In our new COVID-19 reality, the world is experiencing a level of rapid change never seen before. One thing that’s clear is that digital-minded organizations with the ability to quickly assess and make insightful workforce decisions will be more likely to not only survive the crisis, but thrive.
However, this will be challenging for many businesses as 72% of global organizations experienced a reality check and found themselves not fully prepared from a technology perspective.1 Now these companies are scrambling to play catch up in migrating operations and workforce to a virtual environment. With the majority of employers planning to offer flexible work options for the long-term2, there’s no turning back the clock to pre-pandemic work styles.
Here’s four ways that your organization can leverage data to build a stronger team:
Use data to predict talent potential
Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a crystal ball that could ensure your next hire is a win for the company? Predictive analytics gets close by helping Human Resource professionals assess individuals with skills profiles that help determine who is most likely to succeed in a particular role. That’s crucial when the cost of a bad hire can mean up to $240,000 in expenses for companies.1
Remember the movie Moneyball where analytics helped the Oakland A’s select the right players to spur the team to 20 consecutive victories over a month’s time? That success has translated to the business world with global companies such as Google, Marriott Hotels and Credit Suisse Banks.
Credit Suisse deployed predictive analytics to identify employee churn and this information was anonymously shared with line managers to help them reduce turnover risk factors and retain talent. The bank saved an estimated $70,000,000 a year in recruiting and onboarding costs as a result of this initiative.2
Make data your company's decision-making anchor
When the world stopped, the hospitality industry suffered a significant impact, but take-out and delivery service saw a massive uptick in activity. Domino’s CEO Ritch Allison noted that their team had to take 60 years of standard operating procedures and transform them for digital in a matter of 6 weeks. By making a commitment to digital strategies as their new centerpiece of decision-making, Allison was able to shift the pizza giant to a contactless delivery model across the country. The key was carefully creating a unified data-driven vision for the company’s technology, innovation and supply chain teams while still making the training of Domino’s delivery experts a priority.3
“As we look at digital capabilities that we’re putting in place today, it’s not just to be competitive in the next couple of months. It really is to set ourselves up in what may end up being the new normal in our industry,” says Allison. So far, it’s paying off as nearly a year later, Domino’s digital sales are up 75% and they have been able to keep most of their retail locations open.
Upskill Teams to Leverage Technology
Even before the pandemic, companies were navigating changing technologies and the new skills that employees would need to manage them. COVID-19 has amplified the urgency for workers to develop these new ‘skill muscles’ to strengthen them and prepare the organization for future disruptions. The U.K. healthcare system, for example, had to retrain their staff within weeks to manage virtual appointments, something that occurred less than 1% of the time prior to 2020. Now doctors assess nearly 100% of patients by phone or video, with only about 7% requiring a face-to-face appointment. This has required medical staff to learn how to do safe and effective diagnosis remotely. Something that will now continue even after the crisis has passed.4
As organizations determine which strategies encompass the future of their business, leaders should quickly identify skills that are crucial to business recovery and focus first on those that will drive a disproportionate amount of value to the organization.
Foster a data culture
Organizations who ingrain data into their culture are well-positioned to create ‘SuperTeams’ - the next step in technology’s integration into the world of work. “These SuperTeams are powered by increasingly sophisticated artificial intelligence blended with the best in human skills – all working together to solve problems, gain insights and create new value for both workers and organizations,” says Dave Mancl, manager of Talent Analytics for ManpowerGroup.
Creating SuperTeams involves a concerted effort to upskill employees on how to leverage these new tools and processes. That can be a challenge considering that only 21 percent of workers are confident in their data literacy skills, including understanding, questioning, and working with data.3 But Human Resources can play a role during recruiting by including data and metrics language in job descriptions to attract the right candidates. Employers should also improve success by reinforcing skills development through group training or one-on-one coaching and then hold employees accountable to measurable data-driven goals.
Organizations who integrate data to better assess, upskill and build SuperTeams will be well-positioned for future growth.
For more insights on these and other workforce data trends, tune in to The Transform Talent Podcast.
[1] https://www.news.xerox.com/news/global-Xerox-Future-of-Work-Survey-results
[2] ManpowerGroup Q4 2020 Employment Outlook Survey
[4] https://techhq.com/2020/01/mind-the-skills-gap-between-big-data-and-employees/