The Top Human Resources Challenges as it relates to Business Analytics (BA)

PATRICIA COTTER Ed.D.

© 2014

Industry Context

• BA has become pervasive as industry

recognize its importance for their business

operations – to determine risk, detect emerging

trends and make strategic decisions.

• Data from digital activity continues to grow

exponentially – 90% of the world’s data has

been generated in just the past 2 years.

• The current shortage of BA graduates with the

required skills is expected to increase.

Industry Context

Current BA Industry Trends

Collaborationbetween

Employers and Universities is

critical to create

job-ready BA graduates.

The rapid changes in

business and

technology is establishing the

need for BA graduates with

T-Shapedskills.

Currently BA graduates lack

real world experience and

interdiscipli-nary training.

= Shortage of suitable BA graduates.

7 Must-Have BA Skills

Communication

Technical

Analytical

Problem Solving

Decision Making

Managerial

Negotiation

Source: Villanova’s

Analytics Program

HR Challenges

• BA has become more diverse, with many new

genres emerging and increasing demand.

• Widening gap in compensation that is driving

analytics overseas.

• Companies consistently report that candidates

lack the relevant academic training and real-

world seasoning that the BA field requires.

• As demand for high-aptitude, multi-skilled

employees increases, so does the shortage of

qualified candidates.

HR Challenges – The Facts

• Analytical Ability by Job Level

• Analytical Ability by Job Function

(Source: Institute for

Corporate Productivity)

Challenge #1:

Increasing Organizational Need

• Organizational need is increasing and there are

fewer candidates with the skills and knowledge

needed to drive the business.

• More people are leaving jobs than coming in –

importance of recruitment and retention of staff.

• Demand for BA skills has increased sharply

with the rise of HR analytics and Big Data.

• Now companies need BA skill sets at every

level and in every department.

Challenge #1:

Increasing Organizational Need

Source: Institute of Corporate Productivity and American Management Association , 2013

Corporations report that the rising need for BA

skills is attributed to:

• Accountability for results - 67.0%

• Competitive environment - 61.6%

• Complexity of business environment - 52.6%

• Increase in customer data - 51.3%

• Risk management - 50.7%

58% have an urgent need for BA and

82% feel the importance of BA will rise in next 5 years.

Challenge #2:

Lack of T-Shaped Graduates

•T-Shaped graduates

possess deep

disciplinary knowledge

and the ability to

communicate across

social, cultural and

economic boundaries.

• Widening gap between

graduates and industry

requirements.

Challenge #3:

Limitations to Building BA Skills

• The main obstacles affecting the development

of BA skills in the workforce are:

(Source: Institute for Corporate Productivity)

• Corporations are not looking for BA specialists -

rather developing a workforce that has BA skills

at all levels and across multiple departments.

Discussion

How will industry, education and HR

specialists address these challenges?

HR Recommendations

A number of HR strategies must be employed to

address the current HR challenges in the BA field:

Workforce Planning Recruitment

Retention Strategies Organizational Design

Leadership Development Workforce Safety

Workforce Transitions Health and Productivity

Wider Recommendations

• Create more flexible career paths.

• Encourage diversity (from under represented

groups) to improve innovation and output.

• Raise awareness, especially with recruiters.

• Promote further collaboration and alignment

between tertiary institutions and industry.

• Through reforms in educational curriculum and

internships which develop students specifically

to industry needs prior to graduation.

= Student Centered Training Model

Student Centered Training Model

Suggested Model

for BA Training

Conclusion

• BA is becoming a crucial component of

innovation, new-product development,

customer insights and corporate decision

making in many industries.

• Demand is rising and supply is not sustainable.

• Finding, acquiring and retaining top BA talent

will require innovative skills and sourcing

strategies to address mismatches.

• Companies that make this investment will

achieve a competitive advantage over rivals.

CONTACT

pcotter@us.ibm.com

www.linkedin.com/in/triciacotter

@triciacotter