The latest volume of ideas@work explores critical issues and best practices in talent management.
Two of our papers focus on today’s volatile and constantly changing business environment. Developing Leaders in a VUCA Environment provides talent managers with ideas, guidance, and examples on how to address the shift needed in leadership development to adapt to the new normal, while Building a Resilient Organizational Culture focuses on how to cultivate and nurture a culture of resilience at all levels of the organization.
This volume also features a chapter from what’s been called the “talent management bible” - Marc Effron’s and Miriam Ort’s “One Page Talent Management”. This practical, science based guide to accelerating talent growth has become a best seller in talent management circles, and the chapter we’ve included outlines the barriers to building talent and the philosophy for successful talent development based on simplicity, accountability, and transparency.
The other two white papers included in this volume examine new trends in talent development. Got Game? The Use of Gaming in Learning and Development takes a serious look at how gaming technology can be used to develop organizational talent. The Big Data Talent Gap explores the talent implications of the big data revolution.
The McKinsey 7S Framework: A Holistic Approach to Harmonizing All Parts of th...
ideas@work vol. 5
1. B U S I N E S S I N S I G H T S F R O M U N C E X E C U T I V E D E V E L O P M E N T
WHITE PAPERS
FEATURED:
VOLUME5
Developing Leaders in a
VUCA Environment
Got Game? The Use of
Gaming in Learning and
Development
Building A Resilient
Organizational Culture
The Big Data Talent Gap
BONUS SECTION!
Reprinted from the best
selling book “One Page
Talent Management”
3. 3
V U
C A
Developing Leaders in a VUCA Environment
page 4
Got Game? The Use of Gaming in Learning and Development
page 14
Building A Resilient Organizational Culture
page 22
The Big Data Talent Gap
page 32
One Page Talent Management
page 42
Inside this issue
(Note: The information or conclusions expressed in the following white papers are the authors’ review of findings expressed by the
organizations. All brand representations are registered trademarks owned by the respective companies or organizations.)
5. DEVELOPING LEADERS IN A VUCA ENVIRONMENT
5
The Origins of VUCA
The notion of VUCA was introduced by the U.S. Army
War College to describe the more volatile, uncertain,
complex, and ambiguous, multilateral world which
resulted from the end of the Cold War (Kinsinger
Walch, 2012). The acronym itself was not created until
the late 1990s, and it was not until the terrorist attacks
of September 11, 2001, that notion and acronym really
took hold. VUCA was subsequently adopted by strategic
business leaders to describe the chaotic, turbulent, and
rapidly changing business environment that has become
the “new normal.”
By all accounts, the chaotic “new normal” in business
is real. The financial crisis of 2008-2009, for example,
rendered many business models obsolete, as
organizations throughout the world were plunged
into turbulent environments similar to those faced by
the military. At the same time, rapid changes marched
forward as technological developments like social
media exploded, the world’s population continued
to simultaneously grow and age, and global disasters
disrupted lives, economies, and businesses.
7. DEVELOPING LEADERS IN A VUCA ENVIRONMENT
7
VUCA Defined
V The “V” in the VUCA acronym stands for volatility. It
means the nature, speed, volume, and magnitude of
change that is not in a predictable pattern (Sullivan,
2012 January 16). Volatility is turbulence, a pheno-
menon that is occurring more frequently than in the
past. The BCG study found that half of the most
turbulent financial quarters during the past 30 years
have occurred since 2002. The study also concluded
that financial turbulence has increased in intensity
and persists longer than in the past. (Sullivan, 2012
October 22). Other drivers of turbulence in business
today include digitization, connectivity, trade
liberalization, global competition, and business model
innovation (Reeves Love, 2012).
U The “U” in the VUCA acronym stands for uncertainty,
or the lack of predictability in issues and events
(Kinsinger Walch, 2012). These volatile times make
it difficult for leaders to use past issues and events as
predictors of future outcomes, making forecasting
extremely difficult and decision-making challenging
(Sullivan, 2012 January 16).
