2012
Big data: coming soon to a company near you
Dennis Berman of the Wall Street Journal (subscription required) explores the rise of “big data” or analytics, observing that it’s already making significant inroads in the business world and represents an even more important trend than iPads or IPOs. It will “push adaptation and business cycles even faster than they are today.”
While the increased use of analytics has implications across all aspects of an organization’s work, perhaps nowhere is its potential impact greater than on the people side of the business. For example, simply identifying those aspects of employees’ work environment that are most important in driving customer service success (or other key business outcomes) can have major bottom line consequences.
Although some companies are already quite advanced in this realm, we’re still in the early days of this new world, so there’s still time for forward-thinking corporate leaders to catch the analytics train.
2012
Update on SHRM Investor Metrics Workgroup
For the past year, I have been leading SHRM’s Investor Metrics Workgroup, which is a key component of SHRM’s larger standards setting initiative. I am pleased to report that we have made significant progress.
In December a draft Investor Metrics Standard was passed by the Workgroup. This month, the draft Standard will move on to the next step of the process, which is a vote by the larger SHRM Metrics & Measurement Taskforce. After that the Standard will go through a public comment period, and if necessary, revisions. Then, finally it will be an official ANSI standard (and it may then go on to be considered by ISO as an international standard).
(Turns out the standards-setting process has many steps!)
As the next steps of this process unfold, we will be looking for firms that are interested in beta-testing the standard. So if you think this might be of interest to your organization, please contact me directly, and I can provide you with more detail on the draft standard and the process for beta-testing it.
2011
Where to shop this holiday season?
Glad you asked! To help identify companies worthy of your shopping dollars this holiday season, we created the 2011 Good Company Retail Index. It ranks 52 of the largest retailers in the US, assessing how they treat employees, customers, and the planet.
Each company’s score reflects its most recent performance on three measurements (these represent a subset of the full range of metrics we used to calculate Good Company scores in the book, and includes updated scores on each of the three):
- Glassdoor.com rankings (employees’ assessments of their companies as employers)
- wRatings scores (customers’ opinions of companies on quality, fair price, and trust)
- 2011 Newsweek Green Rankings (assess companies’ environmental footprint, management of that footprint, and transparency)
The big winner? Apple, whose top ranking reflects not only an excellent track record on customer satisfaction, but positive employee feedback at Glassdoor and a top 10 percent score on the Green Rankings.
The full top 10 list is as follows:
1. Apple
2. Ace Hardware
3 (tie). Dell
3 (tie). Office Depot
3 (tie). Staples
6. Whole Foods Market
7. Lowe’s
8. The Home Depot
9. O’Reilly Automotive
10. Costco
Bringing up the rear? Dillard’s, RadioShack, and Big Lots. Dillard’s scored in the bottom quarter of the Green Rankings, failed to impress customers in wRatings research, and earned a “dissatisfied” rating from employees at Glassdoor.
So enjoy the holiday season – and while you’re at it, consider doing business with those companies that have demonstrated they’re worthy of your business.
Click to go to full 2011 Good Company Retail Index scores.
This post also appeared on the Good Company blog.
2011
Moneyball, as its name suggests, is serious business
I know virtually nothing about — and have even less interest in — baseball. But I LOVE the movie Moneyball (based on the Michael Lewis book), which is about the application of “HR analytics” to the game.
If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it. It is the story of how a soft-spoken, recent Yale economics grad applies his analytic know-how, with the help and support of the Oakland A’s general manager (played by Brad Pitt) to help achieve remarkable success (as measured by games won), with the smallest budget in the league for buying “talent.”
Some of the lines in the movie (I’m paraphrasing here) could be lifted from my day-to-day work life as an economist applying the principles and insights of behavioral economics to the business world:
- “People are running the business on fundamentally wrong assumptions.”
- “This is going to fundamentally change the game.”
- “The reason people are resisting it is because it is going to change how they make a living.”
In addition to being entertaining, Moneyball is worth watching because it has important lessons for business.
There is competitive advantage to be gained through analytics – no matter what business you are in. And the laggards will be the losers.
2011
New report on board of directors and HR
A new report by David Creelman and Andrew Lambert is the first that I have seen on boards of directors’ evolving role on the people side of the business.
It places “a spotlight on how boards are now addressing their responsibilities for oversight of human capital; how they themselves are changing their own behavior; and what part the senior ‘people professionals’ are now playing in facilitating boards in both of these dimensions.”
It’s an encouraging read – one that I commend to you.