Moneyball -the movie based on Michael Lewis’ bestselling book spawned countless articles over the past year comparing the Moneyball concept to HR and the approach to hiring by leveraging the “big data” concept. (Yes that is my obligatory buzzword of the year usage!) While the comparison is definitely valid, there are even more concepts from Moneyball that apply to Workforce analytics, beyond just recruiting.
Payroll – That was Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane’s primary challenge from the outset, a limited labor budget, right? He was faced with the challenge of gaining more productivity out of the workforce without increasing his labor cost.
Labor productivity – A core component of Beane’s strategy was to maximize the productivity and efficiency of his workforce. The concept of on-base percentage vs batting average, runs batted in and stolen bases may have changed baseball, but the idea is applicable with any workforce when productivity metrics are collected. Once the analysis is done, and the preferred personnel with the desired skill sets are identified, schedule optimization is critical (put in the right place at the right time). This challenge can be seen in the film, when Oakland’s manager continually ignores Bean’s request to play a certain player at a particular position (Scott Hatteberg at first base).
The Street.com – “You can measure every single event and you can measure the value of that event, which is not dissimilar to every single business,” he said. “Especially now — you can get information at your fingertips as it happens.” Billy Beane, General Manager, Oakland A’s
Visibility and accountability – this is a critical component to workforce management, and is illustrated well in the movie. Beane was innovative. He was visionary. He had a strategy to achieve their organization’s goals which was not being implemented by management. He wanted certain players in the game, at specific positions to execute his strategy. While the outcome of his plan and vision was visible in wins, a think about a retail company with hundreds of stores, or a manufacturing company with dozens of plants. The ability to measure performance and compare results based on implementing certain programs provides the visibility needed to hold management accountable and make the changes necessary to achieve organizational goals.
Moneyball inspired HR leaders to embrace analytics for recruiting and create new metrics for performance management. However, the impact on business operations and the insight into more mature workforce management opportunities seems to be inspiring organizations to evolve their processes and technology strategies with workforce analytics.
Extreme Hiring Process – the NFL Draft
So the NFL Draft was held last week. How did your team do? Did you get a future super star? It should be obvious, right?
The circus that has become the NFL draft is by far one of the most unique and extreme hiring processes ever seen, not only in sports but in any industry – a spectacle like no other. To put it into a Workforce Management context, think about your recruiting and hiring process. What other industry (besides maybe the FBI, Secret Service, CIA, etc.) puts so much evaluation and scrutiny into their selection of a new hire? Especially one with no professional experience! How do you hire a recent college grad? Sift through hundreds of resumes? Maybe use a college job fair?
The NFL hiring process is a 2-3 month public boot camp, with physical and mental testing that would result in countless HR violations in most industries. After detailed review of film and analysis of the previous three or four years of on and off the field performance, players are then subjected to the NFL Scouting Combine. At the Combine, all invited players have every aspect of their physical make-up and skill sets measured, documented and ranked. Every test is now not only open to the media, it is broadcast on television! Everything from a players’ speed, strength and agility to their height, weight, wingspan and body fat percentage are made public. Then there is the Wonderlic Test – an IQ test, used by many employers, that is given to all players entering the draft. While this practice is common in many industries, these scores seem to have less of bearing on a prospect’s chances of being hired than in any other industry. Following the combine, players are asked to hold additional workouts – sometimes called Pro Days, where more football specific sessions and interviews are held to showcase their abilities.
Here’s where it gets interesting… when teams begin to hone in on the prospects they want, not only do they perform “reference checks”, they do full blown background investigations. Players that may have questionable character or may have had some type of trouble in the past could be subjected to private investigations. These findings are often also publicized.