C The “C” in VUCA stands for complexity. As HR
thought leader John Sullivan notes (2012 January 16),
there are often numerous and difficult-to-understand
causes and mitigating factors (both inside and outside
the organization) involved in a problem. This layer of
complexity, added to the turbulence of change and
the absence of past predictors, adds to the difficulty
of decision making. It also leads to confusion, which
can cause ambiguity, the last letter in the acronym.
A Ambiguity is the lack of clarity about the meaning
of an event (Caron, 2009), or, as Sullivan writes, the
“causes and the ‘who, what, where, how, and why’
behind the things that are happening (that) are
unclear and hard to ascertain.” (2012 January 16).
Col. Eric G. Kail defines ambiguity in the VUCA
model as the “inability to accurately conceptualize
threats and opportunities before they become lethal.”
(Kail, 2010 December 3). A symptom of organizational
ambiguity, according to Kail, is the frustration that
results when compartmentalized accomplishments
fail to add up to a comprehensive or enduring success.
9. DEVELOPING LEADERS IN A VUCA ENVIRONMENT
9
Steps Talent Managers Can Take
Nick Petrie, senior faculty member at the Center for
Creative Leadership writes in a 2011 study, Future Trends
in Leadership Development, that there is a growing belief
among senior leaders that the more traditional leadership
development methods such as on-the-job training, job
assignments, coaching, and mentoring, are falling short
in helping them develop the capabilities they need to
succeed in a VUCA environment. These methods are often
at odds with the leadership demands in a VUCA world,
where knowledge across the organization and the speed
of learning outpace these slower and more job-specific
learning methods.
HR and talent management professionals must reframe
leadership development activities to accommodate the
faster-paced VUCA world and to focus less on behavioral
competencies and more on complex thinking abilities and
mindsets. Leadership development should be focused on
learning agility, self-awareness, comfort with ambiguity, and
strategic thinking (Petrie, 2011). To do so, HR and talent
managers may want to begin at the selection process.
Fast-food giant McDonald’s was a frontrunner in adapting VUCA and VUCA Prime
principles in its leadership development programs. In 2001, the company launched a new
leadership development program for high-potential Regional Manager candidates. The
company realized that there was a need for a specialized leadership development program
for this position because the expectations and challenges for the role had changed
significantly over the previous decade. These expectations and challenges included
heightened competition, the increased challenge of a growing market share, increased job
autonomy as the organization became more decentralized, and the increased expectation
for regional managers to act strategically as well as tactically.
The new leadership development program included the following goals:
1. To help participants take a critical look at themselves and their current management
capabilities and to develop a personal learning plan that could help them increase the
likelihood of success in a regional manager role.
2. To provide participants with action-learning assignments that would help them increase
their understanding of the business while also contributing to the development of
practical solutions to address significant business issues they worked on.
3. To give participants the opportunity to build relationships with peers from across the
organization.
4. To demonstrate the power of action learning as a model to accelerate the development
of leaders.
The goals of this program acknowledge some key VUCA Prime skills and abilities,
including self-awareness, knowledge of the business beyond the functional area,
innovative and critical-thinking skills, collaboration, and the importance of rapid learning
within the organization.
Source: Intagliata Small, 2005.
Example: McDonald’s
11. DEVELOPING LEADERS IN A VUCA ENVIRONMENT
11
other attributes leaders may need in future business
environments.
Leadership development programs based on VUCA
principles can also include scenario training where
participants can anticipate possible future challenges and
devise possible solutions. This can make leaders more
confident when they actually encounter a new situation.
Scenario training should be conducted frequently so that
reactions become part of the leader’s “muscle memory.”
(Sullivan, 2012 January 16).
