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#CareerAdvice : #FutureSkillSets – The Future of Work Has Arrived — Here’s How to Beat the Competition.

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Between artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning, the Internet of Things and more, many of today’s most cutting-edge technological advances are iterating at a dizzying pace. Add to that fears of automation and an upcoming recession, and employees are facing serious pressure to stay relevant in an ever-changing work environment. But what exactly is on the horizon, and how can you prepare for it now?

To find out, we turned to the winners of Glassdoor’s Best Places to Work in 2019, some of the most innovative organizations out there today. Here’s what they said employees need to know — master these skills now, and you’re guaranteed to stand out above the rest.

Sharpen Your Data Skills

At this point, “data” has become a ubiquitous buzzword in the business world — but for good reason. Technological advances over the past couple of decades have provided companies with an unprecedented level of information, and even the most traditional companies are embracing it in order to make more strategic decisions.

“I’m seeing a few key trends continue and emerge as we look ahead to the new year, including the importance of being data-led. As a team, we’re leveraging our data to field new ideas and innovation and inform decisions,” said Rick Jensen, Senior Vice President, People & Places at Intuit.

“Developing digital skills is more important than ever,” agreed Kevin Peesker, Microsoft Canada President. “I am not speaking about coders or programmers — the shift is every role being impacted by digital, and possessing an awareness of technical and data-infused possibility will be fundamental to making an impact.”

Data proficiency means more than just glancing at numbers and drawing a conclusion, though. Matin Movassate, CEO of data analytics firm Heap, points out that today’s employees need to be able to determine whether or not their data is reliable.

“This grand, AI-driven future can’t happen without a complete, trustworthy dataset,” Movassate said. “So if prospective data engineers, data analysts, data scientists and business intelligence leaders can maintain a maniacal focus on the completeness and quality of their data, they’ll be well-prepared for anything the future has in store.”

Small Company, Big Impact: How Heap Is Preparing (& Hiring) for the Future

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Commit to Continuous Learning

Data interpretation/analysis is certainly one skill that will be essential to the future, but with how rapidly technology is evolving, today’s workers need to stay abreast of as many cutting-edge areas as possible. After all, any one of them could completely rewrite the rules of work.

“If you think about certain roles today — cognitive data scientist, machine learning engineer — many of those roles didn’t exist 10 years ago and not only did they not exist, we hadn’t even imagined what they could be. We believe it will be the same in 10 years from now,” Peesker said.

A few trends to stay on top of in particular include “SaaS, cloud computing, mobile, user experience, AI and machine learning,” shared Aron Ain, CEO of HR technology company Kronos Incorporated.

“New ways of working will include more design thinking and working in an agile environment. The rapid development and creative application of new technologies will be applied across the business spectrum, from blockchain to supply chain,” added Manny Maceda, Worldwide Managing Partner at Bain & Company. “Job seekers can prepare by committing to ongoing, self-directed learning.”

Not sure where to start? Subscribing to publications that delve into these topics is always a good idea — a quick Google search should yield plenty of results — as is exploring relevant courses on online platforms like Coursera, edX and Udacity.

Demonstrate Adaptability

With all of the rapid innovation occurring today, it’s critical that workers are able to keep up the pace when the inevitable changes occur.

“Technology is changing at a breathtaking pace, both with the products we develop and offer, as well as the products we use to run our business. We remain deeply focused on embracing new technology, innovating in all areas, breaking what is not broken to make it better, [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][learning] from our competitors as a means to improve and on and on,” Ain said. “We’re not only going to be part of the future of work — we’re focused on helping to shape it.”

This breakneck speed isn’t just limited to technology companies, though. Other industries, like aviation, have adopted a nimble mindset as well.

“To be successful in [the aviation] industry, one must be agile and able to manage large volumes of change,” explained Greg Muccio, Director of People at Southwest Airlines. “There are many variables that are outside of our control that impact our operations, so there is more pressure to adapt. Change is constant in the airline industry.”

Put Customers First

It might seem counterintuitive, but as technology continues to revolutionize the way we work, a human-centered approach becomes increasingly important. That’s why Intuit puts such an emphasis on what they call “customer obsession.”

“Intuit was customer-obsessed before it was popular, but we’re continuing to hire for, and teach, capabilities that fall in love with the customer problem — not the solution. We want and need all of our employees to really fall in love with the problem in order to best solve it,” Jensen shared. “Diversity of thought, background and craft will help us move the needle on solving problems for our customers quickly.”

