How to Build Trust in Your People Analytics Function

You can build the best dashboards in the world—clean data, beautiful visuals, predictive models—but if people don’t trust your work, they won’t use it.

Trust is what makes People Analytics useful. Without it, you’re just sharing charts no one acts on. And trust doesn’t come from having the most technical tools—it comes from being reliable, transparent, and relevant.

Here’s how to build real trust in your People Analytics function—based on what’s worked (and not worked) in practice.

1. Start With Something That Solves a Real Problem

In one of my early projects, we were building a dashboard on time-to-fill and candidate conversion rates. It looked great—but nobody cared. Why? Because the business was struggling with retention, not hiring.

That taught me: don’t start with what you can build—start with what people actually need.

One of the most trusted products I’ve ever launched was a simple headcount tracker. It wasn’t flashy. But it solved a pain point and answered the same questions leaders asked in every meeting.

Trust starts when you show you’re listening.

2. Get to 90% Accuracy—and Be Honest About the Rest

I aim for 90% accuracy in my work. The last 10% is often messy—maybe someone’s job title hasn’t updated, or a start date is off by a few days.

What matters is that I name it. I always add a note: “This data is current as of X date. Manager mappings are being reviewed.” That kind of disclaimer doesn’t weaken the report. It builds confidence.

“We can work with this. Thanks for flagging the caveats.” — a business partner told me during a forecast review.

Trying to be perfect will slow you down. Being transparent will speed up trust.

3. Define Everything—Literally

When I ask, “What’s your headcount?” I get five answers. Active employees, FTEs, contractors, budgeted roles, all staff including interns. Every team uses their own definition.

So I learned to never assume shared meaning. Every dashboard I build includes definitions:

• What’s included
• What’s excluded
• Source systems
• Timeframe

If you don’t define your metrics, people will define them for you—and that’s how trust erodes.

4. Involve Stakeholders Before You Launch

The worst thing you can do is disappear for two months and return with a “finished” product. Even if it’s good, people won’t feel connected to it.

Now I involve stakeholders from day one. I’ll show a sketch or a mockup, ask:
“If this existed, would it help you make better decisions?”

One time, a People Partner told me, “Honestly, I wouldn’t use this. I need team-level data, not department rollups.” That feedback reshaped the whole design—and led to a tool that actually got used.

When people help shape something, they trust it more.

5. Don’t Just Share Data—Interpret It

One of the quickest ways to lose trust is dropping a spreadsheet in someone’s inbox with no explanation. Numbers don’t speak for themselves—you have to tell the story.

Every report I send includes a short narrative.

• What are the key takeaways?
• What’s surprising?
• What needs attention?

You build trust when people know you’re not just delivering data—you’re helping them make sense of it.

6. Follow Through

Trust builds over time—and breaks fast. If you say, “I’ll fix this field by next week,” then fix it. If you tell someone you’re looking into an outlier, follow up—even if it’s just to say, “Still digging.”

People remember when you close the loop. Consistency builds credibility.

Conclusion

Trust isn’t built with a perfect dashboard or a flawless model. It’s built through small, consistent actions:

• Solving real problems
• Being transparent
• Defining clearly
• Involving others
• Adding interpretation
• Following through

When people see that your data helps them do their jobs better—they’ll come back. That’s how your function moves from “the team that runs reports” to the partner they call first.

Because in People Analytics, the real product isn’t the dashboard. It’s the confidence people have in you.