The Relationship Between HR Analytics Capability and Evidence-Based Decision Making in Nigerian Organisations: An Exploratory-Analytical Study

This study explores and analytically examines the relationship between HR analytics capability and the quality of evidence-based HR decision making in Nigerian organisations, drawing data from firms in the financial services, telecommunications, and manufacturing sectors in Lagos, Abuja, and Kano. As people analytics has become a strategic priority in global HR practice, Nigerian HR departments are at varying stages of analytics adoption, creating a natural study environment for exploring capability-to-practice linkages. An exploratory-analytical sequential design was employed, beginning with qualitative mapping of HR analytics maturity levels through interviews with 30 HR leaders, followed by a quantitative survey of 195 HR practitioners. Dyke's HR Analytics Maturity Model and Rousseau's Evidence-Based Management Framework underpin the conceptual approach. Findings reveal significant variance in HR analytics maturity across sectors, with financial services firms demonstrating the most advanced capabilities and manufacturing the least. Analytically, HR analytics capability positively predicts evidence-based decision quality, with the predictive and prescriptive analytics dimensions showing stronger effects than descriptive analytics capability. The study identifies a specific research gap: existing global HR analytics literature has not adequately examined how data infrastructure poverty, common in manufacturing and smaller service firms, constrains even motivated HR practitioners from adopting analytical approaches. Recommendations include public investment in HR analytics literacy through CIPM partnerships, open-access HR benchmarking databases, and analytics governance frameworks. This study contributes to the emerging field of HR analytics in Africa. Keywords: HR analytics, evidence-based decision making, HR capability, organisations, Nigeria