Simulations are also powerful learning tools when
developing VUCA leaders because they give participants
a chance to practice skills in a safe, non-threatening
environment. Simulations can range from classroom
role plays, to day-in-the-life assessment centers, to
virtual simulations. Simulations can also help leaders
assess their strengths and weaknesses, making them
more aware of their own skills and gaps (Lanik Eurick,
2012). Simulations are appealing across generations, but
they have particular appeal to younger high potentials.
This generation has learned many of the desired VUCA
leadership skills by playing video games.
To develop collaboration and to encourage thinking
outside the box, HR and talent managers should also
consider the use of job rotation to help leaders think
beyond their functional areas.
HR and talent development professionals who can foster
adaptability, innovation, and agility in their leaders will
realize tangible rewards. The Adaptive Advantage Index
developed by BCG measures how well organizations
adapt to turbulence. They calculated the adaptability
scores for 2,500 companies in the United States over a
30-year period and found that the ability to adapt creates
value over the short and long-term (Reeves Love, 2012).
In 2010, Supply Chain Quarterly staff reported that consumer goods giant Procter
Gamble (PG) was revising its supply chain to reflect changes it expects in a
VUCA world. Global Product Supply Officer R. Keith Harrison reported on the
steps the company was taking to ensure that the company’s supply chain could
accommodate the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of today’s business
worlds. “VUCA is the reality for the foreseeable future, and it affects how we think
about supply chains and design,” he told attendees at the 2010 Supply Chain and
Logistics conference (Supply Chain Quarterly staff, 2010).
PG has applied the VUCA concept beyond its supply chain. During a visit with
students at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, PG CEO
Bob McDonald discussed values-based leadership in an increasingly VUCA world.
During the speech, he shared his ten rules of successful leadership, among them:
Rule #7: Ineffective strategies, systems, and cultures are bigger barriers
to achievement than the talents of people. Recruiting and training are top
priorities.
Rule # 9: Organizations must renew themselves. Only nine of the original
Fortune 50 companies are still on the list today. The majority of successful companies
don’t realize that the world is changing around them. What differentiates those
who succeed from those who don’t is the ability to learn.
Source: Knight, 2011.
Example: Procter Gamble
13. 13
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At UNC’s Executive Development Institute,
you’ll gain the core knowledge of an MBA program
without the long-term time commitment. You’ll
also learn how to view the business world from a
senior executive’s perspective. And you’ll develop the
key leadership characteristics that lead to effective
strategic performance. The result? In two weeks,
you’ll be fully prepared for that next step.
If you’re ready to take the
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If you’re ready to take the
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make a quick trip back to
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E X E C U T I V E D E V E L O P M E N T I N S T I T U T E
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15. G A M I N G I N L E A R N I N G A N D D E V E L O P M E N T
15
Introduction
The first patented video game, the “Cathode Ray
Tube Amusement Device,” is celebrating its 65th
birthday this year (Gettler, n.d.). This may come as a
surprise to many, because people usually place the
birth of video games in the 1970s or 1980s, when
coin-operated video games became a mainstay in
arcades, and the first game consoles appeared in
American homes.
Video games—and the people who play them—have
changed dramatically since 1948. Generations of
gamers have grown up and entered the workplace,
and video games have made the same transition,
extending their influence into companies around
the globe. Many organizations are increasingly using
gaming technology in their learning and development
programs to help build the next generation of
business leaders.
Promise
This white paper:
• Explores the popularity of video games and the
characteristics of the people who play them.
• Reviews different types of games and defines some
video game terminology.
• Discusses how serious games can be used to
develop organizational talent.
• Provides examples of companies using serious
games to develop skills and behaviors.
• Examines the future of serious games in learning
and development.
Games Are Big Business
Video games today are ubiquitous. Just about every
electronic device with a screen–TVs, PCs, tablets, and
smart phones–have games installed and ready to play,
and people are taking advantage of their accessibility.
A recent study by the NPD Group, a market tracking
Gaming Terms Defined
Game: A competitive activity that involves skill,
chance, or endurance.
