Month: March 2015

Finding Data For A Case Study In Outsourcing

Taking a business projects I did a few years ago and turning it in to a case study exercise for a group of students.

Project Goal – To determine the viability of outsourcing 3-5 engineering jobs (Project Engineer and Draftsman) from the home office in Rotterdam to the rep office in the Philippines.

Current Situation – There is currently a rep office in Makati that has the space to add at least 3-5 engineering jobs. This study will determine if outsourcing these positions will result in cost savings as well as add value to the overall company operations.

This study will provide answers to three questions:

Is Makati an viable outsourcing solution?

What is the average salary for talent in Makati?

Is anyone else outsourcing along similar lines?

Recommendations – We recommend the following actions to ensure the overall success of an outsourcing transition.

  1. Conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis comparing current and future salaries and benefits of staff in Rotterdam and Manila.
  2. Post a job listing to see what kind of candidates apply and screen them as future hires.
  3. Market to OFWs as they return from aboard as they are the most likely pool of experienced candidates.
  4. Contract a local Subject Matter Expert who can be hired as the Team Lead who can take the lead in filling out the staff.

Analytics Outsourcing – DMAIPH has successful set up Filipino analytics teams for over a dozen U.S. based businesses. Offering both virtual and office based teams that specialize in problem solving using data, new technology and analytics techniques is our strength. Finding and empowering analytics talent is increasingly challenging, but we have it down to a science. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to learn more about how to set up an analytics-centric team in the Philippines.

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Sheer Force Of Progress

http://www.indiatvnews.com/business/india/outsourcing-in-asia-hotspots-18040.html

I come across these kinds of articles all the time. They mean a lot to, for a lot of different reasons.

They are justification for me leaving behind a nice salary and a challenging position at Wells.

They are good indicators that we are not even close to the peak of BPO growth in the Philippines.

They remind me of all the work that lies ahead.

They also remind me that the biggest risk to the industry is not something most people comprehend… the skills mismatch.

But most of all, they give me hope that the sheer force of progress may still uplift the Philippines during my lifetime.

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Analytics Tip > Keep Your Data Clean

http://bicorner.com/2015/03/22/5-nuggets-from-the-big-data-driven-business/

Came across this interesting post on LinkedIn…

Database quality now has an unprecedented impact on the success of Big Data initiatives. To ensure that these databases are as productive as possible, Marketers must maintain good data hygiene.

Five steps for cleaner data:

1) Make sure your data entry team is keying in data accurately in the first place.  Make the data entry team a priority.

2) Incentivize your sales team, call-center squad and other customer facing employees to regularly request updated contact information and other data from the customers they encounter.

3) Use available software, such as Trillium, to streamline the process of cleansing, correcting and updating email and postal addresses.

4) Allow customers access to their records so they can help keep them accurate.  Consider offering discounts as an incentive for customers to participate.

5) Regularly contact customers, either via phone or email, to update records.  This approach is critical with the most important accounts.

Having clean data is very, very important.

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I have my admin team refresh my connection data on LinkedIn on a regular basis so our mailings lists stay up to date.

We also have audits of our client pipeline to make sure all relevant applicant data is captured for analysis.

Make sure you put some thought into how to keep your data clean!

Analytics is the application of using data and analysis to discover patterns in data. DMAIPH specializes in empowering and enabling leaders, managers, professionals and students with a mastery of analytics fundamentals.

DMAIPH is also a founding member of the Analytics Council of the Philippines and specializes in arming the Data-Driven Leader with the tools and techniques they need to build and empower an analytics centric organization. Analytics leadership requires a mastery of not just analytics skill, but also of nurturing an analytics culture. We have guided thousands of Filipino professionals to become better analytics leaders. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to discuss a uniquely tailored strategy to ensure you are the top of your game when it comes to Analytics Leadership.

Talented Philippines! A Really Helpful Resource For BPO Professionals

http://www.talentedphilippines.com/

Came across this new book and just ordered it. Im pretty excited about it.

In a nutshell… Talented Philippines answers critical questions for multinational corporations currently operating in, expanding or establishing operations in the Philippines.

Some of the key questions tackled in the book:

What are the critical business issues for multinationals in the Philippines?

What are the key talent management implications?

How have the Philippine’s best organizations addressed those challenges?

talented philippines

Talented Philippines was created to address the critical business and HR issues impacting the Philippines today as the country continues to transform. Based on the responses of more than 650 business and HR practitioners at the forefront of HR innovation, thought leadership and implementation in the country, the book explores the people management priorities across small, medium and large enterprises operating in the Philippines. Combined with numerous case studies that highlight the experiences of leading organizations and insight from a wide cross-section of public and private sector enterprises, Talented Philippines offers global best practices for multinational companies looking to leverage the great promise of this flourishing nation and its talented workforce.

This is well timed as the last year has seen a quickening of the talent war in the Philippines as the issue of a skills mismatch between job seekers and employers has really come to a head. It is a must read for anyone involved in the BPO industry in the Philippines.

