Why I moved my People Analytics career from NY to London on a test run

In October 2016, HSBC offered me a role in London.
My motto: you always regret the things you don’t try.
So before saying yes, I flew over for a test run.

The spreadsheet part was easy.
The cost of living came in about 20% cheaper than New York.

What no spreadsheet could show me:

✔️ Colleagues who were welcoming

✔️ A city as diverse and vibrant as NYC… just smaller

✔️ New and old architecture standing side by side

Forty years as a New Yorker taught me it would always be home.

I just didn’t need to live there anymore.

And ten years later... I still read the “LOOK RIGHT” painted on the road.🤭

That test run is how I think about People Analytics work.

The attrition report tells you who left.

The HRBP on the ground tells you why.

But you only hear that second answer once people trust you enough to say it out loud.

If you’re weighing a PA move, run your own test run before you sign:

✔️ Ask two people on the team what they’d change on day one

✔️ Ask which decision the team’s work changed last quarter

✔️ Ask who the team reports to, and who it actually serves

What did a test run teach you that the data couldn’t?