost reporting to support workforce planning activities, annual performance management cycles and preparation of collective bargaining mandates
Report Implementation: Implement standardized recruiting, HR operational reports, ad hoc queries, and data-related projects
Stakeholder Relations: Cultivate strong relationships with HRBP and other stakeholders that enable the successful delivery of reports, dashboards and analytics
Data Productization: Design human resources data products with product managers and continuously optimize the data reporting system and data visualization platform
Advanced Analysis: Conduct advanced research analysis that could help stakeholders make data-driven decisions for management
Solution Design: Designing and developing reporting solutions for key business stakeholders
Cross Collaboration: Active participation in cross-departmental projects
ETL Quality: Ensuring the quality and reliability of ETL tasks
Dashboard Development: Develop interactive dashboards using Google Data Studio
Portfolio Management: Manage an existing portfolio of dashboards with updates and changes

7. HR Business Analyst Job Description

Process Mapping: Process Mapping, aligning and improving HR Operations Processes within the EMEA Region
SOP Creation: Creating Overall SOPs across EMEA
Workshop Facilitation: Holding Process Workshops with different Stakeholders to evaluate and discuss the best workflows
System Coordination: Working closely with people responsible for Workstreams in Workday, ServiceNow and Service Delivery Lead to ensure the best user and HROps experience
Process Training: Training for local HR to increase process knowledge
Change Management: Change Management for process changes, improvements
Process Improvement: Identify Improvement Areas and work through them
System Design: Designing or reengineering or end-of-life systems or automation solutions
Efficiency Optimization: Improve the efficiency and effectiveness while maintaining internal knowledge management and retention through documentation and training
Quality Compliance: Comply with internal quality management guidelines and industry best practices
Project Lifecycle: Taking part in all steps of the project life cycle, such as exploration, audits, and compliance assessment (security, legal, international, etc.), requirement gathering, solution design, solution configuration, test case creation and execution
System Implementation: Document and training, migration and enablement of transition change management, implementation, stabilization and maintenance of HR information systems and automations
Stakeholder Engagement: Developing strong relationships and communicating effectively with customers and stakeholders from different geographical locations to understand their business processes
Value Documentation: Organize and document value drivers such as requirements and exceptions, risks and dependencies, systems interactions, potential improvements, return on investment through expected systems improvements savings
Issue Resolution: Troubleshooting, performing root cause analysis, bug fixing, user access management, change control board impact assessments, escalating and partnering with upstream and downstream internal technical teams or external vendors

8. HR Business Analyst Overview

Requirements Analysis: Participate in business requirements and design review sessions and work directly with business users to define and prototype QlikView Applications
Documentation Development: Create business requirements and data requirement documentation, linking to the visualisation layer with the user interface in mind, on creating a great look and feel
Metric Design: Design metrics and applications using QlikView
Report Troubleshooting: Troubleshooting the reporting database environment and reports
Quality Testing: Test and conduct quality checks on new dashboard builds and maintenance/editing during pre-and post-implementation stages to meet customer requirements
Regulatory Reporting: Assist in monthly, ad hoc internal and regulatory reports relating to Human Resources
System Deployment: Work with cross-functional teams to design, build, and deploy the reporting systems, and utilize metrics to determine improvement opportunities
Data Aggregation: Enable effective decision making by retrieving and aggregating data from multiple (often disparate) sources and compiling it into a digestible and actionable format
Analytics Development: Develop analytics solutions (forecasting, prediction, etc.)
Data Analysis: Perform data mining and analysis using tools including PeopleSoft (Oracle), MS Excel, and Amazon Redshift to identify trends and recommend opportunities for improvements
Solution Building: Working in partnership with the Screening Services country leads to building reporting and other technical data-driven solutions that support automation and streamlining of Employee Services processes

