Tag: Analytics Training

Fundamentals of Business Analytics > Coming June 2015 > To A Business Analytics Course Near You

SNEAK PEAK…

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2.0The book Fundamentals of Business Analytics will be the first of a it’s kind; a textbook for Business Analytics students specifically designed for the Higher Education Institutions in the Philippines. The textbook closely follows the 2013 CHED Memorandum calling on all HIEs in the Philippines to add a Business Analytics tract to their curriculum. If you are interested in helping preview the book before it goes into general production, please send an e-mail to analytics@dmaiph.com expressing your interest.

Chapter 1 – The Concept of Analytics

Chapter 2 – Who Are Analysts

Chapter 3 – Current State of Analytics in the Philippines

Chapter 4 – Why We Need More Analysts

Chapter 5 – Basic Analysis – It’s Fun and its Easy

Chapter 6 – Finding the Right Data

Chapter 7 – Big Data & Data Warehousing

Chapter 8 – Let Your Data Do the Talking

Chapter 9 – Business Intelligence & Data Visualization

Chapter 10 – Descriptive Analytics: How We Got Here

Chapter 11 – Predictive Analytics: Where We Are Going

Chapter 12 – Prescriptive Analytics: Charting Our Path

#GrowMoreDMAI

Teaching Analytics Concepts… Never Stops Being Fun For Me

So I am helping a high school student I know learn what exactly analytics is and why it is important to know about.

First thing I had her do is go to Wikipedia to look up the term and give put the meaning of analytics in her own words. She came back with…

“Analytics is the discovery and communication of meaningful patterns in data. I had researched that on Wikipedia and for me I think about analytics is about research or operating research and also about programing. This kind of word analytics can be a use in business to search for data. I’m not sure but also this is the kind of training need to be a good employee for a company.”

The next step, I told her to find a video on YouTube to watch. Anything that was short and helpful for her. Nothing too complicated or nosebleed inducing.

The awesome thing is, she typed in analytics in YouTube and one of my videos came back in the search results. Haha!!!

It’s kinda fun to be semi-famous. Here is the video: https://youtu.be/A0rFj0WVqDQ

So asked my trainee to give mer her reaction to the video. She said, “Yes you’re right analytics can help a business and its leaders.  Also you’re talking about the Philippines BPO’s of course. I see it the call centers all the time. And also you’re talking about video is training for a work force, this is for analytics jobs. This is just like what we do now… learning just what is analytics.”

The last thing I had her do for her initial orientation to analytics is look up some data on her favorite restaurant. She chose McDo… https://www.mcdonalds.com.ph/

The idea is to look up some data. Pretend we are an analyst looking to compare market share of fast food restaurants in the Philippines. For that we’d need to know the number of stores McDo has. So my young apprentice found that data… over 400. Now she can compare that to the number of stores of competitors like Jollibee and Burger King. That’s analytics in action.

Not had for a 16 year old. 🙂

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What Does A Business Analyst Actually Do?

For the sake of the CHED course on business analytics, lets look a little more closely at business analysts.

The International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) describes the role as “a liaison among stakeholders in order to understand the structure, policies, and operations of an organization, and to recommend solutions that enable the organization to achieve its goals.”

With that in mind, the next question often asked is, “What does a business analyst do?”

This is a reasonable question, because the fact is a business analyst is not limited to doing one thing. He or she wears multiple hats. He or she will be skilled in communication, negotiation, listening, and will also need to be a good team leader. They have to be good at solving problems. This means he or she will have the skills necessary to look at data and other relevant information in order to determine where the losses are within a company. They also have to understand the technology used to capture, store and analyze the data used in their company. It takes a lot to be a good business analyst.

This is where things like deep thinking and curiosity really separate good analysts from great analysts. Of the many  essential skills a business analyst will utilize here are my top 3:

(1) – Know the data. They will compare the past facts and figures to the current numbers, this will give the analyst the information to deduce or predict failure within the company.

(2) – Know the business – A business analyst is always an objective listener. They will determine the needs that management want by speaking to shareholders. This requires the analyst to ask questions, to find out what is needed, which will more than likely lead to new discoveries that may have been overlooked previously.

(3) – Know the players – Within a business there are usually different departments. A Business analyst will seek to associate and involve them-self with the various departments. This will help them identify conflicts within the various departments, which can be used to bring departments together.

As you can see it takes a lot to be a business analyst. BAs are truly a rare breed of technology loving people, who can solve problems and work well with others.

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What Kind Of Analyst Do You Want To Be?

“The main part of intellectual education is not the acquisition of facts but learning how to make facts live.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

An ANALYST is a person who analyzes and is skilled in analysis. Business Analysts (BA) are required to find, analyze and report business data to support business optimization.

The job functions of an analyst very greatly from business to business and even within each business job functions can vary from analyst to analyst. However at their core, you will find that just about anyone with analyst in the title has several things in common.

Based on the book, the Accidental Analyst, four character traits that most analysts have are:

  • 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

In addition most analysts have certain personality types:

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

These findings show a consistency across analysts no matter if their focus in on reporting, analysis and/or research, if they are working with small structured data sets or volumes of unstructured big data or if they are actively working to optimize the business or just providing information.

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Per CHED some of the analytics jobs graduates of the program should be ready for:

  • Jr. Business Analyst
  • Operations Assistant
  • (Web) Site Analyst
  • Marketing Officer
  • Jr. Operations Analyst
  • Financial Analyst
  • Supply Chain Analyst
  • Human Resources Associate
  • Training Associate
  • Administrative Associate
  • Accounting Analyst
  • Quality Assurance Analyst
  • Facilities Associate
  • Planning/Budget Analyst
  • Insurance Analyst
  • Social Media Analyst
  • Virtual Assistant
  • Customer Service Rep
  • Finance Analyst
  • Accounts Payable Analyst
  • Travel Analyst
  • Expense Analyst
  • General Accounting Analyst

This list is hardly exhaustive. On a typical day on jobstreet.com you will see hundreds of job titles that includes analyst in the title.

So I guess the next question to ask is, “What kind of analytics and analyst jobs interest you the most? ”

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.

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?

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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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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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You Don’t Build A Business… You Build People

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It’s funny to me that I shared this on LinkedIn and someone had the thought to spin it into a negative thing. Someone sarcastically replied that this is false and that big bosses just use people to make money. I’m guessing he sees this as a way to get people to work harder, but it the end only the top people benefit. Or something like that.

When I saw this, I immediately thought about a training program we have just kicked off to address a significant challenge we have in both my business and in my industry. The call center industry in the Philippines is probably one of the most hyper competitive labor markets anywhere in the world today.

To be able to be successful you need to find people who are stick around. So looking at the best way to do that is to build them up. To train them, to empower them, to enchant them.

Being equal parts educator, analyst, entrepreneur… this concept is something I firmly believe in, I have the data to back it up and the success to prove it is working. So take that mister sarcasm… DMAIPH is a great example of this philosophy actually working.

Analytics Leadership – DMAIPH 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.