GLOBAL MOBILITY
hesitancy in shifting to a greater focus on data. An EY study showed 81 per cent of the 270 professionals surveyed expressing a belief that big data should be at the heart of decision-making. However, just 31 per cent said their company had significantly restructured operations to enable this. To balance that figure and the wider
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reluctance it represents, an insightful and useful panel session at the Worldwide ERC London Summit sought to demystify some of the myths of workforce analytics. Crucially, it offered practical insights for mobility experts looking to start small before going ‘big’ on data and delivering the benefits.
A mobility game changer? Chairing the discussion, Fragomen executive director and Worldwide ERC chairman Robert J Horsley introduced the subject. He put forward the idea that workforce analytics, while highly important, were currently underused. They should have a more central role in mobility, and, when used effectively, would secure for mobility professionals greater inf luence, and impact more widely on business drivers and strategies. “Data analytics is something people talk a lot about but
ig data is big news, at both HR and board level. Despite the hype and promise, there is some
Worldwide ERC London Summit 2017
information for different options – for example, ‘ last time, you sent Joe Bloggs, and actually this other person might be a better f it and available at a lower cost’. This is where we are seeing the shift.” For Netherlands-based Siobhan Cummins, of global
don’t necessarily understand,” Mr Horsley observed, “yet I think our world should be more focused on embracing it. I think we, as an industry, have been trying to align ourselves in winning a seat at the table for many years. Armed with meaningful analytics, I think we have a real opportunity now. “As opposed to putting our fingers up in the air and gauging
the wind, we should now base our strategies on empirical data, and demonstrate how mobility can benefit the business. It will make us much more predictive. As most people know, I am a big believer in integrated services and data. Together, as a strategy, we can become a real key tool for talent acquisition, talent deployment, and ultimately an important tool for businesses.”
Predicting the future Speakers Siobhan Cummins, head of global mobility at Naspers Group, Mike Piker, vice-president of global total rewards and people technology at Naspers Group, Alain De Dauw, HR vice-president of Atlas Copco Airpower’s Airtec Division, and Gareth Paine, people analytics leader at EY, are already working in this arena. Gareth Paine supported Robert J Horsley’s view of the
growing role of workforce analytics in mobility. “I think the success of the HR space is that it is catching up a lot more now and using data in their programmes to make sure there is best fit for assignments. For me, what I am seeing increasingly is companies using data to connect the dots with the best person for the right assignment at the right cost level. “Companies are using this approach to analytics in the HR and mobility space. They are extracting predictive
internet and entertainment group Naspers, the shift is due as much to resourcing. “One of the problems for mobility is that it has always been the poor relation in HR, so there has been less use of technology and a reliance on spreadsheets,” she commented. “What we are seeing now is greater use of technology that
is enabling mobility to mine data and provide better analytics to the business, not only in terms of cost, but also transparency in the creation of packages, talent availability and workforce planning.”
Actionable data Offering an example of how workforce analytics were helping businesses to plan workforces and talent deployment, Naspers’ Mike Piker explained how the company approached setting up new operations from its South African base. Naspers’ data, gathered from disparate technologies,
provided the company with figures on who among its 30,000 employees around the world wanted to move from the wider business and how many employees it had to hire locally. It also put vendors in the picture. “We had some really meaningful insights through the
data – both lagging and predictive indicators – on how easy this would be to do and the likely success factors,” Mr Piker explained. “The landscape is very powerful now, because the data gives us discernible patterns. The time is right for change. “The technology is there. Our customers are demanding we
step up and have these conversations. We can do some really meaningful things with the predictive analysis.” ➲
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