Case Study: New data perspectives

As you have been learning, you can find data pretty much everywhere. Any time you observe
and evaluate something in the world, you’re collecting and analyzing data. Your analysis helps
you find easier ways of doing things, identify patterns to save you time, and discover surprising
new perspectives that can completely change the way you experience things.

Here is a real-life example of how one group of data analysts used the six steps of the data
analysis process to improve their workplace and its business processes. Their story involves
something called people analytics — also known as human resources analytics or workforce
analytics. People analytics is the practice of collecting and analyzing data on the people who
make up a company’s workforce in order to gain insights to improve how the company operates.

Being a people analyst involves using data analysis to gain insights about employees and how
they experience their work lives. The insights are used to define and create a more productive
and empowering workplace. This can unlock employee potential, motivate people to perform at
their best, and ensure a fair and inclusive company culture.

The six steps of the data analysis process that you have been learning in this program are: ask,
prepare, process, analyze, share, and act. These six steps apply to any data analysis.
Continue reading to learn how a team of people analysts used these six steps to answer a
business question.

An organization was experiencing a high turnover rate among new hires. Many employees left
the company before the end of their first year on the job. The analysts used the data analysis
process to answer the following question: how can the organization improve the retention rate
for new employees?

First up, the analysts needed to define what the project would look like and what would
qualify as a successful result. So, to determine these things, they asked effective
questions and collaborated with leaders and managers who were interested in the
outcome of their people analysis. These were the kinds of questions they asked:
 What do you think new employees need to learn to be successful in their first year on
the job?
 Have you gathered data from new employees before? If so, may we have access to the
historical data?
 Do you believe managers with higher retention rates offer new employees something
extra or unique?
 What do you suspect is a leading cause of dissatisfaction among new employees?
 By what percentage would you like employee retention to increase in the next fiscal
year?

It all started with solid preparation. The group built a timeline of three months and
decided how they wanted to relay their progress to interested parties. Also, during this
step, the analysts identified what data they needed to achieve the successful result they
identified in the previous step - in this case, the analysts chose to gather the data from
an online survey of new employees. These were the things they did to prepare:

 They developed specific questions to ask about employee satisfaction with different

business processes, such as hiring and onboarding, and their overall compensation.
 They established rules for who would have access to the data collected - in this case,
anyone outside the group wouldn't have access to the raw data, but could view
summarized or aggregated data. For example, an individual's compensation wouldn't be
available, but salary ranges for groups of individuals would be viewable.
 They finalized what specific information would be gathered, and how best to present the
data visually. The analysts brainstormed possible project- and data-related issues and
how to avoid them.

The group sent the survey out. Great analysts know how to respect both their data and
the people who provide it. Since employees provided the data, it was important to make
sure all employees gave their consent to participate. The data analysts also made sure
 employees understood how their data would be collected, stored, managed, and
protected. Collecting and using data ethically is one of the responsibilities of data
analysts. In order to maintain confidentiality and protect and store the data effectively,
these were the steps they took:

 They restricted access to the data to a limited number of analysts.

 They cleaned the data to make sure it was complete, correct, and relevant. Certain data
was aggregated and summarized without revealing individual responses.
 They uploaded raw data to an internal data warehouse for an additional layer of
security.

Then, the analysts did what they do best: analyze! From the completed surveys, the
data analysts discovered that an employee’s experience with certain processes was a
key indicator of overall job satisfaction. These were their findings:

 Employees who experienced a long and complicated hiring process were most likely to
leave the company.
 Employees who experienced an efficient and transparent evaluation and feedback
process were most likely to remain with the company.
The group knew it was important to document exactly what they found in the analysis,
no matter what the results. To do otherwise would diminish trust in the survey process
and reduce their ability to collect truthful data from employees in the future.

Just as they made sure the data was carefully protected, the analysts were also careful
sharing the report. This is how they shared their findings:

 They shared the report with managers who met or exceeded the minimum number of
direct reports with submitted responses to the survey.
 They presented the results to the managers to make sure they had the full picture.
 They asked the managers to personally deliver the results to their teams.
This process gave managers an opportunity to communicate the results with the right
context. As a result, they could have productive team conversations about next steps to
improve employee engagement.

The last stage of the process for the team of analysts was to work with leaders within
their company and decide how best to implement changes and take actions based on
the findings. These were their recommendations:

 Standardize the hiring and evaluation process for employees based on the most
efficient and transparent practices.
 Conduct the same survey annually and compare results with those from the previous
year.
A year later, the same survey was distributed to employees. Analysts anticipated that a
comparison between the two sets of results would indicate that the action plan worked.
Turns out, the changes improved the retention rate for new employees and the actions
taken by leaders were successful!

Additional Resource
To learn more about some recent applications of data analytics in the business world,
check out the article “4 Examples of Business Analytics in Action” from Harvard
Business School.  The article reveals how corporations use data insights to optimize
their decision-making process. Please note that the first example in the article contains
a minor error in the second paragraph, but the example is still a valid one.
 Review the six phases of data analysis

Before you write your entry in your learning log, reflect on the case study from earlier.
The data analysts wanted to use data to improve employee retention. In order to do
that, they had to break this larger project into manageable tasks. The analysts
organized those tasks and activities around the six phases of the data analysis
process: 

1. Ask
2. Prepare
3. Process
4. Analyze
5. Share
6. Act
The analysts asked questions to define both the issue to be solved and what would
equal a successful result.

Next, they prepared by building a timeline and collecting data with employee surveys
that were designed to be inclusive.

They processed the data by cleaning it to make sure it was complete, correct, relevant,
and free of errors and outliers.

They analyzed the clean employee survey data.

Then the analysts shared their findings and recommendations with team leaders.

Afterward, leadership acted on the results and focused on improving key areas.