9. HR Business Analyst Details and Accountabilities

Analysis Standards: Knows and executes best practices for business analysis processes and functions (from an industry and strategic standpoint), including requirements elicitation methods
Scope Definition: Defines requirements by SDP/SDLC, management and project/product scope
Objective Clarity: Ensures problem statements and objectives are clearly defined
Requirements Alignment: Ensures requirements are aligned to project scope, objectives and strategies
Session Facilitation: Leads elicitation sessions using a variety of requirements gathering methods such as interviews, documentation analysis, surveys, site visits, business models with executives, managers, developers and subject matter experts
Decision Support: Facilitates the team through the analysis of, and makes recommendations towards, complex business decisions
Team Mediation: Mediates across different IT teams, utilizing knowledge of IT and roles and responsibilities within the organization
Process Reengineering: Focuses on process analysis and re-engineering, with an understanding of technical problems and solutions as they relate to the current and future business environment
System Collaboration: Collaborates with the HRIT team to configure, maintain, and support the CR Bard PeopleSoft system under the direction of the HR Systems Manager
Data Integration: Supports data mapping, setup, and testing of PeopleSoft for data conversion, M&A, projects, and system integrations
System Administration: Completes system configuration, security administration, security assignments, and reporting tasks as assigned by the HR Systems Manager
Test Execution: Plans and executes unit, regression, integration and acceptance testing related to system changes

10. HR Business Analyst Tasks

Contract Administration: Recruitment and employment contracts administration
Onboarding Coordination: Onboarding and transfer administration for people movements
Data Reporting: Provide reporting, data verification, headcount tracking and any other reports to HR BPs, escalating to the Group HR COE teams
Project Support: Provide support or directly be involved in driving business-related projects as part of the business HR team to achieve business objectives
HR Projects: Provide guidance and support or participate in ongoing HR projects, ensuring that they are aligned with business objectives and practices
System Implementation: Implement functional HRMS and internal databases across all departments and locations
Contract Review: Review and update employment contracts and agreements
Benefits Evaluation: Measure the effectiveness of benefits programs and recommend improvements
Training Coordination: Coordinate employee training and development initiatives

11. HR Business Analyst Roles

Data Analysis: Support HR field and regional leadership with a deep dive into data to help drive business decisions through data analysis of HR metrics
Report Automation: Develop, update, validate, evaluate, and automate reports with the latest internal information to ensure accurate reporting
Dashboard Development: Develop ad-hoc Excel reports and dashboards within Quicksight, Tableau, and/or other BI platforms to improve access to and the usability of business performance information
Workforce Planning: Support the Senior HR leaders with labor planning assumptions on attendance, attrition and additional AMZL-specific HR metrics
Narrative Drafting: Draft business review narratives and additional deep dive findings
Process Efficiency: Establish scalable, efficient, automated processes for data analysis
Data Visualization: Display complex quantitative data in a simple, intuitive format, and present findings in a clear and concise manner
Insight Generation: Synthesize data to provide impactful insights and process improvement recommendations
Team Collaboration: Partner closely with the HR teams to understand team barriers
Request Reporting: Generate ad hoc reports to support various business needs and partner with other technical teams to create scalable solutions for recurring requests

12. HR Business Analyst Additional Details

Workshop Facilitation: Organises, facilitates and leads workshops to gather business requirements, analyse options and develop process models that define operational 'To Be' processes for the programme/project
Policy Alignment: Identifies areas where policies and procedures and other supporting artefacts such as templates need to be created or modified in line with the programme
Lifecycle Support: Provides business analysis support throughout the programme/project lifecycle
Solution Design: Analyses the requirements and designs lean user-centric business solutions for the programme/project
Solution Testing: Contributes to the testing of the solutions
Data Collection: Collects and compiles HR metrics and complex data reports from a variety of sources
Trend Analysis: Analyzes data and statistics for trends and patterns with attention to recruitment, salary ranges, hiring practices, turnover, and retention
Reward Modeling: Assists the Total Rewards team with salary models, salary surveys, results analysis and complex budget modules
Report Preparation: Prepares reports of data results, presenting and explaining findings to senior leadership
Stakeholder Liaison: Serves as lead representative and liaison between HR, IT, external vendors, and other stakeholders for the upcoming Workday implementation project
System Oversight: Oversees and maintains optimal function of the HRIS, which may include installation, customization, development, maintenance, and upgrade to applications, systems, and modules
User Support: Provides technical support, troubleshooting, and guidance to HRIS users
Access Management: Manages permissions, access, personalization, and similar system operations and settings for HRIS users

