Big data is coming into its own. The Harvard Business Review blog published this excerpt of an article on “Big Data’s Management Revolution” saying, in part:
Big data has the potential to revolutionize management. Simply put, because of big data, managers can measure, and hence know, radically more about their businesses, and directly translate that knowledge into improved decision making and performance. Of course, companies such as Google and Amazon are already doing this. After all, we expect companies that were born digital to accomplish things that business executives could only dream of a generation ago. But in fact the use of big data has the potential to transform traditional businesses as well.”
While big data is indisputably valuable to leadership and organization decision making, there are three obvious challenges.
These challenges are consistent across any big data program, whether your goal is to improve customer acquisition and retention, drive down costs in your supply chain, or – most relevant to me – inspire, engage, motivate and energize your employees.
Numerous research sources show your human capital investment is in the range of 65-85 percent of your total investment as an organization. If you’re outlaying that much of your financial resources as business, it follows you will want to get the most possible return on that investment.
Equally numerous are the research studies showing that engaged employees not only work harder, but deliver more results directly related to the goals of the organization. Traditional employee data gathering systems (think the annual review, annual engagement surveys and the like) are insufficient for getting the Big Data information you need to drive true competitive advantage.
With strategic, social employee recognition, you can solve all of the challenges of Big Data relative to your employee investment.
What are the key recognition program design elements for uncovering Big Data relative to your talent?
Do you apply Big Data to your human capital investment?
You can find more from Derek Irvine on his Recognize This! blog.