Video game: A game played by electronically
manipulating images produced by a computer
program on a television screen or display.
Simulation game: A game that attempts to
represent real or hypothetical processes, mechanisms,
or systems.
Serious game: Computer or video games designed
for a primary purpose other than pure entertainment;
often designed for the purpose of education and/or
solving a problem.
Alternate reality game: An interactive game that
uses the real world as a platform, often involving
multiple media to tell a story.
MMORPGs: Massively multi-player online role-
playing games.
firm, found that 211.5 million—or two-thirds—of
Americans play video games (Boorstin, 2012).
Americans aren’t just playing the free, preloaded
games; they are buying them in droves. According
to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA),
consumers spent $24.75 billion on video games in
2011 (ESA staff, 2012).
Puzzle games, board games, trivia, and card games
are the most commonly played games (42 percent),
but 25 percent of gamers also play action, sports,
strategy, and role-playing games. The ESA also found
that 62 percent of gamers play with others, either
in-person or online, and most do so for at least an
hour a week.
Online simulation (sim) games have also grown in
popularity, thanks in large part to the explosion
of social media. Facebook, for example, boasts
more than 100 sim games, among them Farmville
2, Airport City, and FrontierVille. These popular
sim games were designed to entertain but have
17. G A M I N G I N L E A R N I N G A N D D E V E L O P M E N T
17
Serious Games in Learning
and Development
Serious games can allow players to apply what they
have learned in an LD experience and apply it in a
safe, simulated environment. For example, health care
professionals can practice a new medical procedure
using a serious sim game before introducing it in the
workplace. There is also evidence that serious games
can develop soft skills like emotional intelligence,
communication management, and critical problem
solving and collaboration skills (Marinho, 2012).
Some LD professionals argue that video games can help
develop the leadership skills that organizations will need
in the future. Tomorrow’s workplace will be global, faster-
paced, competitive, and more virtual than ever before.
Online games, specifically massively multiplayer online
role-playing games (MMORPGs), “offer a glimpse at how
leaders develop and operate in environments that are
highly distributed, global, hyper-competitive, and virtual.”
(IBM Seriosity staff, 2007).
There have been several studies conducted on learning
and serious games, and results are encouraging. A
recent study by the Office of Naval Research found that
video game players performed 10-20 percent better in
perceptual and cognitive ability than non-game players,
and that video games helped adults process information
faster (Steinberg, 2012). Another study by the Federation
of American Scientists found that students remembered
only 10 percent of what they read; 20 percent of what
they heard; 30 percent if they used visuals related
to what they heard; and 50 percent if they watched
someone performing a task while explaining it. Students
remembered 90 percent of what they learned, however,
if they did the task themselves, even if it was as a
simulation (IBM staff, n.d.).
A recent study reported in Personnel Psychology
(Sitzmann, 2011) found that trainees using serious
simulation games had improved post-training efficacy
(20 percent), higher declarative knowledge (11 percent),
improved procedural knowledge (14 percent), and better
retention (9 percent) than trainees in a non-simulation
comparison group. The study also found that trainees
in the simulation control group learned more when the
game was used as a supplement to other instructional
methods, rather than as stand-alone instruction.
In contrast, a study by Adams, Mayer, MacNamara,
Koenig, and Wainess (2012) found that narrative
educational games resulted in poorer learning and took
longer to complete than simply showing content on a
slide. Ruth Clarke, an instructional design and technical
training consultant, gave a possible explanation in a
recent American Society for Training Development
article exploring the results of the study. Clarke
speculates that the reason for this lack of learning may
be because some game features are at odds with the
game’s learning objectives. For example, many games
time players, requiring them to complete tasks within a
certain timeframe.
