The “DMAI” in Risk & Compliance

When it comes to risk and compliance, the most successful teams are the ones who empower data-driven decision-making through the use of analytics and business intelligence. By bringing together the best talent, cutting edge technology and tried and true methodologies risk can be optimally mitigated and compliance best achieved.

The three primary skill sets I bring to the table are data-driven decision-making, analytics and business intelligence have served me well in both my risk and compliance work with Wells Fargo and in running my own business. Finding the right data at the right time is key to seeing potential issues before they arise, quickly solving them once they do, and putting the monitoring in place to make sure they don’t happen again.

Some of the risk and compliance successes I have achieved during my career include:

Managed project teams on a variety of analytics and compliance initiatives while providing guidance to less experienced consultants. This includes extensive anti-money laundering research and investigation data projects for bank remittances.
Identified compliance training opportunities and designed compliance training materials while with Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage on various investment products.
Delivered extensive training on using big data and analytics to mitigate risk and follow compliance requirements across various financial services companies in the Philippines.
Have worked with a variety of internal and external resources during my 15 years with Wells Fargo to provide my expertise in analytics, risk management and compliance adherence.
Applied my process improvement knowledge (Lean Six Sigma) and data analysis expertise to develop corrective action plans and facilitate change with several departments of Wells Fargo and with dozens on clients in the Philippines.
Developed comprehensive reports and business dashboards using MS Excel, Tableau and Qlikview to deliver analysis to senior business leaders to influence the establishment of risk detection and mitigation controls. Relevant reporting topics from my time in Wells Fargo Card Services include anti-money laundering, remittance limit hits, high risk customer behavior, card services usage, competitor intelligence, household cross sell, and market penetration.
Worked closely with IT teams at various points in my career to develop security controls, risk monitoring tools, and QA reports to determine effectiveness of payment solutions with both Wells Fargo and within my own outsourcing business. I know how to code, I know how data is structured, and I know how data should be reported when it comes to risk & compliance.

10406025_10152524531307425_1404103117_n Overall, I have 20 plus years working in positions where managing risk and meeting compliance standards are part of the daily routine.

This has gifted me with an extensive knowledge and understanding of payment products like credit cards and remittances, fraud detection and prevention, and practical experience with risk monitoring and controls.

So from my perspective, Risk Management & Compliance needs to be neck deep in data-driven Decision-Making, Analytics and business Intelligence to be able to stay ahead of the game.

Analytics Consulting – DMAIPH specializes in a variety of analytics consulting solutions designed to empower analysts, managers and leaders with the tools needed for more data-driven decision-making. We have helped dozens of companies get more analytics in their business. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can tailor an analytics solution made just for your unique requirements.

Why Analytics Projects Fail: #3 – Lack of Management Support

Nothing sucks more for an analyst than taking on an analytics project without support from above. Great analysts are generally only great if they have bosses who advocate for more analytics.

If no one at the top really understands the benefits of implementing your project, if the leadership will continue to use their gut in decision-making regardless of what your project achieves, then start updating your resume. This outcome happens often when the company does not have a business culture supportive of data-driven decision-making.

In this day and age, good analysts are hard to come by…. You can make more money and be happier somewhere else. Trust me. The chances of you being able to turn analytics naysayers into big data believers is highly unlikely.

That said, if you chose to give it a try… here are a few thoughts on how to get management to become more supportive of your analytics project.

Watch the Brad Pitt movie Moneyball. It will inspire you. Read the book Enchantment by Guy Kawaskai. It will empower you. Im not joking. You cant do this on your own.

After that, then you need to do a few things.

First find the person in upper management most likely to get on board. Ask them to help you. Show them data that will outline the better new world after your project is complete. Tell them about analytics success stories (like Moneyball). Let them see your passion for data-driven decision-making. You need Brad Pitt.

Next, using the concept of Enchantment, determine what is it about you and your project that will build trust. Will it create more transparency? Will it mitigate risk? Something that demonstrates how this project will increase the level of trust between everyone.