Human connection is especially crucial in industries like healthcare, where positive patient-provider relationships are key to favorable outcomes.

“At the end of the day, healthcare candidates must be able to stay connected to the human side of research and patient care. Approaching patients with care and compassion are traits that technology can never replace,” said Dana Bottenfield, VP of Human Resources at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

How to Negotiate Your Salary As A Customer Service Representative

Build Strong Relationships With Colleagues

A people-centric approach isn’t just for those outside of your organization, however.

“Successful job seekers need to have a balance of strong subject matter expertise with a focus on getting results through teamwork,” Bottenfield explained.

“Job seekers need to be comfortable working collaboratively with a broader range of people — data scientists, software developers and design thinkers — to deliver results,” Maceda elaborated. “The new norm is being able to work in new ways and with a more diverse set of talent.”

And as companies grow larger and more complex, maintaining this connection — no matter your location — is imperative.

“As companies continue to move to platforms with more interdependencies across the entire organization, top talent needs the ability to work seamlessly across the organization,” Jensen added.

The key to doing that? Trust, Ain said.

“Technologies like our own are empowering employees to work their way, from anytime, anywhere. Trust is a two-way street, one that’s earned through transparency, reliability, communication and performance. This world of flexibility can be wonderful — and trust is key to making it work.”

GlassDoor.com | January 9, 2019 | Posted by 

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#Leadership : Digital Transformation- In A World Where Data Rules, All Companies Are Tech Companies…Whether You Are on Board or Not, the Data Revolution has Made #TechCompanies out of All of Us. 

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We are sitting smack dab in the middle of the data revolution. Every single company regardless of size or industry has the ability to collect data—on supplies, on inventory and of course, on consumers, just to name a few. And it’s no secret that data can aide in decision making and increase the productivity of our business operations. Whether you are on board or not, the data revolution has made tech companies out of all of us. 

In fact, according to a recent survey conducted by Tech Pro Research, almost all of the respondents said their company collected data to glean business insights. The difference between them? Every company used a different piece of technology to get to those insights. Let’s take a look at how data revolution has helped companies change.

Collection, Storage and Analysis? Technology Can Help

Thanks to the incubator that is the tech world, we have nearly unlimited options when it comes to tech products for our businesses. We aren’t simply sending emails or pushing out surveys anymore. Instead, we are watching open rates of those emails and measuring response rates of those surveys. 

How are companies around the world making the switch from simply doing to analyzing? They are using technologyto collect, store and analyze for them AND in a world where data security and privacy are becoming increasingly critical they are actively investing in making sure they use the data appropriately and invest in technology and partnerships to protect the data they collect. 

Collect

Remember when we used to take down critical information on pen and paper? We have come such a long way. Sensors are everywhere and are collecting critical information for us. Someone doesn’t have to stand in the warehouse and count the boxes or the number of products. The sensors are doing the work.   

Businesses are also using RFID sensors in key fobs, wristbands and more to gather information about consumers as well as products. Sensors placed within each product in a warehouse can be tracked and monitored. Or, perhaps a retailer would like to know how much milk is flying off the shelf. RFID sensors are perfect for gathering physical data such as this. 

IoT sensors using machine learning capabilities are changing the way businesses make changes to their products, marketing strategy and UX. For example, a sensor within a warehouse can tell whether the temperature is right for the product. If it isn’t, it will change it and notify the correct party. Your local grocery store can all but guarantee that the produce that was shipped from a warehouse three states over was always kept at the right temperature thanks to sensors. That’s pretty cool if you ask me. 

Store

For data storage, the cloud is still the king. Businesses are able to increase or decrease their storage capacity depending on the data they are collecting. The cloud does not take up on-premise space and it is cost-effective and scalable. I’m sure I don’t need to go on and on about the benefits of the cloud because like most businesses you probably have data stored on four to five clouds.

Other businesses are taking advantage of Data as a Service or DaaS companies that store the data and then make it available for businesses. DaaS benefits include the ability to move data from one platform to another, the lack of repetitive and multiple versions of data, outsourcing of the presentation aspect of data storage, easy collaboration and accessibility from any location and any device. 

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Analysis 

The most critical part of using data isn’t the collection or the storage. Data would not be useful without the analysis. Companies are beginning to invest in technology such as deep machine learning and artificial intelligence to help them get the most out of their data. AI allows businesses to analyze natural language, data relevancy, relationships and anomalies within data sets. A person doesn’t need to sift through the data to find patterns, a computer can do it for you. 

