Category Archives: Career

Small Businesses, Big Data—Data Analysis that Fits Your Business

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So by now, there’s a good chance that almost all of you are acquainted with the concept of Big Data—the name for comprehensive information gleaned from numerous interconnected, ubiquitous devices. The common misconception is that data projects are a lofty, corporate concept, and that only big businesses with dedicated analysts can create and make use of them.

This is, of course, untrue; the growing prevalence of cloud computing and data networks means that any company can adopt some sort of analytics program without need for specialized training or extensive resources. The key is finding a program that fits your business.

Before analyzing any data, however, you’ll need something to work with. Now, this can vary depending on your business, but common useful data can include lead metrics, ROI statistics, social media engagement or, in the case of a Washington zoo, weather patterns. The goal here is to cross-examine multiple factors and create a picture of past trends in your business, allowing you to extrapolate future possibilities.

Don’t worry; this isn’t as complicated as it sounds. All you need is solid analytics software.

For e-commerce businesses, multiple viable options are available, including Google Analytics, which is customizable, easy-to-learn, and, perhaps most importantly, free. I mention GA because, for businesses that lack any sort of data specialist, choosing an analytics suite that can be easily used and interpreted is key. Google’s Analytics certification also provides an inexpensive and quick way to train employees on the basics of web metrics.

As for gathering the data, there’s no need for modern devices monitoring every facet of your business to make it work; things like POS systems will generally already have the information that you need. Your small business objectives are similar yet distinct from larger businesses, as you will likely be attempting to drive sales and improve your web presence, but through smaller promotions and with less capital to dedicate toward marketing material.

But, on a more practical level, what do you do with these analyses once you’ve seen them? Part of using Big Data is making an actionable plan based on your findings. Some data is completely useless on its own and must be compared with similar data to get a better picture of how your business is doing.

For instance, online click-through rates are nice, but you’ll need separate figures from ads, email campaigns, and social media posts to really get a sense of how to best reach your audience. The bottom line is that no data exists in a vacuum; you will always need to compare all business channels to create a useful picture.

I wish I could tell you that there was a magic bullet for small businesses to take advantage of the data boon, but there really isn’t. That said, I’m far from pessimistic about data usage. It’s certainly easier than ever for small businesses to make use of data, but the really tricky part is figuring out what your business wants to measure and how to use it in the long run.

Transcendent Transparency—How to Win Customers And Keep Employees Happy

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Transparency in Business

Transparency is a buzzword that has been thrown around in the business world for years. Frequently, “transparency” initiatives have amounted to simple ploys designed to capture an audience’s attention through honesty. While it’s true that honesty is certainly an excellent business practice, genuine transparency goes beyond coming clean about shortcomings; it is about building a relationship with both employee and customer to the benefit of all involved.

In a world where branding shapes the way consumers shop and perceive businesses, it is more important than ever for companies to actively cultivate their reputations. Additionally, the plethora of information available online means that businesses are often at the mercy of those they serve, potentially laid low by customer disgruntlement.

Now, building a brand means also building a relationship with stakeholders, be they investors or customers. Withholding information is largely no longer viable, and may in fact earn a business the ire of those that believe it has something to hide. To thrive, companies must recognize that public opinion of themselves will be easily accessible through the Internet and adapt accordingly.

Often, transparency is used in a reconciliatory fashion—in the wake of a scandal or crisis. However, if a business only starts being transparent at this point, they have lost much of their advantage. Businesses should be open about all of their dealings, from the good to the bad. This has obvious advantages when combatting negative propaganda, but can foster internal loyalty as well. Any employee that feels as if their company is forthcoming about their work is generally happier and more satisfied with their job.

And this honesty is not limited to within the business—supply chain and external labor transparency can go a long way to giving a company credibility. This is the first step to creating a relationship with stakeholders. Businesses should give any interested individual the opportunity to speak about their concerns and listen to what they have to say. There is, of course, a lot to address here, but social media presences are a good place to start to cultivate two-way communication.

