Trends in the thematic landscape of HR analytics research: a structural topic modeling approach

Abstract

PurposeThe growth of the global labor force and business analytics has significantly impacted human resource management (HRM). Human resource (HR) analytics is an emerging field that creates value for employees and organizations. By examining the existing studies on HR analytics, the paper systematically reviews the literature to identify active research areas and establish a roadmap for future studies in HR analytics.Design/methodology/approachA portfolio of 503 articles collected from the Scopus database was reviewed. The study has adopted a Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling approach to identify significant themes in the literature.FindingsThe HR analytics research domain is classified into four categories: HR functions, statistical techniques, organizational outcomes and employee characteristics. The study has also developed a framework for organizations adopting HR analytics. Linking HR with blockchain technology, explainable artificial intelligence and Metaverse are the areas identified for future researchers.Practical implicationsThe framework will assist practitioners in identifying statistical techniques for optimizing various HR functions. The paper discovers that by implementing HR analytics, HR managers and business partners can run reports, make dashboards and visualizations and make evidence-based decision-making.Originality/valueThe previous studies have not applied any machine learning techniques to identify the topics in the extant literature. The paper has applied machine learning tools, making the review more robust and providing an exhaustive understanding of the domain.