Businesses are starting their analysis by using data preprocessing tools to rid their data of repetition and create a data set that is consistent in format. The data is cleansed, which makes it easier to read and understand. Businesses are also using knowledge discovery tools to mine big data that is stored on multiple sources. 

But my favorite part of the data revolution would be predictive analytics. Companies now have a crystal ball, basically, to help them make decisions in the future based on past data. I’ve told the story before about the Harley Davidson dealership that increased their leads by nearly 3000 percent in just three months.  

Haven’t Joined the Revolution Yet? Here’s Why You Should

While many enterprise companies are well on their way in their data strategies, some businesses, such as small and medium-sized businesses, the data revolution is only a thought. However, to be competitive, SMBs and other businesses must join the revolution as soon as possible. Business who use data to target their core audience will come out on top. How do we make it happen? 

  • Choose the right data to track. This may look different for all businesses. For SMBs, choose the right data with careful thought. You will want to place what attention you have on the most critical data. 
  • Collect clean and useful data. Now, businesses must collect clean and useful data from the data they have decided to track. As stated earlier, there are tools such as preprocessing tools and AI that can help. 
  • Integrate that data from all sources. Tools such as DaaS and the cloud can help SMBs and other businesses integrate their data into one source. 
  • Automate the analytics process. It’s impossible to effectively analyze all data sources together without some form of automation. New technology such as AI can help. 
  • Put the data to work. It takes time and work to gather the critical data about your customers. However, it must be done to stay competitive and improve their experience. AI tools, collection tools such as RFID sensors and more make it easier to put this data to work without breaking the entire budget. 
  • Manage and Protect. Perhaps nothing is more important than how you treat your customer data. Understanding your responsibility for protecting your customer data and using it appropriately based on the customers preferences. The recent implementation of GDPR rules in Europe has forced companies to consider their data use, but regardless of these rules, companies should be considerate to their customer data and be sure to secure it using the latest technology and/or by working with partner companies that truly understand cyber security.

For all businesses, it’s time to embrace the data revolution and begin to collect, store and analyze. Despite the challenges, businesses of all sizes will benefit from the treasure trove to be found within their data strategy. 

Daniel Newman is CEO of Broadsuite Media Group, principal analyst at Futurum and author of Futureproof.

#Leadership : 3 Ways to Use Data to Set and Track Your Organizational Goals…In Short, Employers — Recognizing that Data is Crucial in Goal-Setting and other Business Aspects — are Using Tracking Information to made Educated Decisions.

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Data is finding its footing in the workplace: A 2016 survey from i4cp found that 67 percent of organizations surveyed said they now use results from human capital analytics projects. This increase in the use of analytics shows a shift toward predictive practices that will likely have a huge impact on the way companies run their operations.

Free- Counting Abacus

In short, employers — recognizing that data is crucial in goal-setting and other business aspects — are using tracking information to made educated decisions. Here are some ways your company can use data to set and track your organizational and employee goals.

1. Define ‘OKRs.’

Objectives and key results (OKRs) is a popular technique that helps get whole teams moving in one direction. No more one-time “tips” and “tricks” for a quick boost that fails to sustain continued success. Instead, OKRs use data to create long-lasting solutions.

This way, companies can set objectives and come up with key results that are metric-based indicators of success. Companies can then make those key results visible, to encourage accountability at all levels of their organizations.

A May 2016 survey of 250 companies from Geckoboard found that those companies considered keeping their employees aware of key metrics and setting clear objectives the top important factors for company growth. When employees are given and are aware of specific targets to aim for, they are more engaged in their work and motivated because they know what success looks like.

So, how should companies start setting their goals?

The answer is to begin at the top. Set broad goals that are large in scale; then cascade the objectives down to your teams and individual employees. Define what the objective is and the key result you expect to be accomplished. For example, for marketers, that objective might be “Build brand awareness to create more leads and conversions.” The key result would be “Increase website traffic by X percent.”

Ensure that each key result is trackable and has a time frame. As the Geckoboard survey found, 92 percent of participating companies that tracked their metrics in real time had met some or all of their goals in the previoius 12 months — compared to 64 percent of companies that did not track in real time.

When tracking metrics like traffic, keep each team’s members informed about how their work is contributing to this goal. Objectives need to be large enough to break down into smaller steps; and these objectives should consist of several key results because every goal should have several possible routes to attainment.

Overall, data can drive performance and help teams hit their goals. Keep a finger on the pulse of the OKRs at your company and focus on organizational alignment.