What’s fascinating is that will all of this “selection science” used by the NFL, the success rate for top picks is not nearly as high as you would think. The two top draft choices last week were quarterbacks. Will they turn out to be like a Peyton Manning or John Elway, Hall of Fame-bound champions, or a big miss like JaMarcus Russell, David Carr, Tim Couch and Ryan Leaf? With all of the effort put into the selection process, how can that happen? Have you ever hired your top choice candidate, only to be let down when they turn out to miss the mark?
While these NFL Draft pick busts still happen, the selection science seems to be getting better and yielding much more success. Which may just be why more detailed analysis and science is being applied to hiring in the workforce. From healthcare, to hospitality and retail, organizations in almost every industry are improving their hiring process, reducing turnover and strengthening their growth and profitability with more advanced employee selection and hiring.
Imagine if every time an employee of yours left (quit or promoted) you had the #1, ideal, best possible candidate immediately available to step in as a replacement? What a luxury! Workforce talent acquisition made easy…
For this to happen, your organization would need to be considered one of the best possible employers with a history of success. You would need to be considered an outstanding leader who could virtually guarantee not only that the new hire would be wildly successful while working in that role, but that they would most likely be considered for a major promotion after working for you after only a short period of time. And year after year, this cycle would continue while you were at the helm! Sounds impossible right?
Photo from WildcatWorld.com
Last night, the #1 high school basketball recruit in the country Nerlens Noel signed with the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Not a huge surprise. Two weeks ago, the University of Kentucky (UK) won the NCAA Men’s Basketball National Championship. That was no surprise either. UK was ranked #1 all season and picked by virtually everyone to win this year. But why?
In 2011, they had three of the nation’s top recruits. Two of those three will be moving up to the NBA to play professionally next year. In fact, UK has had the #1 recruiting class in college basketball for 4 straight years now. Not only did this year’s #1 recruit sign on with UK, four of the top 100 recruits in the nation all signed letters of intent to attend Kentucky. Life is good for Coach John Calipari. His top players leave, often after only one season, and the best players in the county are lined up to take their place!
Photo from CoachCal.com
In three years, Calipari has taken Kentucky to two Final Fours and is fresh off a national championship, the eighth in school history. He has taken three different programs to the NCAA Final Four (UK, Memphis and UMASS). As of today, 22 of his players have been drafted by the NBA.
Remember the John Grisham novel The Firm? Similar scenario right? A tax law firm, Bendini, Lambert & Locke, would hand pick the top recruit each year and fast track that lawyer to success.
While college basketball and fictional novels don’t necessarily represent reality, it is possible to consistently position your company for growth and continued success through your hiring processes.
Recently, men’s clothing retailer JoS. A. Bank was featured in Stores Magazine for their successful recruiting and hiring strategies. When the recent recession hit hard in 2008, JoS. A. Bank positioned themselves for growth. In addition to marketing strategies targeted towards interviewees who were looking for work, the company applied selection science and automation to their hiring processes to help identify the best possible sales associates. Starbucks has seen similar improvements in their recruiting processes, featured here, as they can both attract and identify quality candidates with their automated talent acquisition system.
Businesses can identify the top candidates that are most likely to be successful based on their skills and interests, which inevitably leads to lower turnover rates and top recruits becoming interested in working there.
There’s a saying that applies to successful teams in sports – They don’t rebuild, they reload. Employee turnover, when managed well can be an opportunity for growth and continued success. Simply recruit the best possible candidates available, and position them for early success. Easier said than done? Just ask Coach Cal.
The Role of Big Data and Managing Labor
CEOs, CIOs, CTOs and CFOs across the globe have been the target audience for Big Data messages for the past twelve months – putting the latest IT-related fear, uncertainty and doubt in their minds. “How will you survive the data tsunami that is looming unless you mine that data to find the actionable information to grow your business?” (Not bad huh?)
The truth is taking a closer look at the new data streams available to multiple roles in an organization is a natural evolution thanks to new data being collected and made accessible to a broader audience. Applying this to workforce management makes perfect sense, and is now much more of a reality.
