Decision Science in the space of Human Resource
The Need
Various surveys show that "Logical Thinking & Problem Solving" has been consistently ranked amongst the top 3 skillsets that most companies look for.
As our environments become more VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) the need for that skillset has intensified.
The Ideal Solution
A good Problem Solver needs to have a diverse set of tools in his Business Toolkit. Keeping the Business Outcomes in mind, he should be able to apply the subset of Tools to identify
- WHAT is the Gap ?
- WHY is it occurring ?
- HOW can we address it ?
The WHAT
A Gap can be “negative” (example – “Sales FYTD” Actual below Target), or “positive”.
The WHY
The WHY
Once the GAPs are identified, the tools should help conclude on the WHY. i.e. the Root Causes leading to the GAP. For example – a positive GAP could be due to a Competitor pulling out of a Territory.
A “drill down” through the “WHY-WHY” tool could inform us Why the Competitor has exited from that Territory. This will help us avoid potential Pitfalls, and give us greater confidence to expand there.
In another Territory, a negative GAP could be due to “disruption in Logistics “caused by” higher than expected rains during the Monsoon season”
The HOW
The HOW, thereafter, informs us on the Action Items.
Continuing with our “Competitor” scenario, we could quickly assess where else is this Competitor pulling out, and ramp up our Sales Efforts accordingly
Continuing with our “Monsoon” scenario, we could increase the TARGETS for the other Territories, for the impacted Time Period, and shift resources accordingly
Continuing with our “Monsoon” scenario, we could increase the TARGETS for the other Territories, for the impacted Time Period, and shift resources accordingly
The skillsets span both WIDTH & DEPTH.
WIDTH arises from the Need to use a different set of Tools e.g
- Strategy, Planning & Control related Tools for formulating, in an integrated fashion, Business & Corporate Strategy, the Annual Operating Plan, and Control on the current Year’s Targets
- Diagnostics Tools to understand the WHAT & the WHY
- Predictive Tools to assess various Scenarios of future possibilities
- Prescriptive Tools to converge, from the many possibilities, onto 1-2 Scenarios, and recommend specific Action Items (the HOW) which maximize business impact
- Process Modeling & Process Mining Tools to gain visibility into Process Health & associated Resource Allocation.
Significant value can be released by looking at Processes as the building blocks of “end to end” Value Chains
Project Management tools to manage the highly complex, inter-related set of Activities
Roles, Skills Maps & Skill Acquisition Tracking – tools to gain visibility into the Skills that are needed by the organization to meet their “Strategic Objectives & Goals”, the current & desired “Skills Sets”, the associated Financials & Timings, and rigorous tracking of the same
Tools for Effective Communication to engage at different levels
Tools for Digital Collaboration
DEPTH arises from the Need for
Data Mining throught he appropriate mathematical models - with significant increase in competitive pressures, tools which help us get to high quality actionable Insights
- will help develop a Winning “Product Market Fit” (PMF) through understanding our Customers & Consumers
- will help us deliver the PMF, by understanding performance of our Suppliers, Partners, Workers at a deeper level, and arrive at targeted interventions
External (e.g Market) or Internal (e.g. Worker) Research where needed
- Tools for constant External & Internal Scanning
- Tools for Experiment Design & Analysis
High Engagement “User Experience”
These tools should be easy to use, possibly within the Spreadsheets we are so comfortable using
The tools should give us access to the relevant mathematical capabilities, without knowing any programming language, and with just an intuition on what the maths does (think ChatGPT !)
Industry lacks such Trainings & Solutions
Most industry trainings are either
- Provided by Technology experts, without a deep understanding of the Business domain – is too technical & narrow for a functional manager, business analysts. The knowledge of R/Python etc is lost in a matter of days & weeks
- Provided by Industry / Functional Domain exper t s, wi thout a deep understanding of Data Science –hence, the best you can hope for is to be “at par” with industry practices
Introducing the “Decision Science Engine”
A techno-commercial approach to enable Business Decisions through various bodies of Science (Problem Definition, Data Science, Process Modeling & Analysis, Research Design & Analysis, Project Mgmt, Communication Skills, Leadership Skills etc)
This is an integrated set of -- methods, procedures, templates, tools & techniques -- to super-charge your “Problem Solving Skillsets” !
Introducing the Microlearning Course:Essentials of “Decision Science Engine”
In order to enable you with the Multi disciplinary skills, the first module will happen in mid May 2023. Subsequent modules (e.g 10x your productivity through ChatGPT) will occur thereafter (TBA)
Key Hacks that you will learn
The training is delivered through Google Sheets & designed to give you the power of Machine Learning, without leaning any Programming Language. Learn the secrets!
Learn by doing - Through application to a “business case study”
Get your Personalized “Skill Development Plan” – we take inputs through a comprehensive Self Assessment questionnaire
Brought to you by the same Trainer who got you the “People Analytics for Managers” techno commercial Training, with Dr Dave Ulrich & Dr T.V.Rao as the co-facilitators
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