 

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2. Align and track team members.

Set each employee up for success with realistic goals to aim for. When objectives seem out of reach, the team’s performance suffers. A study from the University at Buffalo School of Management found that even teams that had been successful in the past and had plenty of resources became less efficient when management set unrealistic expectations.

Don’t let that be you. Instead, structure each goal to build toward the organization’s overall goals. Provide real-time tracking and visuals so your staffers can see how they are progressing, and take corrective actions if needed. This will help leaders see how work is allocated.

Performance data adds depth and value to employee evaluations and informs better, more constructive feedback. It can also act as crucial evidence of, and show employees and employers alike where, each person is struggling — or succeeding. This information may help adjust organizational expectations and provide more accurate project-assignment and task allocation.

3. Improve quality of hire.

Goal-tracking data can inform your company’s post-hire quality metric to measure how your talent acquisition is progressing. Using performance data, hiring managers can provide detailed, informed opinions and solutions for newer employees to improve on, and determine what the hiring team should look for in future candidates.

It’s important to conduct surveys to measure your workforce’s satisfaction levels and analyze how your employees align with the company’s culture and values. This gauges how well the team is hiring for cultural fit.

Also, revenue-per-employee data helps determine your company’s costs of turnover and hiring. Recruiting goals factor into larger, organizational goals, which is why quality of hire is a crucial factor to measure and analyze.

Predictive analytics can be analyzed to guide the talent acquisition team to make better hiring decisions and improve its entire recruitment process.

 

Entrepreneur.com | August 2, 2016 | Andre Lavoie

#Strategy : 4 Ways Big Data Will Change Every Business…If You’re Still Saying, “Big Data isn’t Relevant to my Company,” You’re Missing the Boat.

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It Doesn’t Matter What Field you Operate In or The Size of your Business; as data collection, analysis, and interpretation become more readily accessible, they will have an impact on every business in several important ways.

 

If You’re Still Saying, “Big Data isn’t Relevant to my Company,” You’re Missing the Boat. I firmly believe that big data and its implications will affect every single business— from Fortune 500 enterprises to mom and pop companies— and change how we do business, inside and out.

It doesn’t matter what field you operate in or the size of your business; as data collection, analysis, and interpretation become more readily accessible, they will have an impact on every business in several important ways.

1. Data will become an asset to every business.

Even the smallest businesses generate data these days.  If the business has a website, a social media presence, accepts credit cards etc., even a one-person shop has data it can collect on its customers, its user experience, web traffic, and more. This means companies of all sizes need a strategy for big data and a plan of how to collect, use, and protect it. This also means that savvy businesses will start to offer data services to even very small companies.

 It also means that businesses and industries that never thought big data would be “for them” might be scrambling to catch up. Let me just make this as plain as possible: If you own or operate a business, and you have questions about how to improve that business, you have data, your data is an asset, and it can be used to improve your business.  Simple as that.

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2. Big data will enable companies to collect better market and customer intelligence.

Like it or not, the companies you do business with know a lot about you — and the quantity and diversity of what they know about you is increasing every year. Every company (from car manufactures who will monitor our driving to tennis racket manufacturers that know how often and how well we play) will get much better insights into what customers want, what they will use, what channels they use to buy, and so on.

The other half of this equation is that companies will need to be proactive about creating and maintaining their privacy policies and all the systems and security needed to protect that user data. As we’ve seen with the recent backlash againstSpotify and to a lesser extent Microsoft 10, most people will allow companies to gather this data, but they want transparency around what’s being collected and why and they want the ability to opt-out.

3. It will improve internal efficiency and operations

From using sensors to track machine performance, to optimising delivery routes, to better tracking employee performance and even recruiting top talent, big data has the potential to improve internal efficiency and operations for almost any type of business and in many different departments.

Companies can use sensors to track shipments and machine performance, but also employee performance. Companies have started using sensors to track employee movements, stress, health, and even who they converse with and the tone of voice they use.

In addition, if data can successfully be used to quantify what makes a good CEO, it can be used to improve the HR and hiring process at any level.

 Data is breaking away from the IT department and becoming an integral part of every department in a company.

4. And data will allow companies to improve the customer experience and build big data into their product offering.

In the best of all possible worlds, companies will use the data they collect to improve their products and the customer experience.

John Deere DE -2.23% is an excellent example of a company that is not only using data to benefit its customers, but also as a new product offering.