Successful organizations make critical business decisions based on facts, not anecdotal information. Facts derived from sound empirical data. Whether it’s about generating revenue, building budgets or attacking costs, analytics drives business performance. So, why are most organizations still not leveraging analytics to control and improve upon their largest manageable expense – their workforce?
Imagine having the ability to prove that increasing labor dollars in a retail store can directly drive increased revenue?
Suppose a manufacturing plant could pinpoint the location, shift, line and staff that had the highest quality output in a given month, and correlate that to employee training and average hours worked at that time?
By analyzing today’s workforce data, hospital staffing levels can be linked to patient outcomes. Retailers can gain insight into the correlation between staffing for store promotions and sales. Manufacturers can understand the true margins for their product. And, government officials can apply to budgeting the Lean Principals that industry leaders have used for decades.
Now front-line managers have instant visibility to labor data that can help them proactively rein-in labor costs. At the same time, C-level business leaders can make fact-based decisions regarding the workforce to drive innovation and growth through continuous improvement and increased profitability.
The Simpsons, "Mr. Plow". Season 4, Episode 9
Remember The Simpsons episode where Homer starts a snow plow business (Mr. Plow), which is then derailed by Barney (Plow King)? “Call Mr. Plow. That’s my name. That name again is Mr. Plow.”
There’s a new commercial airing recently that highlights how a landscaping company in Minnesota is growing its business by providing snow plowing service during the winter months. Not exactly a revolutionary business model as most landscapers in the northern states outfit their trucks with a plow to make extra bucks during the winter. In fact, I actually think they have a pretty good racket going – tear up lawns and flower beds with the plows during the winter so we have to hire them back in the spring to fix them (I actually witnessed this first hand in my front yard yesterday)!
If you watch the video, it highlights how a business is leveraging mobile workforce management technology to track labor productivity. “Everyone from field workers to accounting can initiate, bill and track work in real time.” The driver can punch into work and have his location verified by GPS to track not only where he is but what project he is working on and how long it takes.
What they don’t mention is that today’s systems can also ensure that employees get paid accurately and help mitigate compliance risk by ensuring that company, state and federal policies are enforced consistently and accurately. It also missed the point that labor cost can be measured much more accurately, with the ability to measure active work time, vs inactive work time (vehicle maintenance, refueling, idle time, transit time, etc.)
This same technology is now used by state and local governments to track labor allocation to grant-funded projects. The workforce system of record allows for fast and accurate audits enabling reimbursements and new grant awards. Additionally, manufacturing lines are leveraging labor activity tracking to gain visibility into Work In Progress, and identify which lines, shifts and employees are set up for optimal production. They can also easily reconcile direct and indirect labor expense to production output.
Mobile technology is enabling unprecedented capabilities for workforce management in a number of industries. Smart phones, tablets, in-vehicle/on-board computers, point-of-sale systems and next generation time clocks all provide new levels of data collection capabilities that go well beyond employees punching in and out.
Workforce Communications – Apps On the Clock
Imagine being able to get a message to every employee that comes into work today. Or suppose you could communicate to hundreds of your co-workers in seconds.
Social media and mobile devices have enabled users to post a message to friends and followers from anywhere at any time. And office environments with many white collar desk workers now host internal social networks for employees to communicate with each other. But what about in a retail store, manufacturing plant or warehouse – where employees have limited access to a computer screen and may have restrictions for using their mobile phones at work?
Businesses are finding great new ways to leverage social media, mostly for marketing purposes. A stadium in Kansas City actually posts tweets from fans in attendance up on the JumboTron. Which got me thinking, suppose you could combine the features of a Twitter management tool like TweetDeck or HootSuite with a device that every employee sees multiple times per day? Think about the messages you could send?
#byLocation Hoops at lunch today. Meet at noon
#byLocation Leftover pizza in the break room
#byLocation Can someone swap shifts with me tomorrow?