However, there is one thing that based on what I see so far, is missing form this book. The fact that no matter how awesome a company’s HR practitioners are… they are still trying to find talent when it is truly lacking in a natural state. As a companion piece to this book, would be solid advice on how, when, where and why to invest more in training… especially pre-hire training and training geared towards internal advancement.

No matter how great an HR team is, they still have to get the right people in the door to apply and that seems to be the issue… because even in country of 90 million there is just not enough Filipinos with the skill sets and/or aptitude for a BPO career right now. The demand will only be met if the supply is given more training, more preparation and more data to make good career decisions.

Dr. Data_Analytics in the Philippines
If you like this book, you will probably enjoy my new book as well. Putting Your Data to Work is a guidebook designed to help Filipinos get started with building a good analytics culture in their business. Connect with me if you are interested in purchasing a copy for only 600 PHP.

HR & Recruitment Analytics – The recruitment and retention of top talent is the biggest challenge facing just about every organization. DMAIPH is a leading expert in empowering HR & Recruitment teams with analytics techniques to optimize their talent acquisition and management processes. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to learn how to get more analytics in your HR & Recruitment process so you can rise to the top in the ever quickening demand for top talent.

Training Opportunity To Train the Teachers Who Teach Business Analytics

The more I sink my teeth into the CHED memo, I find more and more business opportunites.

CHED is requiring that all faculty members should posses the educational qualifications, professional experience, and teaching ability for the successful conduct of the program.

Requirements include:

  1. At least a bachelor’s degree holder
  2. At least 2 years experience in the field of specialization that will be taught by the faculty or has undergone specializes training in Business Analytics from reputable institutions and has some experience in the required field of specialization.
  3. Industry practitioners and entrepreneurs in knowledge-based enterprises and services even without a master’s degree will be allowed to team teach with a designated faculty member. Industry practitioners will be allowed to each with a designated faculty member.
  4. Industry associations and companies wihc are engaged in service knowledge enterprise and services practically in IT education and business analytics should provide opportunities for faculty development to improve their teaching skills and upgrade course materials as well as continuing education for professional growth and research. It is strongly suggested that and HEI should at least have one industry partner with a MOA to ensure technology transfer, faculty training and OJT placements.
  5. Top academic institutions should invite knowledgeable speakers and professors to conduct seminars and training programs on the Business Analytics to help enhance the ideas of the faculty training on Business Analytics.

Just coming up with training materials and doing workshops alone is one thing DMAI will be launching soon to meet this need.

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Building Our Brand

I had the privilege of working for the bank that is routinely ranked as one of, if not the top banking brands in the world. In my 15 years with Wells Fargo I learned some very valuable lessons about branding and how it can be used not just in marketing but across the organization to bring about a sense of enchantment to both customers and employees.

Having that experience, I continue to guide DMAI in a similar direction. We have a great logo, a clear mission to become the top name in analytics in the Philippines, a great tagline in Making Data-Driven Decisions and my name and face have come to stand as one of the more recognizable players in the BPO industry in the Philippines.

We have built a solid brand. Now as we grow, the challenge is to keep pushing the brand forward with equal amounts of consistency and innovation. We have a great story to tell when it comes to our origins, our evolution as a business and our role in the future of analytics in the Philippines.

With that in mind, I want to firmly establish some DMAI Brand Guidelines for all of our print, online and social media marketing efforts. We have a great team working on building the brand, so imagine how much more impactful we can be if we follow these simple points:

  1. Stick with red, white, blue and black. Look at the great brands of the world and you will notice the always have the same colors in use. McDo has Red and Gold. IBM has blue and white. Apple is silver.
  2. Size of fonts should always be readable (big enough to see without looking at it closely). You can never have a font size too big. If you can’t read something from 10-15 feet away, the message you are trying to convey is powerless. Verdana is the most easy to read font form either close up or far away.
  3. Company Name should always be DMAI (Decision- Making, Analytics and Intelligence). Ever since we started the company year 2013, we’ve been using the term DMAI in Social Media, Radio Guesting’s, Seminars and Speaking Engagements. There are 3 different companies under the DMAI umbrella already and soon we will be adding a 4th. BDO is BDO in public even though its legal name is Banco de Oro Unibank Inc.
  4. For job fair marketing materials (banners, standees, flyers, brochures) you can either use pictures of the employees with or without me, never with me alone. Always include the logo and avoid being wordy. Our message when it comes to hiring has to be about our team members.
  5. For all non-job related marketing materials, this is where we leverage my image. My name and face give us a lot of mileage within the academic and professional worlds. I really have successfully become the biggest name in analytics in the Philippines. Let’s keep maximizing that fact.
  6. For FB paid ad, layouts may not include images compromised of more than 20% text. Simple is best. Lots of open space, a catchy image and the bare minimum use of text. 90% of our FB messages are viewed on mobile devices.

I hope these points help guide us all in our marketing efforts. DMAI is well on its way to being a powerful and successful brand, and as Wells Fargo’s brand says… “Together, we will go far.”