The great part about transparent relationships is that it makes a company more forgivable—even if the company in question is always morally upstanding, mistakes can happen, and effective communication can help limit the damage that any sort of incident can cause. This sort of behavior is increasingly becoming an expectation for modern businesses; to the point where a lack of communication can be more damning for them than any mistakes they have actually made.

Additionally, communication methods can be just as important as the message itself. Reports shouldn’t be mired in fluff and jargon; they should be simple, straightforward, and informative. Communications can also take unconventional forms; businesses can potentially encourage face-to-face visits in their offices or participate in community events. Social media is also helpful when it comes to keeping an audience updated; even if a company posts a mix of business updates and relevant content, they are still informing their subscribers that they are keeping abreast of the industry.

And, perhaps most important, companies should not hesitate to expand relationships whenever possible, in keeping with the needs of the audience or target market. The concept of transparency is often associated with rectifying mistakes, but in reality, that’s just a fortunate side effect—it’s about positioning a business in a way that empowers others to participate in the process.                                                                                                                            

The New CIO

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The New CIO by Scott Maurice

The Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey is the largest IT leadership survey in the world. Now in its 18th year, this year’s survey includes the perspectives of 3,352 CIOs and technology leaders across 82 countries.

The 2016 survey results have a lot to say on the evolving role of today’s CIO. Most importantly, we see a number of statistics supporting a trend many have identified in tech for the past several years: CIO’s are increasingly expected to play a bigger role in the overall digital strategy and profitability of the company, not just in “keeping the lights on.”

As CIO’s are becoming more strategically, rather than operationally minded, how they work, who they collaborate with, and what skills are most important to the role also begin to change. Here are some of the key findings from the report.

CIO’s priorities are shifting from saving money to making money.

Survey results found that the CEO is now the most likely role within a company to “own” digital, at 21 percent. With the majority of CEO’s (63 percent) also now believe that IT projects should focus on making money, rather than the traditional role of saving money (37 percent), it makes sense that more CIO’s (34 percent, a 10 percent increase over last year) are now reporting directly into the CEO. Rather than having IT function within its own bubble, prioritizing operational efficiency over anything else, the CEO and CIO are increasingly expected to work side by side in making core business decisions about the digital landscape of the company.

According to those surveyed, the importance of increasing operational efficiencies has dropped noticeably over the last four years (by 16 percent) including an astounding 27 percent drop in the importance of delivering stable IT performance (once the foundation of a CIO’s role.)

Moreover, CIO’s are actually pretty happy with this shift, with 87 percent of CIOs working under a CEO (rather than COO or CTO) reporting job fulfillment (the highest of any group.)

CIO’s are working more cross-functionally.

The time a CIO is spending internally focused on managing IT specific goals is reducing while the time they spend working with colleagues from different departments and even customers are increasing. 40 percent of CIOs surveyed said they spend at least one day a week working outside IT.

This trend is even more apparent in smaller businesses, where CIO’s are more than five times as likely to spend the majority of their time working on external-facing projects such as developing stakeholder relationships and growth strategies, instead of traditional IT functions like systems and infrastructure.

As KPMG International global CIO Advisory Service Network Lead Lisa Heneghan explains, this data “supports the view that the role of the CIO is becoming more strategic – there is a need for CIOs to talk business strategy and provide a platform to enable this.”

Adam Woodhouse, Director of CIO Advisory at KPMG, argues that the rise of specialized digital roles such as the CDO (chief digital officer) and the CTO has given CIOs “a jolt to recognize that to be relevant and support growth they cannot focus on their own world in isolation.”

CIO’s must become agile.

Even though a CIO’s emphasis is shifting away from straightforward operational efficiency, this doesn’t mean CIO’s can skimp on their technical expertise. In fact, 39 percent of respondents believe there’s a huge skills shortage in big data and analytics functions, up from 36 percent the year before. And almost two-thirds (65 percent) of CIOs say they believe a lack of talent in these areas will prevent their organization from keeping up with the pace of change, a 10 percent increase in just 12 months.