Gamification Explained
Gamification is the use of gaming techniques, game thinking, and game mechanics to enhance non-
game contexts. Gaming techniques like questing, badging, and leader boards have been incorporated into
workplace practices such as the onboarding process, career development, and performance evaluations. It
should be noted that gamification techniques do not have to be rooted in technology. For example, leader
boards can be visual aids posted in a department to motivate and inform workers about departmental goal
achievement (such as sales). Gamification practices are particularly appealing to the Millennial generation
who have grown up playing games that send them on quests, award them with badges, and post their
achievements on leader boards, but the fundamental human need for recognition spans generations.
Gamification can help fill that need and increase employee morale, retention, and job satisfaction.
Source: Pitt, 2012.
19. G A M I N G I N L E A R N I N G A N D D E V E L O P M E N T
19
IBM and Farmers Insurance have used the IBM-developed
serious game, INNOV8, to teach the effect of business
decisions on their organizations’ ecosystems. INNOV8 is
a sim-style serious game where players manipulate their
business models to make their cities less congested, their
supply chains more effective, and their customers happier
(IBM staff, n.d.).
Northrop Grumman has also developed several serious
games for use in development and recruitment. The
award-winning Quality Tycoon game teaches players
the effect that quality and ethical integrity have on
business opportunities. Northrop Grumman’s Virtual Jet
Works introduces students to engineering concepts and
is demonstrated at college recruitment fairs (Serious
Games Market staff, 2011). Cisco’s The Cisco Mind
Share Game facilitates network certification. Ultimate
Team Play is used by the Hilton Garden Inn to teach
employees customer service skills (Steinberg, 2012). And
Dublin-based Front Square teamed with Serious Games
International to develop Teddy’s Chocco Shop, a game
that teaches employees the basics of lean manufacturing
(Marinho, 2012).
The U.S. Army was an early adopter of serious games.
In fact, they are credited with coining the term “serious
game.” The Army first released America’s Army in 2002
and updates the game every three to four months.
Game versions include America’s Army: Special Forces
and America’s Army: Overmatch. The Army also gained
recognition from the Serious Games Market with First
Person Cultural Trainer (FPCT), a 3-D cultural training
simulation. The game places players in an unfamiliar
community where they don’t know how members of
the community feel about them or who the community
leaders are. The game’s goals are to have players move
through the community, learn social structures and issues,
and then work with the community to affect missions.
“FPCT challenges the Army’s junior leaders to understand
the consequences, good and bad, of their speech, body
language, posture, temperament, and action,” says
Ben Jordan, director of TRISA’s Operational Environment
Lab, the Army’s lead for the project. “It even replicates
physical micro-expressions, which users learn to identify
as possible cues for threatening or non-threatening
behaviors.” (Roth, 2011).
Generating New Insights
and Solving Problems
Serious games can be an effective method to develop
talent in an organization. They can also serve as a
valuable information source for employers. Serious games
can yield insights that organizations can use to assess
performance, identify patterns, and predict behaviors
in situations that may occur in the real world. LD
development professionals can use these insights to gain
a better understanding of individual and organizational
capabilities and to identify potential gaps.
Serious games can also serve as a source for new
ideas, helping organizations become more innovative.
Organizations are using serious games to tap into the
knowledge and experience of the entire organization,
and in some cases, beyond the organization to
“crowd-source” new ideas. According to information
technology research firm, Gartner, Inc., more than half
of organizations that manage innovation processes will
gamify those processes by 2015.
Organizations can also use serious games to analyze
the abundance of data (such as operational, customer,
and sales data) that organizations collect from various
sources. Serious games can give employees access to
real-world, real-time “Big Data” to make decisions and
experiment in virtual environments without the risks
and consequences that they would face in the “real
world”. As players engage and interact in the virtual
environment, both the players and the game become
more sophisticated. In other words, the system gets
“smarter” while the constant stream of new, real-time
data continues to change the dynamics of the game.
Many organizations are already using serious games to
gain new insights and solve real business challenges -
and there are some who believe serious games have the
potential to solve some of the world’s biggest problems.
