Abstract
HR analytics has been viewed as an innovating force in resource management, enabling organizations to make data-driven decisions, employ predictive modeling, and utilize artificial intelligence applications for a more nuanced management of the organization. A systematic literature and bibliometric analysis of the literature in HR analytics has been developed in the service industry, using co-citation network analysis, thematic mapping, trends analysis, and collaborative network mapping as the various bibliometric analysis tools to map the birth, existing paradigms, and future directions therein. This study makes it clear that HR analytics research is blossoming in two dimensions: on one end facing traditional HRM theories; for example, strategic workforce planning and talent management, while the other focuses on AI applications within HRM, predictive analytics, and integration with machine learning. The themes emerging include AI ethics and their cross-functional approach to talent management, insights from behavioral science and workforce analytics, and environmental management of resourcing strategies. The practitioner implications include calling on HR professionals to sharpen up their analytic acumen for the sake of talent management and strategic workforce planning aided by new AI-based governance regimes, and the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration between the HR, IT, and business strategy teams in maximizing the potential of HR analytics. The HR analytics world presents a myriad of benefits but other functions also face constraints including issues of accessibility to data, changing technologies, and the more general application of the research across industries and regions. This study fills a niche intersection of employer branding and recruitment in that it offers a bibliometric analysis of the budding field of HR analytics in the service industry and contributes thereby not only developing theoretical advancement in strategic HRM but also actionable insights into how organizations can make this a sustainable competitive advantage in service industry.