“It is a given that the lights must be kept on, but we have seen from the survey an increasing emphasis on supporting business growth, and agility is fundamental to this,” Woodhouse explain.

The cloud is a ‘core element’ of driving an agile methodology (a principle based on failing fast and learning from every error.) 69 percent of large organizations surveyed reported expecting to make a ‘significant’ investment across infrastructure, platform, and software as a service in the next three years to increase agility.

“When we asked what steps CIOs are taking to make their business more agile, there was the obvious top answer of implementing agile methodologies, but a clear second place was given to implementing SaaS solutions.”

“The role of the CIO is becoming less defensive and more proactive in stimulating debate on what technology can bring to the organization and benefit its customers,” Heneghan claims. “Therefore I see the relationship becoming more balanced and the dialogue two way, rather than the CIO always responding to requests or issues.”

Albert Ellis, CEO, Harvey Nash Group says, “Whilst the Harvey Nash / KPMG CIO Survey reveals the CIO is enjoying unprecedented influence, it also shows the role is being stretched in many directions. From grappling with an increasing cyber security threat, to working with the board on innovation and digital transformation, CIOs in 2016 are dealing with a more varied range of challenges than ever before, many of which are far, far away from traditional IT. Adaptability, influencing skills and an ability to keep a clear head in uncertain times are becoming increasingly important business skills for today’s CIO.”

CIO’s are outsourcing more, and it’s not just to save money.

Typically, companies outsource to save a few bucks. This year’s survey supports a fundamental change in the reason companies, and especially IT, outsource: respondents claim their primary motivation is a demand for certain skills and flexibility.

Not only are their motivations changing, but so are their budgets. In fact, half of CIOs (50 percent) say they will increase their investment in outsourcing this year, up by four percent from 2015. And 10 percent of CIO’s at small organizations will rely on contingent staff for more than three quarters of their team (five times higher than the rate CIOs at large organizations.)

The influence of the CIO will continue to grow.

Some reading this report may initially wonder if the job role of the CIO is becoming redundant as more digital focused, C-suite executive roles (i.e. CDO) are created, but the report squashes this worry. The proportion of CIOs sitting on the executive board or senior leadership committee is actually at its highest level in 11 years, with more than two thirds (67 percent) of respondents expecting the strategic influence of the CIO to go up in 2016.

As for what 2017 will bring, Woodhouse sees no reason this trend should slow down. “I expect the strategic importance of the role to continue to increase, and as such we will see CIOs spending even greater amounts of their time outside of the traditional fortress [of] IT,” he claims.

“We know that cloud adoption will continue to develop and this needs to be integrated with business strategy to truly drive differentiation – I will be interested if skill shortages in this area hamper CIOs delivering,” he adds. “We also absolutely expect to see an increase in the adoption of digital labour strategies which may displace the broader ‘digital’ strategy question.”

In summary, Heneghan adds, “We are on the cusp of a significant development in the 4th Industrial Revolution. This is driving new demands on the CIO and we are seeing the evolution of a ‘Creative CIO’ who is both a technology and business strategist, and a business model innovator. This Creative CIO is moving away from ‘keeping the lights on’, to enabling the business to create value.”

What Do Millennials Really Want at Work?

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What Do Millennials Really Want at Work- by Scott Maurice

Over the years, Millennials have acquired a unique reputation in the workforce. They are often seen as entitled, easily distracted, job-hoppers, and sometimes even lazy. That said, they’re also seen as highly-adaptable to change and innovation, motivated when it comes to defining their own sense of purpose, and of course, technologically advanced because they have grown up in a more digitized environment than anyone who came before them.

Because Millennials are our future, and they do have a lot of great things to offer, companies from all over the world have become obsessed with understanding Millennials better. This fascination has lead to a wealth of published research, sweeping HR trends, and even the rise of consulting firms claiming to specialize in the work-related behaviors of this unique generation.

