The Utilization of Analytic Tools in Decision-Making!
The number of companies that are adopting business intelligence (BI) is increasing as it is an indispensable tool for the management of information and decision support.
In an increasingly volatile and complex world, it is imperative for companies to have certain tools and the correct information that is needed for more informed decisions.
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As an instrument to use across all business areas and sectors of activity, BI contributions can be analyzed in different ways: Strategic – support for decision making; Financial – optimization, control of costs and financial efficiency; and Operational – access to daily management metrics of the different work areas.
For example, as a Human Resources Director of a retail company, I felt the need to use BI as the business was growing and the number of contributors was increasing exponentially.
As stores opened, it was becoming harder to work with such a large volume of diverse information. On the other hand, it was fundamental to have consolidated information that allowed me to have a general overview of stores and businesses in terms of Human Resource Management Policies .
Using analytic solutions was a natural decision because it was already implemented in some areas of the company; and, with the implementation of this tool in my work area, I quickly noticed many contributions to the exercise of my function:
Possibility to analyse a high volume of information quickly, simply and in real time.
It was important that the information was organized, in order to allow an efficient reading of the existing reality in terms of human capital.
BI has helped me analyze employee data faster, simpler, and in real time.
This allowed me to work with data related to the management of labor contracts, turnover, absenteeism, the geographical distribution of employees by the different stores, the organic and functional structure of each business, the training attributed to employees, among other day to day tasks of my team, and support the operation of stores and businesses.
I quickly realised that we save time in analyses and reports that we had to do because the information was consolidated and organized.
Data treatment in an unlimited and diversified way (Data Crossing).
Having a database so rich and diversified, I was able to perform matrix analyses on the available information, which otherwise wouldn’t be possible, or would take too long to obtain the same results.
In this way, I built a dashboard where I can cross-reference and analyze data from different areas in human resources (recruiting, administrative management, contracts, training, organizational design, etc), which allowed me to have a more detailed and comprehensive view of the many processes of human resources in force, according to my needs or information required.
Data integration coming from various sources.
For the construction of the human resources dashboard, data from SAP and Excel were used.
I’ve had the opportunity to work with existing information in different SAP HCM modules and numerous files in excel that were used daily by my team.
With online platforms, every time there was a change in one of the sources, the dashboard would update automatically, giving the guarantee that we were always working with the most up-to-date data.
Graphical visualization of information allowing the construction of outputs.
As a dynamic and modern platform the options of graphs, tables and maps are numerous, allowing them to be aligned with the communication and company language. This opportunity allowed me to use the outputs (graphics, tables and maps) that exist in Direction or Board meetings. In addition to having diversified information, I could choose the one that adapted better according to the scope of the meeting, sparing me some time in the preparation of the reports and/or presentations.
Possibility to analyse the information in a chronologic way.
Analyzing the status of the company on a specific date enables quick comparative analysis, but most importantly, remembering the company or the future needs, depending on the metrics we are analysing.
In historic terms, it allowed me to analyse, for example, the number of FTE’s in the different stores over the different months or the volume of training courses given in the previous years. In future terms, I was able to quickly get information about the contract renewal dates, for example, which made it possible to plan recruitment needs.
Accessible information at any moment and place.
Access is available and any time and place because it is available online, being accessible through PC, Ipad or mobile phone. This flexibility of use allowed me to access information whenever necessary, even outside of the office.
Support for decision making and business development.
The fact that this allows me to analyze metrics quickly and crosswise allowed me to make decisions whenever necessary, or sharing the information for decision making. The information was available in a simple and up-to-date form. It allowed for optimization and making the human capital management of the company more efficient.
Sharing information with the team and/or superiors.
As a dynamic and user-friendly platform, it allows for sharing existent information with team members. It is possible to manage the access levels, according with the responsibilities and functions of each one.
In my reality, for example, the information was available according to the functional areas of the Human Resource Division (administrative management, contractual management, training, etc). The information was still available by store, ensuring that shop managers had access only to the store under their responsibility.
