Big Data Needs to Tell a Story

/in /by

As Big Data circulates more often in the HR crowd, companies are looking for ways to jump on the bandwagon, pull their numbers and crunch away.  But leveraging HR analytics to make decisions is far more complex than having a shiny new system that spits out charts and graphs.

Big Data may start with that shiny new system, but it’s only effective if it ends with a story you can tell to the decision makers.  Being able to tell that story will provide the evidence to show that talent issues are directly connected to business success.  Once HR leaders have the data and the story, they’ll have to get comfortable with their new level of influence.  They’ll not only have a seat at the table, but have something to say that other leaders will listen to.

It’s a new and powerful position for HR to be in, so having a solid partnership with those who know which Big Data story needs telling is important.  Our goal in any partnership is to not only provide the solutions that each client needs, but to plan projects from start to finish that will empower HR leaders instead of just muddying the waters.

Aspen expands data analysis capabilities with AutoFilePro

/in /by

We are pleased to announce a new product and partnership to add to our Pando ecosystem.

AutoFilePro will allow Aspen and its clients the flexibility to analyze and search through documents and attachments located in behind their firewalls while simultaneously analyzing documentation that resides in a hosted or SaaS platform. AutoFilePro was designed to allow talent management and HR personnel to look through all the documents and attachments that could reside on a company server or system of record – and look for relevant skill sets. AutoFilePro was developed in conjunction with Dub Software, a systems integration company specializing in document and data aggregation technology. Both companies operate in New York.

We’re announcing AutoFilePro and our partnership with Dub Software as part of our broader service offering to the Corporate HR and HR outsourcing marketplaces. Adam Dub, COO of AutoFilePro stated, “Our exciting partnership with Aspen Advisors helps define HR’s standard and customized needs, and Pando provides an ideal front-end platform for dash-boarding and bringing data visualization to AutoFilePro’s findings and metrics so Advisors can further assist Aspen clients in creating improvement initiatives for businesses.”

Our founder, Andrew Gadomski, commented on how the company’s desire to tame HR data has quickly expanded to servicing all of HR. “In order for HR teams to understand their impact to their businesses, they need to merge together data from talent, learning, and other HR disciplines with cost and productivity data from finance, operations, customer service and other functions. Our ability to use data visualization tools accomplishes part of that equation. Our partnership with AutoFilePro now brings the ability to understand actual work product and documentation that reside inside a company’s systems and servers. We already had the ability to analyze the data in the systems through Pando – now we have all the ability to analyze and drive business outcomes from the documentation that is attached and relevant in those systems. With the ability to analyze data and documentation across a corporation, HR finds itself in a very powerful position.”

We chose the SHRM Talent Management Conference as a release for AutoFilePro to highlight the HR centric and all encompassing impact of our line of products. “There are so many great conferences this year, but it’s important to note how this technology goes well beyond recruiting.” says Gadomski, “SHRM has been very supportive in regards to HR standards, metrics, and data across a wide spectrum. This technology is highly relevant in the cross functional area of talent management. It makes sense that we are in Las Vegas this week.”

 

Cost Per Hire benchmarking and comparison

/in /by

In order to advance comparison and benchmarking for the ANSI Cost Per Hire Standard, we have created a central dataset where companies can submit their demographics and CPH data and compare with other companies. Our vision is to have an unlimited number of companies use this tool and make CPH data accessible to all who adopt the ANSI standard.

Click here to check out the tool and start benchmarking.

New product, new partnership!

/in /by

Aspen Advisors will be unveiling an all new product and partnership at next week’s SHRM Talent Management Conference.  This new product will become part of our already well-established Pando ecosystem.

Aspen Advisors already is a leader in leveraging data for corporate HR and for HRO vendors into dashboards, predictive analysis, and workforce analytics. That is all the data that are in the fields inside disparate systems.

Now imagine if you could also look through and traffic light all documents in those systems – and not just resumes. Profiles, performance reports, written code, references, white papers – any type of work you can think of…

Look for us in the exhibition hall at Booth 222. We changed the game once when Pando enabled clients to see data across systems. We are changing it again so they can see actual work and information.

Big data…better decisions

/in /by

Some interesting insights have come out of the HR Tech Europe Conference recently held in London.  But I’d be lying if I said that what was revealed was any shock to us.

Much of the talk of the conference was about the importance of predictive analysis as it applies to HR and data. People are finally starting to warm up to this idea.  However,  accessing your data is only half of the battle.  The part that still seems to be left out of most conversations is the importance of knowing what to measure.  And that’s where consulting comes in.  Analyzing data is far more complicated than using Excel to build a chart or graph.  Matthew Hanwell, a former Director of HR at Nokia, put it best when he explained that we need to think of data as more of an MRI scan.  Its multidimensional.

Any company, large or small, may have a superb IT team and a superb HR team.  That IT team may be experts in the installation and operation of a data analysis system, but that doesn’t mean they know what HR data is important to analyze.  And that HR team can be trained until the cows come home on to use the new data system, but if they aren’t analyzing the right data and using that data to make the right decisions, then what good is it?  This is exactly why when we introduce our business intelligence platform to clients, we stress that our Advisory is an important part of it’s use.

Google, that highly successful company that you may have heard of, seems to be on the ball for how they use data in the HR space.  Not only are they tracking data to analyze performance, but they’re using that analysis to implement training and development based on what their research has revealed.  This method of linking data and change sounds a lot like our Pando ecosystem.  We determine what needs analysis, make the data visible, then use that data to implement change through our toolkits and assessments.

Reading through the many quotes and insights from the HR Tech Europe conference, it seems that Nick Holly, of the Henley Business School Centre for HR Excellence, put it best, “Big data provides the greatest opportunity HR has had in years to become relevant by using the data to provide insights that make a difference to the business…it is also the biggest single threat to individuals i nthe function because a lot of HR people base their success on gut feeling and intuition and relationships, and proper data analytics can that irrelevant.”