But the truth is, there really isn’t a meaningful difference between Millennials and employees belonging to other generations. Aside from differences that naturally exists between employees who are in different stages of their lives, Millennials and employees of others generations want the same things at work (professional growth, proper pay, praise, work-life balance, benefits, a good manager, etc.)

So why, you might be asking, do we continue to see an overwhelming amount of evidence “proving” that Millennials are different? First, let’s address whether or not the research being proliferated across the web is even valid.

When you really dive into studies claiming to confirm huge differences between Millennials and the rest of the workforce, you would be surprised by how many of them lack even a real comparison between Millennials and control groups from other generations. In fact, when two researchers from the University of Georgia, Thomas C. Reeves and Eunjung Oh, took it upon themselves to see if these published studies were trustworthy, they summarized these findings as “gross generalizations based on weak survey research” and further, they recommended that these “speculations of profit-oriented consultants should be treated with extreme caution.” In short, if you can delineate one generation from the rest, you create a niche that then someone can claim to specialize in and ultimately profit from. Why wouldn’t these types of consultants, specialists, and researchers want to continue this narrative? It’s what sets them apart from the competition!

The second reason these myths about Millennials in the workforce continue to exist is because at the end of the day, people will publish the most attention-grabbing research they can possibly find. Publishing something that basically confirms we’re all pretty much alike doesn’t sell as well as publishing a research study that clearly states the differences between you and me.

Lastly, and probably the most concerning reason why these myths continue to circulate, is because attributing workforce challenges to a generation allows companies to avoid confronting the bigger issues at hand head on, such as workload, fair financial reward, and career development.

So how alike are Millennials with other generation employees? There are plenty of examples to cite, and you should absolutely do some of your own research! But for now, here are three examples you can take a look at:

Study #1

George Washington University and the Department of Defense

This group of researchers analyzed more than 20 published and unpublished studies relating to possible generational differences between employees.

Conclusion: Small differences among employees were most likely attributable to life stage factors as opposed to what generation they belonged to. Moreover, “targeted organizational interventions addressing generational differences may not be effective.”

Study #2

IBM’s Institute for Business Value report “Myths, Exaggerations and Uncomfortable Truths: The Real Story Behind Millennials in the Workplace”

This was a multigenerational study composed of almost 1,800 employees 12 different countries and 6 different industries.

Conclusion: Approximately the same percentage of Millennials want to make a positive impact on their organization as Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. Differences were also minimal across nine other variables studied.

Study #3

2015 National Study commissioned by CNBC

This study analyzed the importance of six traits in a potential employer: ethics, environmental practices, work-life balance, profitability, diversity and reputation for hiring the best and brightest.

Conclusion: Millennials preferences were pretty much the same as everyone else’s. And contrary to popular belief about Millennials being hard to please, Millennials reported being more satisfied with the employee development they received than the rest of the population.

Final Thoughts

Instead of wasting more time and money trying to create perks and programs specially targeted towards Millennials, perhaps companies should refocus on bolstering areas that engage all employees.

The more we discuss the specific reasons why individual groups of employees seem to be unhappy, the more we also realize that we are looking for the same things: work that challenges us to grow, appreciation for a job well done, and respect for our lives outside of work. If some of your employees aren’t receiving these things, you’re going to see a lack of engagement and higher turnover in that part of your organization. It’s that simple.

According to research in The Human Capital Edge there are four key questions all employees assess before deciding whether to join an organization:

  1. Is this an organization I can be proud of?
  2. Will I be given the tools to maximize my performance at this job?
  3. Will I be treated well both financially and interpersonally?
  4. Will this job fulfill me?

If we begin doing everything we can to ensure that the majority of employees answer “yes” to these questions, we won’t need to keep talking about what Millennials really want at work.

 

Why Your Tech Employees Keep Quitting

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Why Your Tech Employees Keep Quitting by Scott Maurice

Retention is a huge issue for most tech related companies right now. Even Google’s tech employees only stay at the company for about a year on average, according to the most recent PayScale report on employee turnover.