You also need to be likeable. Your project needs to be likeable too. What is it about the project that will make people happy? Who gets a better report, faster and with more useful data? Who gets to start using a business dashboard to make quicker and better decisions? What will each of the stakeholders like about this project.

And then you roll out the great cause. The monetary value generated from implantation. The level of risk mitigated. The better intelligence on competitors or about your market. What will be that great cause?

So now you are in a better position to be Jonah Hiil and go start changing minds and swinging opinions about your analytics project.

Analytics Culture – The key to using analytics in a business is like a secret sauce. It is a unique combination of analytics talent, technology and technique that are brought together to enrich and empower an organization. A successful analytics culture is not easy to create, but DMAIPH can show you how. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can build a strategic plan to turn your company into analytics driven success story.

Why Analytics Projects Fail: #2 – Lack of Vision

Lack of vision often accompanies lack of focus when good analytics projects come up short or even fail.

The end product produced by the hard work being put into the analytics project has to be championed from top down. If the top dog is not talking about your project and pushing the merits of its implementation, they people will fight getting on board. Their focus will go astray.

Lack of vision is most often caused by a rush to implement a new analytics tool or a need to quickly upgrade reporting. A good analytics solution needs clearly thought out goals and buy in from all stakeholders.

Vision comes from being on the same page. A good project manager can control the vision message and repeat it like a broken record at every project message. An analyst gifted with good communication skills can keep sharing the vision to remind everyone of the benefits at the end of the project. It takes people dedicated to the project to keep it moving.

Vision can be handled like a marketing campaign. A catchy project name, an engaging tagline, a central theme accompanying communications and updates can all keep people focused on the end goal.

If your project is floundering because of lack of vision, then you need to channel your inner cheerleader. It often takes an analytics champion to produce the a positive outcome. And if you are reading this blog, that champion is probably you.

Nothing helps get a vision across better than good visuals… what does the end state look like for everyone involved. Find ways to motivate them with posters, with slogans, with dashboards, with free food. Just keep reminding them where we are going and how awesome it will be when we get there.

Lack of vision can also be an issue when an analytics projects are not well planned out. Maybe the scope was too narrow or too broad or perhaps the technology we are using is obsolete.

Vision is a glimpse of what the future may look like. If I can’t conceptualize why we are doing what we are doing for this project, then we can’t very well share the vision we are supposed to be seeing.

My final thought on dealing with lack of vision, is that no one will be better at fixing this then you. As a data person, you have to be bold in your use of data to push the vision and you have to be brave in taking the lead on sharing the vision as much as possible.

Analytics should be accessible across your organization. If you are in a situation where your analytics efforts are being stymied by lack of vision, connect with me and I’ll help you get things straightened out.

Analytics Culture – The key to using analytics in a business is like a secret sauce that fuels Data-Driven Decison-Making. It is a unique combination of analytics talent, technology and technique that are brought together to enrich and empower an organization. A successful analytics culture is not easy to create, but DMAIPH can show you how. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can build a strategic plan to turn your company into analytics driven success story.

Why Analytics Projects Fail: #1 – Lack of Focus

Lack of focus is common reason analytics projects fail. Keeping a focus on any project can be a challenge for companies that are not well organized. If you are an analyst or trying to champion analytics in your organization and are up against a lack of focus, I have some ideas for you.

First off, size really isn’t a factor when it comes to the organizational culture towards being organized. In some cases size makes the problem more apparent, but size can also mean more resources, so in most cases its really not a serious issue.

There is generally a strong correlation be the way data is handled in a business and how organized the company is in other ways. Lots of paper, manual processes and clearly define process flows may look organized, but it’s highly unlikely they deliver the type of data leadership really needs.

Lack of focus often happens when leaders seem overwhelmed and say they don’t have time to dedicate to things like analytics. The first thing you need to figure out is are people resources really stretched too thin or is it more a cultural issue where being too busy is more of a badge of honor.

The best way to deal with overworked teams is to start putting data around what they do every day and come up with solutions to improve time management and delegation. Few people can truly say they have extra time, but everyone can say they need to figure out how to manage time better. A good analytics solution does just that.

