Category: analytics

mismanagement

“She quit because the style of her manager was exclusively micro-management,” A statement I heard during a conversation last week. Unfortunately, manager mismatches are common when it comes to lack of well-being and engagement. Consequently, they are often the direct cause for employees to quit their job.

The third “future of work trend for 2023″ according to Gartner is; alleviating pressure on managers.

When managers don’t know their own preferred management style, coupled with the way their employees prefer to be managed, relieving the pressure is almost impossible.

Organizations will need to focus on innovative ways to narrow the management skills gap, but the methods that were successful in 2019 may not be suitable for the workforce in 2023. Without the right people analytics building blocks to gain insights into the strengths and weaknesses of managers, coupled with professional preferences of employees, again, it is almost impossible.

analytics journey

Five things that make or break a data-driven analytics journey.

Companies that want to work in a more data-driven way should consider these five things before embarking on their journey. Whether it’d be marketing, hr, finance, or sales… The foundation has to be solid. To measure is to know; hence not knowing exactly what you are measuring doesn’t propel a company forward on its journey, au contraire.

Imagine a company that wants to identify so-called high potentials. What it means to be a high-potential could be drastically different in Europe as opposed to Asia or America. That’s why an unambiguous, shared language is required, so definitions are clear.

Ideally, a baseline is established. Without one deciding if trends are positive or negative becomes more of a guessing game. Also, data should be measured continuously. A one-off measurement can never represent the context and nuance that it needs.

If a company can only rely on analysts to reveal insights, there is a chance a lot of other valuable insights remain uncovered. The data should be accessible to the right people and presented in a comprehensible format.

Apples and apples or apples and oranges? Without the ability to compare, the data remains isolated. Comparisons in time or benchmarking with industry standards help with orienting where the company is.

Garbage in, garbage out. The adage doesn’t surprise anyone. Yet, dubious data input happens relatively often in analytics journies. These five pillars revolve around laying the right foundations, and quality is an absolute must.

Those five pillars once again; shared language, baseline & continuous measurement, comparing, and quality.

still fits

One of the three ways to get to know employees better, with the ambition to boost employee engagement, is to focus on the “talent fit,” according to this Forbes article.

According to the article, the way to focus on “talent fit” is to ask employees if the job still fits them.

Pretty straightforward and not a bad idea at all.

Additionally, companies should leverage a model, preferably academically validated, to build those insights at scale.

human virus

What HR professionals and epidemiologists can learn from one another.

A global pandemic initially starts very small, and one tiny spark in one patient virtually disables the entire planet.

In a company, a minor incident can lead to an enterprise-wide disaster. A vocal employee not being acknowledged for her contributions. A team being mismanaged. Continuously mis-hiring new candidates. The list goes on… Small actions with enormous consequences. So much so that they can fester and create a gigantic negative downward spiral and suck the culture right out of a company.

Epidemiologists could benefit significantly from siding with HR professionals, psychologists, or otherwise human-oriented people to convey their messages better.

HR professionals could benefit from applying an analytical approach, monitoring the numbers closely to make data-driven decisions.

A plea for a more facts-based HR approach and a more human-oriented epidemiological approach.

half a century

HR is lagging behind marketing and advertising with at least half a century.

Over a century ago, John Wanamaker famously said: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

Today, due to insights and analytics, advertisers can work in a data-driven way, providing proof for the results they’re achieving for their customers.

HR departments in many companies struggle with providing even the most fundamental insights and analytics.

If we want to work more efficiently, both financially and from an employee engagement point of view, this has to change, now.