Sure, tech jobs are a plenty, and these employees are constantly being presented with new opportunities to get their next raise or promotion somewhere else. But that’s not the real reason they’re leaving.

It’s also true that a lot of today’s tech jobs are occupied by millennials who have shown the world by now that they aren’t interested in the rigid 9-5 jobs of generations past. They feel no impulse to stick around a job for 5 years just to “pay their dues” before they can move up. But that’s also not the reason tech employees are quitting so quickly.

If you want to understand why tech employees leave their jobs, you need to understand what these employees are looking for in a job in the first place. Most of these people didn’t get into tech just for the pay. They got into it because they are intrigued by solving complex puzzles, they like to completely immerse themselves in their projects, and they relish in seeing their work have a greater impact on the world.

Chances are if your tech team keeps bailing before even hitting the year mark, your organization is guilty of one or more of these.

The job is boring.

Tech people hate routine, maintenance focused work, especially when it can/should be automated. Busywork is bad for anyone’s morale, but tech people especially have a harder time justifying their time to themselves when they feel they aren’t contributing anything unique to the process.

Repetitious tasks like deploying code to servers should be delegated to a machine, so your staff can focus their energy on problems that require them to use more of their brainpower. If you have staff repeating a mechanical task every day/week, figure out if you can find a technical solution.

Moreover, investing in automation, when it’s fueled by a business model that monetizes it with an economy of scale, allows organization to have more financial agility. In a truly cloud enabled economic model, employees can focus their time on work that truly matters. Your business, therefore, benefits from both a humanitarian and revenue objective standpoint.

They lack a greater purpose.

Millennials especially have shown the world that they are a socially conscious generation. They care about where their products come from and how they are made, they care about preserving the environment and global warming, and they believe in sustainable practices. When young tech workers don’t feel like their work is improving the world around them, they aren’t going to understand the true impact of vacating their job.

One reason these employees can feel disconnected from a greater purpose, even if they work at a nonprofit dedicated to saving blind puppies, is that when you are relegated to a desk all day it’s hard to see the impact of your work really come to fruition. One of the best ways to help tech employees internalize impact of their work and increase their personal fulfillment with their job is by having them meet the customers and clients who appreciate them so much. When they get to not only hear, but see, interact with, and build relationships with those whose lives they affect, they are much more likely to feel connected and stay at their jobs.

They aren’t being treated as individuals.

Some people like to have music play while they work. Others need dead silence to focus. Some people learn by doing and others learn by taking notes first and then trying on their own. Some people don’t need any supervision (and even resent too much oversight), while others get distracted easily and need help directing their creative energy. Each person is different and deserves to be treated well for exactly who they are.

The problem with treating everyone uniformly is that you fail to praise the individual. When people don’t feel they are appreciated for their own uniqueness, they also tend feel they are more replaceable. If you can’t treat your employees as the unique people they are, they are going to try to find someone who can.

Their manager can’t manage.

One of the top reason people leave their jobs is because of their manager. Just because someone is exceptional at code doesn’t mean they will make a great leader. Managing a team of diverse human beings from different backgrounds who have different career and personal goals, lifestyles, opinions, expertise, etc. while directing them towards a common goal is a huge task for anyone. Managers need to understand how to empower employees, encourage innovation, cultivate collaboration, mediate disagreements, act on good ideas, deliver good/bad news, and more. If you aren’t investing enough in developing your managers, your employees aren’t going to feel you’re investing in them either.

Final Thoughts

It’s true that some of your tech employees may just be leaving for the boost in pay, but the majority are leaving because of a deeper dissatisfaction with the job they’ve been tasked with. People in general want to feel challenged to grow, fulfilled when they rise to the occasion, appreciated as an individual, and supported by their organization. Provide these tenants of a quality job, and you’ll find that your tech employees will stick around for a lot longer.