Few people can rationally explain why their job would be harder if they had more analytics. So it’s not too hard to get people to buy into the concept of analytics, but to get them to buy into the actual practice you need to be part salesman and part storyteller.

You need to show them the value putting a greater focus on your analytics project will bring to both the business as a whole and to each individual involved in the project. Besides showing data to champion the use of more data, you need to tell stories about how its helped in other places. You need to get them to envision how much better life will be once your project is complete.

Lack of focus can also come when the project is not well thought out of you get scope creep… when additions are made to a project that start distracting people form the original goal of the project. It is hard to stay focused when you don’t see focus in the project itself.

The final point I’ll make is that you also need visible and consistent buy in from the person(s) in charge. If they are not advocating for analytics, then your project will never get the focus from stakeholders and project team members you need then you will fail.

The Five Stages of HR & Recruitment Analytics

I’ve seen a couple of articles recently espousing a set number of stages in HR and/or Recruitment Analytics. Based on my knowledge, the 5 stages of analytics a people-centric department can experience are the following:

Stage 1 – The Data Dark Age – No analytics at all. Pipelines are either in MS Excel, a very old proprietary data based or maybe even on paper. Nothing is really analyzed, data quality is bad, and reports are pretty useless. Not collaboration exists between HR, Recruitment and other business lines.

Stage 2 – Living in Data Castles – Only a few people use analytics and most key management decisions are not made based on data, but on experience. Every department has data stored within its own data base. Its nearly impossible to share data due to poor data architecture. HR data is incomplete and the recruitment process does not have any dynamic reporting.

Stage 3 – The Flat Data Organization – Some people use some analytics to make some decisions, but its generally inconsistent across the organization. Data is generally historical and used tactically to understand simple patterns and effects. Some of the data castles have evolved to data explorers, venturing out to find and use new data sources, but many castles still remain in the organization. Generally HR and Recrutiment are using a people management and/or recruitment management software. Reports are useful and drive some decisions by management, but there is major room for improvement. Some data leads to buried treasure, but some leads you off the map… data quality is inconsistent.

Stage 4 – Civilized Data Flow – Most decision makers have access and generally use analytics. Several key team members have strong analyst backgrounds. Data is easily shared between teams. Most managers look at data before making a decision, and analysts have a say in business strategy based on their analysis. People are empowered to do their own discovery and analysis. The organization has answers to questions about recruitment efforts and HR trends. Waste is controlled with effective people and recruitment management software. Business dashboards are being used to convey a lot of information.

Stage 5 – Data Nirvana – Every team member from top down knows analytics, has access to the data they need and are empowered to take action on it. There are minimal hindrances to sharing data. It is hard to find a place like this but, when you do recruitment works like a well-oiled machine, HR analytics are predictive and driving recruitment efforts. There is never a question management asks, that there is not a data driven explanation to answer with. Business dashboards are interactive and real time. Surprises are minimal and solutions come quick and founded on business data and insight. Open posts are filled quickly and people stick around because there needs are proactively being addressed.

So what phase is your organization in? Where do you want it to be? I can help you assess where you are and we can design steps to get your where you want to go.

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.

HR Analytics – Curiosity Trumps Technique

I came across an advertisement for an upcoming HR Analytics training a few days ago.

It’s a three-day class that goes pretty heavy into the technical side of HR Analytics. Like most analytics training classes being offered in the market right now there is a lot of emphasis how to gather data and report it. I am starting to see a little more emphasis in data visualization and building more dynamic reports, which is encouraging.

However, no matter what analytics tool you have, and how well your HR analysts are in using the technology, if your HR analysts aren’t empowered to really ask questions and unleash their curiosity on the people data they have access to, then you really won’t see a significant success when it comes to using data.

In addition, if your business is not ready to have an ongoing discussion about how to use the data to improve decision-making at all levels of the organization then you are not going to be successful either. You need an analytics centric culture to really benefit from all the amazing tools and techniques now available to HR teams.

When you look over the agenda of an HR Analytics training class and you don’t see anything about culture, empowerment, data-driven decision-making, or dynamic reporting using interactive tools… then it is highly unlikely you will benefit much from sending anyone to these types of trainings.

