Analytics and big data are both topics that everyone is talking about in shared services. It seems to be on all of our agendas in some form or another, but do we know anyone who is taking advantage of these?
At the Shared Services Leaders’ Summit in March, we will be hosting a dedicated stream for analytics. This will bring together some of the leading pioneers in analytics – giving you invaluable insights into what can be achieved and how others are going about their implementation.
The event will share key insights and learnings for implementing analytics. Here are 4 things anyone interested in analytics needs to consider:
1. It all starts with stakeholder buy-in. Like any business case, you need to convince those to set aside budget for an analytics project, and convince them of the benefits and return from the investment. In terms of analytics, this means getting senior staff to see the value in data-driven decision-making. Steven Welsh will be joining us in March to explain how Network Rail won over hearts and minds with their analytics implementation by getting others excited through calculated quick and measurable ‘wins’.
2. If you already have a GBS organization then you will know the benefits of thinking in end-to-end terms, and globally. Siloed thinking in terms of functions and geographies is not conducive to the harmonization of entities, and the same is true for your data and for your analytics program. Thinking globally about analytics can make it meaningful to compare one region to the next, permitting real visibility into global processes.
3. Ensure that the insights from analytics are actionable. What does the data tell you, and what do you do next? Is there a defined process for the person actioning the insights? At BAE Systems Inc, John Hovell ensures that the insights are focused on finding ways to improve the experience of their internal customers. This has led to a series of improvements including an impressive reduction in recruitment costs, a significant fall in reporting times, and improved customer satisfaction.
4. Finally, it is imperative in any analytics roll-out to be continually improving. In measuring meaningful KPIs, you can not only attain quantitative accounts of savings (real cost-savings or measurable performance improvements), but also establish targets for improvement. Andrew Stevenson from EDF will be joining the summit to share how their KPI dashboard and Lean Methodology established a culture of proactive, back-office innovation and continuous improvement.
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