#byLocation ACCIDENT on hwy. Heavy traffic going north
Managers could also leverage this for immediate staff communications:
#byLocation Reminder – team meeting tomorrow morning
#byLocation Sales contest today 12-9, winning team earns XXX
Time clocks have long been a critical tool for organizations to collect labor data from their workforce, automating the process of converting worked hours into accurate pay. As these devices evolved, new functionality was added to provide self-service functions to managers and employees – enabling time off requests, time card approvals, viewing shifts, etc. Critical business processes were eventually incorporated into the time clock, including Employee Attestation functionality, dramatically reducing compliance risk by enabling employees to electronically access, review and approve or reject their timecards as well as allowing employees to designate whether they took their lunch break or not when they punch out.
Last fall Kronos launched the Kronos InTouch, a new breed of time clock goes far beyond simply punching in and out (industry analysts compared to an iPad). It’s a full color, multimedia device with a 7” touch screen display. But one of the most revolutionary new features of the InTouch is the app development platform.
Since the launch, the ideas for Apps on the Clock continue to come up. One application that was showcased at KronosWorks was an app that enabled employees to pre-order a meal from the cafeteria and have it charged to their account. Another is an employee survey app.
What type of app could you envision at your employer? If you have an idea you can suggest it to Kronos here.
Who: Kronos Incorporated & M2SYS
What: Tweet chat on biometrics for employee identification in workforce management
When: 2/9 at 11am ET
Where: Twitter (tweetchat.com) #biometricchat
Why: Learn about the advantages of using biometrics, ROI metrics, common misunderstandings of biometrics, future trends, and more.
Potential topics:
1. Metrics that businesses can use to measure their ROI after investing in biometric employee identification
2. Common misunderstandings about biometric technology
3. Future trends for biometrics in workforce management
4. Advantages of using biometrics
Never participated in a Tweet Chat? Learn more.
Big Game Fever? Superbowlitis? What to expect Monday morning…
Plan ahead and get your staff to have their work done before this weekend. With the Super Bowl this Sunday, your team may win, may lose, or you may not care – but many will be dragging next Monday. While it’s generally agreed upon that productivity will likely be down next morning, the impact of that loss is still debated. Regardless the numbers are interesting to say the least, staggering for many. Based on the 2008 survey that Harris Interactive did for The Workforce Institute™ at Kronos this graphic says a lot about how “The Big Game” can impact labor in the US:
Labor Planning in a Super Bowl Host City
Are you located in a Super Bowl host city? Chances are if you live and work in a major US city you have or may someday host the NFL Super Bowl. If so, are you prepared for the workforce management challenges that come along with the big game? As exciting as it is, virtually every industry in a host city is dramatically impacted. This week, Indianapolis hosts one of the biggest sporting events in the world, with about 10 days of festivities leading up to the game on Sunday. Here’s just a few of the workforce management challenges I’ve read about already from news coverage of the event:
Indianapolis city workers preparing for Super Bowl XVLI. Photos by: Perry Reichanadter http://media.ibj.com/IBJ/photoGallery/gallery/album/36
- 8000 volunteers are working in the Super Bowl Village this week,
- Public safety officials are preparing for over 150,000 visitors this week. Indianapolis has reportedly invested millions of dollars and worked with local, state and federal agencies to try to keep all those people safe. Up to 1,000 city police officers will be in the stadium and on the street
- 80 temporary structures were built and are being used for Super Bowl-related events in downtown Indianapolis this week
- Local TV news operations have built temporary studios downtown, budgeted thousands for overtime, between now and Feb. 6, the day after Super Bowl XLVI. Industry sources said the cost of equipment and overtime spent covering the event likely will range from$20,000 to $50,000 for each of the four local affiliates.