13. HR Business Analyst Essential Functions

System Enhancement: Supports strategic and tactical initiatives by driving and executing HR system enhancements, testing efforts and change management efforts for SuccessFactors Employee Central
Process Knowledge: Develops working knowledge of HR systems, data and processes and overall HR system landscape and integration points
Technical Partnership: Partners with IT to ensure the successful delivery of technical enhancements and system fixes to keep HR applications running in the most optimized fashion
Test Execution: Supports testing efforts by developing and executing test scripts, tracking test results, and driving defects to resolution with IT
Regression Testing: Completes system regression testing as part of release cycles
Integration Support: Works closely with IT colleagues to ensure all upstream and downstream integrations from SuccessFactors work effectively, including appropriate support for the design and testing of existing integration updates
Report Creation: Creates reports to support operational and business needs while adhering to data privacy guidelines
Data Analysis: Analyzes data to identify trends and data quality and compliance issues
Data Processing: Processes mass data loads into Employee Central to support job relationship changes, one-time payments, data cleansing efforts, etc
Issue Escalation: Serves as the point of escalation for complex data and system issues, proactively keeping end users aware of status and ensuring that outstanding issues are resolved promptly
Project Management: Develops and manages a project plan while coordinating activities across multiple teams to ensure effective and timely project completion
Documentation Maintenance: Develops and maintains system documentation to support both new and existing processes
Risk Tracking: Maintains a risk and issues log and owns the driving resolution

14. HR Business Analyst Role Purpose

Process Execution: Executes business process improvement plans and processes to achieve defined business objectives
Workflow Analysis: Develops holistic improvement approaches, employee-focused on understanding business processes and workflow
Initiative Prioritization: Prioritizes new initiatives to drive business strategy, mitigate potential risks and control gaps, and ensure positive employee impact
Relationship Building: Establishes solid HR relationships to fully understand the business, to define, create, and automate processes across Human Resources
Trend Identification: Analyzes C&B activities to identify trends and areas for process improvements
Data Aggregation: Expert in data aggregation from different sources to execute quantitative analyses to produce actionable insights for the Human Resources team
Cost Analysis: Analyzes and compares the cost benefits for the company and the employees
Job Evaluation: Organizes and leads job evaluations, models salary increases, salary surveys, and the collection of internal and external data
Program Implementation: Supports implementation of a broad range of Compensation programs and reward policies, requiring sometimes complex and non-routine work, including background research (e.g., market rates, full costs of new products)
Year-End Support: Provides support on Year-End overall processes and tools, including Merit, Annual Bonus (MIP), and Competency Assessment
Policy Consulting: Provides consulting on C&B matters (e.g., interpreting policy) and analysis for Business Managers

15. HR Business Analyst General Responsibilities

Process Review: Conduct reviews of business processes and help to develop optimisation strategies
Requirements Analysis: Perform requirements analysis and document the L4 processes
Solution Alignment: Work with the business to ensure that the solutions meet business needs and requirements
Process Expertise: Act as the global people process subject matter expert across transformation initiatives
Workflow Modeling: Capture business requirements for process improvement/automation efforts, facilitate workflow modelling and create knowledge articles and self-service guidance
Trend Evaluation: Review insight and trends to ensure that the output of processes is achieving the desired results
Maturity Assessment: Conduct maturity assessments against the process activities to highlight areas of improvement or concerns
System Configuration: Understand systems configuration to support business requirements, edit and update project plans, test scripts and functional design documents
Technology Integration: Participate in all aspects of HRIS of new/replacement HR technologies and roadmap discussions and act as a consultative partner for the business
Process Transition: Drive continuous process improvement and manage the transition of process ownership to the assigned business process owner
Toolkit Development: Develop a process mapping toolkit and deliver people team capability training
Relationship Building: Develop and foster proven working relationships with people, strategy teams and sponsors

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