All new John Deere tractors are equipped with sensors that can help the company understand how the equipment is being used, and predict and diagnose breakdowns.  But they’ve also put the sensors to work for the farmers, offering access to data about when to plant, where, the best patterns for ploughing and reaping, and more. It’s become an entirely new revenue stream for an old company.

As we invite more connected things into our lives — from smart thermostats toApple AAPL -0.92% Watches and fitness trackers — there will be more and more data, analysis, and insights that companies can sell back to consumers.

These are just the top four impacts I predict big data will have on businesses of all types in the near future. Is your business ready to capitalize on these opportunities?

Bernard Marr is a best-selling business author, keynote speaker and leading business performance, analytics and data expert. His latest books are ‘Big Data‘ and ‘KPIs for Dummies‘.

 

Forbes.com | September 8, 2015 | Bernard Marr

 

 

Strategy: Gartner Predicts 3 Big Data Trends for Business Intelligence…By 2020, Information Will be Used to Reinvent, Digitalize or Eliminate 80% of Business Processes

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Big data has given businesses a window into valuable streams of information from customer purchasing habits to inventory status. However, internal data streams give only a limited picture, especially with the growth of digital business.

FutureView

Three trends Gartner has identified describe information’s ability to transform business processes over the next few years.

Our predictions include:

No. 1: By 2020, information will be used to reinvent, digitalize or eliminate 80% of business processes and products from a decade earlier.

As the presence of the Internet of Things (IoT) — such as connected devices, sensors and smart machines — grows, the ability of things to generate new types of real-time information and to actively participate in an industry’s value stream will also grow.

Customers, employees and citizens will become engaged principally through digital means. With operational processes quickly becoming digitalized, traditional analog and manual processes will be automated, including both physical and human elements. Many, if not most, decisions will be algorithmic, based on automated judgment.

Essentially, things become agents for themselves, for people and for businesses. Think of the car that alerts emergency services and an insurance company or the smart thermostat that schedules service. The added connectivity, communications and intelligence of things will make many of them agents for services that are currently requested and delivered via human intervention.

 

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No. 2: By 2017, more than 30% of enterprise access to broadly based big data will be via intermediary data broker services, serving context to business decisions.

Digital business demands real-time situation-awareness. This includes insights into what goes on both inside and outside the organization. How do weather patterns impact inventory? More so, how do this season’s customer preferences as expressed in social media suggest greater or lesser inventory?

The enterprise data available in organizations’ vaults is increasingly insufficient to provide the kind of context awareness able to support competitive digital business in marketing, transportation, financial, manufacturing, healthcare and other business decisions. However, the broad scope of externally accessible data is highly fragmented, voluminous, “noisy” and distributed. It is found in hundreds of thousands of Web and social sites, open government data, and premium data prepared by increasingly powerful data brokers.

Enter a new category of business-centric cloud services that delivers data to be used as context in business decisions, human or automated. These information services (or data/decision brokers) will become an essential part of intelligent business operations and smart business decisions.

Your company’s biggest database isn’t your transaction, CRM, ERP or other internal database. Rather it’s the Web itself and the world of exogenous data now available from syndicated and open data sources.

No. 3 By 2017, more than 20% of customer-facing analytic deployments will provide product tracking information leveraging the IoT.

Fueled by the Nexus of Forces (mobile, social, cloud and information), customers now demand a lot more information from their vendors. The rapid dissemination of the IoT will create a new style of customer-facing analytics — product tracking — where increasingly less expensive sensors will be embedded into all types of products.

These sensors not only provide geospatial information (where the product is right now) but also performance information (how well the product is functioning). My new SUV is en route and currently in Arizona, or my new SUV is ready for its first oil change. This creates an opportunity to improve transparency and strengthen customer and partner relationships. It can become a key differentiator and a key part of your business model.

Access the Global Pool of Information

The ability to transform the business to compete in an emerging digital economy will be contingent on the organization’s ability to curate, manage and leverage big data, IoT content, social media, local and federal government data, data from partners, suppliers and customers, and other exogenous data sources that are materializing.

In 2015, business and IT leaders, especially information executives such as chief data officers, must make concerted efforts to transform from an inward focus on information management and value generation to participating in the growing global pool of information assets.

Doug Laney is a research vice president at Gartner where he covers business analytics solutions and projects, big data use cases, infonomics and other data-governance –related issues. Mr. Laney will be speaking at the Gartner Business Intelligence & Analytics Summit March 30-April 1 in Las Vegas.

Forbes.com | February 12, 2015 | Doug Laney