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The use of data analytics has gained popularity among various managerial functions, aligning with the principles of evidence-based management. Reflecting this trend, human resource management has also embraced the managerial fashion, framing it as human resource (HR) analytics. HR analytics represents a relatively recent HR innovation, generally understood as a technology-driven organisational practice of analysing HR and other data to make better people-related decisions.

Despite the growing interest among HR scholars and practitioners, empirical evidence remains limited, particularly in the context of public sector organisations, which have also begun leveraging HR analytics, albeit with some delay. Thus, the aim of this study is to describe the process of HR analytics implementation from a translation perspective. We seek to answer the following research question: How is HR analytics being translated in the practices of public sector organisations?

HR analytics implementation is seen as a broader concept, but it is not sufficient to explain the changes that occur in the process and why the results do not always meet expectations. To increase understanding, we use the concept of translation. Drawing on Scandinavian institutionalism and the organisational translation perspective, we show how the practice of HR analytics has been adapted for use in two public administrations in Sweden: a state authority and a regional administration. We employ a longitudinal research design comprising three phases of data collection conducted over a period of three years. This includes a total of 51 in-depth interviews with organisational practitioners involved in HR analytics implementation, observation of project meetings, and document analysis. The process data are analysed using a visual mapping strategy combined with thematic analysis. 

Our preliminary findings show that during the process of translation, the concept of HR analytics underwent significant transformation to meet specific organisational needs. One previously deemed important aspect of the concept, namely predictive and prescriptive analyses, was omitted during the translation process. Conversely, another aspect, namely descriptive statistics, received significantly more attention compared to the conceptualisation in existing literature within the field.

The study contributes to the existing HR analytics literature by providing empirical evidence from the underexplored context of public sector organisations. The study makes a general theoretical contribution to the literature on how managerial ideas are adapted during the process of translation. We demonstrate that ideas may not only be transformed through adaptation, but some important aspects may be lost in the translation process, resulting in the loss of the original meaning.