There are already games designed to fight AIDS, global
poverty, water scarcity, and climate change. Many of
these games are available online from anywhere in the
world, empowering people from all over to come up with
creative solutions to our most urgent social problems.
21. 21
UNC EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT
The Power of Experience.
To learn more, visit www.bhr.uncexec.com.
B U S I N E S S A N D H U M A N R E S O U R C E S
Lead your
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into the future.
Now more than ever, senior HR leaders need the knowledge,
skills, and experience to respond to emerging trends that are
shaping the future of global business. Offered in partnership
with the Society for Human Resource Management
(SHRM), UNC’s Business and Human Resources program
is designed to equip senior HR leaders with the most
up-to-date business knowledge and skills needed to succeed
in the rapidly changing business environment today -
and tomorrow.
• Earn 29.75 recertification hours
• Meets the HRCI strategic
requirements for SPHR®
23. R E S I L I E N C E I N T H E W O R K P L A C E
23
Introduction
A 2012 Towers Watson study found that in most
organizations, only 35 percent of employees said they
were engaged. In other words, 65 percent of employees
have mentally checked out, causing productivity,
innovation, and creativity to plummet. The study also
found that 38 percent of employees felt stress and
anxiety about the future, and that less than half of the
employees surveyed agreed that senior leaders had a
sincere interest in their well-being.
While this is never good news for employers, the timing
could not be more critical as organizations across the
globe continue to struggle to survive. An uncertain
economic outlook, the rapid pace of change, and the
need to continually adapt has made resilience—the
ability to bounce back in the face of a setback—the new
priority in leadership development. The good news is that
resilience can be taught.
Promise
This white paper:
• Explores why resilience is more important than ever
for organizations to cultivate.
• Explains the difference between wellness programs
and building a resilience culture.
• Discusses why resilience should be cultivated, not
just at the senior leadership level, but at all levels in
an organization.
• Offers steps HR and talent managers can take to
develop resilient organizational cultures.
• Provides examples of organizations that have
engaged in a resilience initiative and the benefits
they realized as a result.
Resilience Is Crucial
Thought leaders are increasingly calling today’s turbulent
business world a “VUCA” environment—one that is
volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. To succeed
in this environment, organizations must be more adaptive
and agile than ever before—they must be resilient.
Organizations that lack resilience, that ability to bounce
back after setbacks, are often stressful places to work,
a situation in which far too many employers and
employees are well versed.
Stress lowers employee performance, productivity,
morale, and strains workplace relationships. People
experiencing excessive stress have difficulty managing
emotions, focusing attention, making decisions, and
thinking clearly (Spangler, Koesten, Fox and Radel, 2012).
Stress is also associated with heart disease, cancer,
pain, and depression (Spangler et al, 2012). Stressed
employees feel overwhelmed, tired, and disengaged.
Resilient employees, on the other hand, experience
increased productivity, lower turnover, and have lower
health care costs (Lee, 2008). A growing body of
research shows that organizations that foster positive
attitudes have employees who are more optimistic and
creative (Kolski-Andreaco, 2012). Resilient employees
are engaged, have improved communication, and
are better team players.
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
How Engagement Affects
Financial Results
Same year operating margin: Study of 50 global companies
Low
traditional
engagement
companies
High
traditional
engagement
companies
High
sustainable
engagement
companies
Source: Towers Watson normative database 2012.
9.9
14.3
27.4
27. R E S I L I E N C E I N T H E W O R K P L A C E
27
3. Encourage all employees—from the CEO down—to embrace these tips to
increase energy and productivity.
• Encourage employees to do the most important activity
first thing in the morning for a designated time of no
longer than 90 minutes and then take a break. Silence
all digital devices. Employees who can do this will find
that they will get more accomplished in that time than
most people do in an entire day.