If you would prefer to send your team to a training where your HR analysts and managers will not just learn a few techniques and demo a few tools, but really get into what it means to be an HR analyst and how HR can be at the forefront of building an analytics centric culture, then I would be happy to include them in my next HR analytics training class.

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.

DMAIPH Fuels New Businesses Ready For Launch (3 of 3)

The third type of company we can add value too is one ready to launch. You have a great idea, you have the funding, you have an awesome product or service, but you aren’t 100% sure if you have everything you need to get out there and make money. . We can offer our business intelligence package of demographic profiling, competitive landscaping, social media strategy and market assessment. We can also offer virtual staffing support to assist with marketing and operations. Our hybrid staffing solutions will give you access to a very talented work force that is flexible and affordable.

We have shown marked achievement in helping a couple of new businesses get out of the gate successfully. One client we helped was a mobile app designer who had a great idea, enough capital tyo get started, but little idea on how to really understand the opportunity to make money. In addition, the client was hesitant to take on all the HR work in hiring a team when he had no idea how many people he would need in the short term. We helped them with both.

Using the same methodology, we used with the chiropractor, we conducted a business intelligence assessment to help figure out how to identify customers and where to find them. We also used our home based, hybrid staffing model to hire six people to help the client have get off the ground. Charged with editing pictures for the mobile app site based on set criteria, 24/7, with as close to real time response as possible, the team quickly became a key part of the business strategy.

Another new business we helped get off the ground was someone who wanted to open a call center business in Manila. She was well funded and motivated, but didn’t really know where to start. The client really needed help knowing how to settle on a location and to set up the business. She also need help designing her marketing and social media strategy. So that is where we started.

We developed a social media strategy for the business for both client marketing and employee recruitment. You would be surprised by the number of businesses who still have not figured out an online branding strategy to sell their business.

In parallel with the social media, we also conducted a business intelligence assessment to help her pin down the location for her to set up the business. Worried about being in a place that was both convenient and not overly saturated by competitor, our data and analysis pointed her to the right place. She has been there for 4 years now, expanded her site twice to accommodate growth, and added several new customers all while having little challenge in recruitment.

If you are thinking of starting a new business, we can help. Let us show you how to use the data around you to make good strategic decisions.

DMAIPH Helps Companies Revitalize Their Business (2 of 3)

The second type of company we have helped successfully is one looking to revitalize. Profits are down, customer flow has shrunk, product and services aren’t selling like they used too. We can offer our business intelligence package of customer insights, demographic profiling, competitive landscaping and market assessment. We can also offer virtual staffing support to assist with marketing, scheduling and follow-up.

I’d like to share a story about one of our clients who came to us at a crossroads with his business. This client is a chiropractor who was trying to figure out what to do with his business. Having lost 40% of his patient base and seen his revenue drop by 60%. He was at a cross road. He had tried a couple of consultants, spent lots of money and was still heading the wrong direction.

In talking with him, it was clear he had lost touch with his market and was not able to offer a very compelling solution to bring new clients in. We suggested we do a series of business intelligence exercises to help understand more about his business, the opportunity around him and come up with some potential solutions.

Because he didn’t have a lot of money to waste, we suggested using a team of interns to help keep costs down. It would be a great analytics exercise for the doctor’s practice and for the eager young minds we had been working with.

We dove into the project and came up with the following resources; we built a competitive landscape, constructed a demographic profile and put together a customer insights report. Each one using public data, analysis done by the interns with my guidance and direction, and used Tableau to roll all the data and findings into a dashboard to show the doctor how he’d gotten to the point he was currently at.

After identifying some action items based on our assessment, we then helped the doctor but some into practice and helped him turn his business around successfully.

By employing very curious minds, giving them direction on where to find data and how to analyze it and sharing the data with an open-minded end user, we successfully validated my approach to using analytics to help a small business. We have done the same for a half dozen other small businesses and can do the same for yours.

Analytics Consulting – As a founding member of Gloabl Chamber Manila, DMAIPH specializes in a variety of analytics consulting solutions designed to empower analysts, managers and leaders with the tools needed for more data-driven decision-making.

