Thriving in the age of information abundance

The landscape

Many organizations are swimming in a sea of data. From employee demographics to performance metrics and 3rd party systems to external datasets, valuable insights may be hidden within vast, often siloed datasets. Unlocking this potential presents an opportunity for Global Talent Mobility to drive strategic decision-making, enhance compliance, promote DEI initiatives, and prove its impact on the organization's bottom line.

The challenge

The paradox is clear: According to the 2023 Deloitte Human Capital Trends survey,

For many companies, the challenge is great with an overestimation of the difficulty and too many possibilities for progress leading to ‘choice paralysis’ and inactivity.

However, there is value being realized by companies who tackle the information abundance head on, taking steps to realize benefits now without losing focus on the value to be realized in the longer term.

The opportunity

In the short term, many organizations are building momentum by taking small steps that will advance their data capabilities of the future whilst generating some buzz about their service delivery. Challenges that seemed insurmountable without significant investment 2 or 3 years ago can now be overcome with off-the-shelf capabilities already present in the company.?

These steps can be as basic as focusing on data accuracy and completeness. No longer accepting the excuse that rubbish data leads to rubbish output, they are looking at ways to enable access to accurate, complete, and timely data, implementing regular audit processes including basic automated rules to analyze whether errors are proactively identified and corrected.? This prerequisite foundation often leads to visualizing the data to enable better decision-making and encourage proactive action.? By restoring the trust in the data, we have seen the adage, ‘what’s measured gets done,’ proved correct time and again.

For others, the challenge has moved on from the foundational matters to carefully considering where to invest for the longer term, to see the returns that have an effective impact on organizational strategy.

Imagine:

·?????? Predictive Talent Acquisition: Anticipate future workforce needs based on data-driven insights, sourcing and securing top talent before competitors.

·?????? Dynamic Compliance Management: Leverage real-time data to proactively identify and address potential compliance risks, mitigating penalties and reputational damage.

·?????? Personalized Employee Experience: Tailor benefits, development opportunities, and relocation support to individual needs and preferences, fostering a culture of engagement and retention.

·?????? Data-driven decision-making: Move beyond intuition and anecdotal evidence to base strategic decisions on concrete data analysis, enabling objectivity and enhancing impact.

An important component lies in a clear data strategy aligned to the business’s strategic priorities. For every opportunity, there is a corresponding data set that must be usable and up to date which comes at a cost, so it is imperative that it also comes with a strategic benefit. This data strategy can help create a framework for continuous measurement of change impact, creating a rapid feedback loop for ongoing improvement and enhancement with a clear cost-benefit analysis.

Artificial intelligence

We are increasingly seeing generative AI tools being adopted within the workplace today primarily through third-party productivity tools or in-house Generative Pretrained Transformers (GPTs) that allow people to leverage generative AI technology in their day-to-day functions. In the 2024 Human Capital Trends, 71% of executives surveyed said their organization’s plans for generative AI include using it to advance the human capabilities of their workers. ?One of the significant opportunities in the future is to leverage the technology for data trends and insights on your own data– the primary use case we are seeing is for a more accurate budget to actual insights and trends for more proactive accruals and forecasting trends as well as more accurate and timely cost reporting.? Of course, to take advantage of the generative AI capability on anything other than publicly available information, it is important that you have the relevant data at hand, so the data challenges remain, but generative AI can help with that part of the challenge also.

However, it is worth noting that the current AI technology landscape already provides powerful solutions that can be leveraged to gather data and generate actionable insights. For example, traditional machine learning techniques have proved successful in creating models to accurately predict the assignment costs of expats.? The short-term challenge therefore is to improve an understanding of the capabilities that exist as well as the data that could be used.

Next steps

This data-driven transformation may seem daunting, but engaging with an experienced advisor like Deloitte can make all the difference. We can help you harness the power of data for Global Talent Mobility, with deep experience in data management, analytics, and technology solutions. We possess a deep understanding of the evolving workforce landscape and are committed to helping you in the age of information abundance.

View Deloitte’s full list of trends for an evolving global workforce below

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References:

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