• Encourage employees to keep a running list of
everything that is on their minds so they can get it off
their minds. Working memories have a limited capacity,
so the more things on one’s mind, the less likely that
they will be remembered. Encourage employees to
download everything—the “to do’s,” ideas, everyone
who needs to be called or emailed, issues that need to
be addressed. By writing down everything as it arises,
employees will literally clear space in their working
memories, leaving room for what most deserves their
attention.
• Ask employees to ask themselves “Is this the best use
of my time?” every time they go online. Sometimes, of
course, it will be. More often, though, it is something
people do to avoid engaging in more difficult work. If
the answer is no, ask “What is?” Then do it.
• Encourage employees to systematically train their
attention. A simple way is to read more books,
preferably good ones. Deeply focused, uninterrupted
reading is an excellent way to train and sustain the
brain’s capacity for absorbed attention.
• Encourage employees to take a few minutes each
day—either just before they leave work or just before
they go to sleep—to identify and write down the two
or three most important things they want to accomplish
tomorrow, and when they intend to work on them.
• Encourage employees to monitor their moods. When
demand exceeds capacity, one of the most common
signs is increased negative emotions. The more
employees move into “fight or flight” mode, the
more reactive and impulsive they become, and the
less reflective and responsive. If employees are feeling
negative, encourage them to ask themselves “Why am
I feeling this way, and what can I do to make myself
feel better?” They may be hungry, tired, overwhelmed,
or feel threatened in some way. Awareness is the first
step. Employees can’t change what they don’t notice
(Schwartz, various).
31. 31
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U N C E X E C U T I V E D E V E L O P M E N T
We help you
develop executive talent
while tackling real-world
challenges.
(Now that’s multi-tasking.)
We help you
develop executive talent
while tackling real-world
challenges.
(Now that’s multi-tasking.)
33. T H E B I G D A T A T A L E N T G A P
33
their predictions and the CDC’s flu outbreak statistics
(Schönberger Cukier, 2013).
Another example of big data analytics comes from Target
Corporation. Target wanted to capture a very attractive
and lucrative market: new parents. New parents spend a
lot of time and money shopping and creating new buying
habits, and building loyalty among this audience can
be very profitable. This market is so valuable that Target
worked to identify customers who might be pregnant—
before a new parent buys the first diaper, or even registers
for the baby shower. Since Target captures and records
vast amounts of consumer data, they were able to review
purchase patterns looking for trends and examine the
items couples tended to buy prior to pregnancy, like
vitamins, unscented lotion, hand towels, etc. Through
mathematical machinations, Target determined the
likelihood that couples were pregnant and used these
insights to market to these couples well before their
child’s birth, creating customer loyalty and capturing an
extremely valuable market segment.
Big data is transforming every industry, as companies
realize opportunities to leverage big data analytics in
marketing, sales, and operations—and HR leaders are
realizing the potential as well. Technical recruiting firm
Gild, for example, identifies highly-skilled engineers by
analyzing open-source code, assessing it for quality,
and reaching out to engineers who make the cut.
Online auction company eBay uses analytics to fight
attrition. Beth Axelrod, e-Bay’s senior vice president of
human resources, notes in a recent Forbes article that
big data analytics allows them to identify managerial
or departmental hotspots for talent loss. “If somebody
35. T H E B I G D A T A T A L E N T G A P
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Seven Insights into Big Data
Research conducted by MGI and McKinsey’s Business Technology Office examined the
state of big data and found the following seven insights:
1. Data have swept into every industry and business function and are now an important
factor of production, labor, and capital.
2. There are five ways big data can create value:
a. Big data can unlock significant value by making information transparent
and usable at much greater frequency.
b. As organizations create and store more transactional data in digital form,
they can collect more accurate and detailed performance information on
everything.
c. Big data allows ever-narrower segmentation of customers and can result
in much more precisely tailored products or services.
d. Sophisticated analytics can substantially improve decision-making.
e. Big data can be used to improve the development of the next generation
of products and services.