We have helped dozens of companies get more analytics in their business. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly so we can tailor an analytics solution made just for your unique requirements.

DMAIPH is Good at Helping Companies Looking to Expand (1 of 3)

The first type of company we generally get involved with is companies looking to expand. Huge growth is just around the corner and there is a need to staff up quickly, but given some uncertainty as to how much growth will be needed how soon, you want a little more flexibility in staffing. Our virtual, hybrid staffing solutions will give you access to a very talented work force that is flexible and affordable. We can also assist with developing the expansion strategy with our business intelligence package of demographic profiling, competitive landscaping and market assessment.

Let me tell you about one of our clients who came to us in expansion mode. We started with six work from home staff who were tasked with adding key words to online auction items. Starting with a small team who would just do a small percentage of the key wording for our client. We quickly found our talent pool was very large and very deep. So we quickly built the team up to a dozen and then 25 and ultimately 50 people. We worked closely with the client at first but over the first six months also built up our own expertise to the point, the client became very hands off.

Work from home positions make a lot of sense for this work as its very independent and easy to assign, track and review. We also got past a lot of challenges with work from home team, but really building the team using social media to connect them and make them feel like part of the larger organization. This hybrid approach where the employees feel both independent and connected has led to extremely low attrition.

We also found that in the Philippines, there are literally a million former call center employees, with college degrees, good English and the drive to do a good job who left the call center industry to spend more time with family. So our work from home jobs are right in line with their needs.

Things have worked so well, the client has had us add a graphic design team, an email-marketing team, a desktop support team and a customer care team in addition to the key word team. The key word team has added a QA team and a 2^nd level support team as well.

From a financial standpoint we helped the client save a lot of money by staffing in multiple locations, added the ability to do 24/7 customer care and never miss a beat with meeting our SLA.

This is the kind of thing we can do for any company looking to expand both rapidly and strategically using our home based, virtual team solution. Just connect with me and I will explain how.

Q8: Here’s something a lot of us are wondering, what exactly is big data?

Think about some of the things you do in your daily life. You get up, you eat, go to work/school, shop, do something for entertainment, bank, go online and do things on social media. Everything you do generates data. That data is captured in countless ways. And then its stored in countless places. And analyzed by countless numbers of people. And then used in countless ways by businesses to market, design, advertise, build, sell, and so on.

Every time you check your phone to see if there are any updates on Facebook you generate a lot of data for your phone manufacturer, your service provider and Facebook itself. Everything you like or comment on can be turned into a data point. The time, place and length of your connection all provide useful data. Get the point? Its endless.

That’s big data.

In general, big data is thought of as all the data businesses capture and store in a database that they can use for business decision-making.

When you think of data collections that have millions and millions of rows of data like big bank transaction data, or traffic data for major cities, or all the statistics captured everyday across professional sports. Way too much for man to analyze without help from technology. That’s all big data.

Every business defines its big data a little differently. There is no one way to look at how best to manage big data because big data is such a living, evolving, never ending flow of information. It’s like lakes of water that are too big to swim across and too deep to dive to the bottom of without help. And no two lakes are alike.

Data analysts and data scientists are the ones who know the lake and guide you across or build you a submarine to explore the bottom.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, knowing the data environment is key to your success. And big data just adds weight to that statement. If you don’t know where all the data is coming from, can’t be sure if its clean, then you will get lost in the deluge of big data.

The Fundamental of Business Analytics – Business Analytics is the application of talent, technology and technique on business data for the purpose of extracting insights and discovering opportunities.

DMAIPH specializes in empowering organizations, schools, and businesses with a mastery of the fundamentals of business analytics. Contact DMAIPH now at analytics@dmaiph.com or connect with me directly to find out how you can strengthen your business analytics fundamentals.

	DMAIPH on You Don’t Build A Busine…
	Ioliveiraserpa on You Don’t Build A Busine…
	DMAIPH on The Current Analytics Talent L…
	John on The Current Analytics Talent L…
	Dominic on Outsourcing Tip > Size the…