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Looking More Closely At The CHED Memorandum on Business Analytics

Looking closer at the course description for the Fundamentals of Business Analytics course published by CHED in 2013. Amazing how closely it matches to the Intro to Analytics training i have been doing since 2012 when I founded BPO Elite.

The course provides students with an overview of the current trends in business analytics that drives today’s businesses. The course will provide understanding on data management techniques that can help and organization to achieve its business goals and address operational challenges.

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Define business requirements.
  2. Verify correctness of the contents of the data architecture.
  3. Describe where to look for data in an organization and create required reports.
  4. Understand data management concepts and criticality of data availability in order to make reliable business decisions.
  5. Demonstrate understanding of business intelligence including the importance of data gathering, data storing, data analyzing and accessing data.
  6. Understanding the functions and data access constraints of various departments within an organization and identify reports that are crucial for intelligent decision-making
  7. Work on various analytics tools available in the market for various business functions.
  8. Participate actively in business discussions with various departments and create common reports or specific/unique reports with regard to predictive and prescriptive analytics.

I think the biggest areas that I can add to my approach and highlight in my book is the reporting piece. How to create a report and make it a living document is something a lot harder then most people think.

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Analytics Education – Facilitating a mastery of the fundamentals of analytics is what DMAIPH does best. As a key parnter of the Data Science Philippines Meetup Group, DMAIPH champions the use of using data. All across the world, companies are scrambling to hire analytics talent to optimize the big data they have in their businesses. We can empower students and their instructors with the knowledge they need to prepare for careers in analytics. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can set a guest lecturer date, On-the-Job Training experience or other analytics education solution specifically tailored to your needs.

Why The Philippines? The Shift In Services Across The Globe Leads to My Adopted Country

“The world is currently witnessing a fundamental reorganization in the way services are delivered to customers. This is what is behind the movement to outsource. It’s a lot more than just saving money by shipping jobs overseas.” – Harvard Professor Robert E. Kennedy

In his book the Services Shift, Kennedy outlines 5 primary reasons for this shift in services. All 5 have a great deal of influence on why the Philippines has become the call center capital of the world.

The globalization of services, in which different tasks are being carried out by different individuals in different locations, is about gaining access to the best combination of talent, resources and markets.

  • Technological Innovations like easy access to the internet and stored data.
  • Emerging Market Growth in traditionally closed markets
  • Global Macroeconomic Liberalization of government polices toward trade
  • The Corporate Imperative to both reduce costs and improve quality
  • The Convergence of a Global Business Culture based on the English language and American business models.

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There are so many forces for this move to outsource and analytics has moved to the top of everyone’s wish list of things to look globally for.

If you have been thinking about getting your feet wet in setting up a team in the Philippines, I can help. I have set up a dozen different teams of all shapes and sizes for various U.S. companies.

Adding a team in the Philippines will add a lot of value to your business, so connect with men and we can discuss a specific solution for you.

HR & Recruitment Analytics – The recruitment and retention of top talent is the biggest challenge facing just about every organization. You really have to Think Through The Box to come up with winning solutions to effectively attract, retain and manage talent in the Philippines today.

DMAIPH is a leading expert in empowering HR & Recruitment teams with analytics techniques to optimize their talent acquisition and management processes. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to learn how to get more analytics in your HR & Recruitment process so you can rise to the top in the ever quickening demand for top talent.

What Makes A Good Analyst?

Three different sources on what makes a good analyst…

From one of the most influential books I have ever read,  the Accidental Analyst… An ANALYST is a person who analyzes and skilled in analysis. Four Character Traits that most analysts have:

  • PASSION for helping people solve real problems
  • KNOWLEDGE of the business being analyzed
  • EXPOSURE to thinking analytically and problem solving tools
  • EXPERIENCE using data to solve problems

Certain personality types most analysts have:

  • reflective
  • intuitive
  • deep-thinkers
  • and able to make quick judgments

In addition, the International Institute for Analytics and Vendor Talent Analytics, Corp. surveyed 302 analytics professionals in 2013. Curiosity came out as the top skill in a study of the characteristics of analytics pros.

And finally from KDnuggets.com:

“The Analytics Professionals in our 2012 Study are very creative and curious. They have an insatiable thirst to learn; wanting to look everything up on the Internet immediately because they simply “have to know.”. When something doesn’t work, they’ll assume there is a rational explanation and jump in to find and solve it.”

Print

Guidelines For BS in Business Adminstration Track In Business Analytics.

file:///C:/Users/Dan/Desktop/CHED%20CMO-No.-11-s2013.pdf

This is pretty school stuff! To the best of my knowledge, no other government body anywhere in the world is taking such an active approach to updating college curriculums to implement analytics training.

Recent innovations “have developed new tools and techniques enabling business management and public institutions to adopt business analytics into their organizational processes and information ecosystems. Necessarily, from such innovations emerged corresponding demand for human resources with skills and competencies defined by users of business analytics and translated by CHED into industry led curriculum.”

DMAI has been actively taking part in both awareness building around the demand for analysts and in training on business analytics for over 2 years now. The time is NOW to take things to the next level!

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