Using Data to Make Decisions - Research Paper Example

Research Brief February 2, As a manager using data and analytics allows for improved decision making in many aspects of the company. It is important to be aware of what skills, talents and abilities you have available within your company workforce; knowing where your company falls short and what the optimal method is of meeting these shortages. As a manager you must know the skills, strategy and knowledge necessary to execute business decisions. In order to see your company succeed you should have an employee retention plan along with workforce evaluation methods which distinguish your low achievers from your high achievers.

When it is necessary to reduce your workforce minimizing these actions through retraining, reassignment and reallocation can reduce the loss of employee’s intellectual capital. Critical knowledge must be retained within the company now more than ever. Career and succession plans should be developed for employees which will maximize the life of your employees and reduce productivity losses. Those company’s and managers which invest the time and capital in analytics are more able to meet workforce challenges and decision making demands with accuracy and competence (IBM Global Business Services).

As a manager data should be considered a strategic asset and end user needs for analytics should be gathered through a clearly defined process (The Analytical SMB, 2012). Problems or situations that can be addressed through analytics include downsizing, recruiting, and retention. Knowing what your strengths and weaknesses are within your workforce allow you to make decisions quickly. Employee evaluations, prior attendance records and discipline records all become important data components in decision making processes.

Career plans and tracks can assist in retention of valuable employees and understanding your company’s shortages will allow you to recruit man power in targeted areas. Results in any problem or situation are greatly improved when data collection includes many elements or facets. You should know and understand the needs of the business in order to decide what data needs to be collected. The success of any business intelligence comes from the ability to provide and present business information in a way that is timely, while presenting data that is accurate.

Data should be consistently high quality and accurate. Implementing data collection methods will ensure that your company has a consistent and single view of business operations for all managers. Performance measurement data should be collected which should include quantitative, qualitative and in cases where direct measure is not possible proxy measures should be collected. Data that is to be collected should be defined; number of days absent, number of days tardy, vacation days used, prior raise and or promotion, performance reviews by immediate supervisor, any employee conflicts, etc.

Observation data should be collected, interview data should be recorded, and any means of obtaining data should be noted such as supervisor report, employee report, survey, analyzing employee specs or work performance means and time clock reports. A very specific situation that you could address using data would be employee raises. Data such as when the employee began employment, company policy on raises, performance reviews or evaluations, disciplinary actions, attendance, and complaints from other employees or customers should be available for use when deciding quickly and easily the amount or timing of an employee’s company pay raise.

Data can also be used for promotions within the company such as employee awards or bonuses, employee’s performance record, training programs completed and any disciplinary action the employee has been subject to. In order to validate data or to demonstrate that data resulted in a higher level of efficiency or effectiveness within the company decisions such as pay raises should be fairly consistent across the board. With good data collection methods there should not be any huge discrepancies in pay raises among employees with similar characteristics.

There should be consistency is decisions regarding recruiting and training strategies. Succession and career plans which are created should be visually demonstrated by employees within your company. Determining needed capacity or the amount of employees needed at any given time by job assignments or locations should be easily completed. To show that the use of data is more effective than not using data there should be improvements in most aspects of the company over a given time period as measured and recorded by records such as employee turnover.

References IBM Global Business Services. (2012). Getting Smart About Your Workforce. Retrieved February 2, 2013. The Analytical SMB: More Data, More Users, Less Time. (2012). - SC Magazine. Retrieved February 2, 2013, from http://whitepapers.scmagazine.com/content17953