There is a widespread perception that HR analytics (HRA) has failed to achieve its potential to improve organisational performance and enhance the value and legitimacy of the HR profession. This article seeks advance a theoretically rooted explanation why this might be. Through reflexive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with 38 Korean HR professionals, and employing Geels’s multi-level perspective on socio-technical transitions and Archer's morphogenetic approach as theoretical lenses to understand how HR professionals think and act towards HRA, the novel contribution of the article is to identify three types of internal conversation that HR professionals have about HRA: HR is about people and relationships not numbers, HRA catalyses professional insecurity, and HRA threatens power. Collectively, these internal conversations mean that HR professionals are often hostile towards the use of HRA in their practice, despite the supposed opportunities that HRA offers for re-legitimisation of the HR profession.