3. Big data will become a key basis of competition and growth for individual firms.
4. Big data will underpin new waves of productivity growth and consumer surplus.
5. While the use of big data will matter across sectors, some sectors are set for
greater gains.
6. There will be a shortage of talent necessary for organizations to take
advantage of big data.
7. Several issues such as privacy, security, intellectual property, and even liability, will
have to be addressed to capture the full potential of big data.
Source: Manyika et al, 2011.
37. T H E B I G D A T A T A L E N T G A P
37
required to build those models. And they must be able
to find insights and tell stories from that data. That
means asking the right questions—and that is usually the
hardest piece.” (Rooney, 2012).
CIOs will also need to adjust their roles in this new, big
data environment. The authors of the “Strategic Guide
to Big Data Analytics” noted that CIOs will need to
realize that useful data can come from anywhere and
everywhere. Big data, for example, can come from the
organization’s server log files which track who checks
into a website and what pages they visit. Analyzing
who is checking in and where they go after they leave
a page can give an organization better insight into what
their customers want. CIOs will also need to realize that
big data does not need to be organized beforehand;
instead, data should be collected first with the goal to
decide what to do with it later. Finally, CIOs will also
need to recognize the skills their organizations will need
to analyze big data and be an active participant in the
training of or search for talent (CIO editors, 2012).
It is not just the technical leaders who need to rise to
meet the challenges of big data; managers at all levels
will also have to develop new knowledge, skills, and
experience to be effective. As Jeanne Harris, senior
executive research fellow for Accenture Institute
for High Performance, wrote in an blog for Harvard
Business Review, managers must become more adept
at mathematical reasoning, and while they do not need
to have the depth of statistical knowledge required of
big data analysts, they will need to understand how to
use statistical models and how to interpret data, metrics,
and the results of statistical models. They must also have
the ability to look beyond their functional areas and see
the big picture so they can tell the story the data reveals
(Harris, 2012).
It is this combination of business acumen, knowing the
right questions to ask, and deep technical knowledge
that is confounding most organizations when it comes to
finding big data talent. One survey found that more than
60 percent of respondents said their employees need
to develop new skills to translate big data into insights
and business value (Harris, 2012). Developing these skills
will take time, so many organizations are also looking to
recruit critical talent – but these hard-to-find men and
women won’t come cheap; a Wall Street Journal article
estimated that some data scientists were making as
much as $300,000 a year (Press, 2012) which gives large
companies an advantage over small and medium sized
companies for acquiring the big data talent.
Recruiting and
Developing Big Data
Talent
Unfortunately, you won’t find big data talent coming out
of many colleges and universities because big data majors
are few and far between. The rapid growth of big data
has outpaced colleges’ and universities’ ability to develop
and implement new curriculums. A few universities are
ahead of the curve, though, including North Carolina
State University, which has a one-year Master of Science
in Analytics (MSA) program (supported by SAS, a business
analytics software and services provider headquartered in
Cary, North Carolina), University of Ottawa, Northwestern
University, DePaul University, University of Connecticut,
and Louisiana State University. Oklahoma State, Texas
AM, Texas Tech, California State University at Long
Beach, and the University of Alabama also have strong
analytics programs (Henschen, 2012). Data analytics
courses are also available through Carnegie Mellon and
New York University (Bradshaw, 2013).
IBM is following SAS’ footsteps in helping move formal
big data analytics education forward. In late 2012,
IBM announced that it would partner with Ohio State
University to develop a new data analytics center in
Columbus, Ohio. The center will offer research, client
services, and skills training (Press, 2012). IBM plans to
hire 500 big data consultants and researchers in the
next three years to staff the center and to work with the
university to develop a curriculum in business analytics
and mathematics (SmartBrief staff, n.d.).
IBM and SAS are both involved in another effort designed
to unite the private and educational sectors to meet
big data analytics educational needs. IBM, SAS, GE,
Cisco, and NetApp have recently joined with a number
of leading research universities to form the National