- Department of public works and transportation teams have spend weeks creating and re-directing traffic patterns in and around the city, including countless barricades and new traffic signs/signals
- Hotels have been booked to capacity for months, with visitors extending out into the suburbs miles outside of the city
- Restaurants have reservations filled from Thursday through Sunday, with additional staff planned and limited menu items to maximize their ability to efficiently service customers
- The Super Bowl Village and City Market renovations were funded by a federal grant of $8 million which must have labor and project tracking tied to it
The most interesting thing to me is not the typical workforce management challenges of reducing labor costs and automating manual processes that each organization – regardless of the industry will face. I’m curious how organizations can accurately plan in advance for the necessary labor requirements needed and how will they effectively adjust their staffing this week in the “heat of the moment”. I suppose they could use some rough comparisons to past events (Indy has hosted the NCAA Basketball Final Four on multiple occasions and the Indy 500 each year, although these are not near the magnitude of the Super Bowl).
Retail stores will have little forecast planning data to go on for scheduling. Will hospitals need to rely on multiple agencies to augment staffing requirements? Will it snow on game day, requiring DOT and public works staff to call in additional staff (if they have it) for snow removal?
While the amount of revenue from hosting the Super Bowl can be in the $100s of millions for local businesses, it still requires effective labor planning and execution to maximize sales or services. If you have been involved in hosting a similar type of event (national political convention, Olympic games, etc.) how did it impact your organization’s workforce management abilities?
I’ve mentioned a few times on this blog, in addition to my day job at Kronos, I am a high school basketball coach. I recently presented to a room full of newly hired sales people on how our customers use workforce management systems. When discussing scheduling and staff management, the discussion surprisingly moved into a conversation about coaching…
Building a Roster, Defining Positions and Game Management
Like most teams, we have a roster of 14 players. At the beginning of the season, we planned on having [hiring] a total headcount of 36 players [ee’s] – 12 on the Varsity, 12 on the Junior Varsity (two who also play Varsity) and 12 on the Freshman team.
As the season goes on, we deal with absenteeism (injuries, sickness, etc.) and our goal is to minimize the impact with substitutes that can perform up to (or close to) the same level as the absent player, while also minimizing the impact on the other players ‘ performance when the new player is integrated to the lineup.
But one of the most interesting correlations was regarding Staffing. Reacting and adapting to changing conditions to maximize performance. As a coach, if I had the same line-ups and substitution patterns for every game at the exact same time, regardless of the situation, what would the result be? Depending on the ability of our players, we may have some success, but we would not be optimizing our line-up based on the situation.
Coaches train their players to be agile and flexible based on the game situation and react to changing conditions to constantly maintain the highest level of performance. Are we facing a big team that is slower but strong? Are we facing a smaller, quicker team? Do we need more scoring? More defense? More rebounds?
Managing your Workforce – Hiring, Scheduling, Absence, Staff Management
Workforce scheduling is often a complex planning process, based on analyzing historical data to provide insight to anticipated labor needs. Labor forecasts and budgets provide employers with the insight needed to match anticipated labor needs to expected volume. In some cases, labor budgets and employee schedules are produced weeks in advance.
Like a coach you have hired an optimal number of employees, and cross-trained a segment of them to address absenteeism.
What about executing as a manager within the week, day or shift? Can you respond to changing conditions and optimize the employees you have working based what you need to address or how to capitalize on a given scenario? Is your workforce agile? Do you have visibility into what is happening at a given point in time, and have the ability to tap into other resources available? Staff management/whole house staffing can provide managers with this necessary visibility, fully integrated with time and attendance, scheduling, payroll and labor analytics.
Success = Plan + Execute
Successful coaches not only plan in advance, they execute in the moment with agility to react to game situations. Successful managers must take the same approach – using labor forecasts and budgeting to plan ahead, but then leverage their workforce as needed based on changing conditions (increase in patients, higher store traffic, a slow manufacturing line, power outages, etc.) Today’s workforce management systems provide new levels of visibility into the staff on hand and the areas that need to be addressed, allowing managers to optimize their workforce and strive for operational excellence.
