Data analytics: How data-driven decision-making is transforming organisations
Technological breakthroughs, together with a global shift in economic power, are reshaping businesses and accelerating change around the world. Advanced analytics and machine learning—which once seemed like futuristic solutions—are increasingly available and accessible to businesses. PwC’s recent Global Data and Analytics Survey involved the participation of more than 2,100 global executives and more than 100 Indian executives, ranging from C-suite leaders and departmental heads to managers and analysts. The results suggest that Indian organisations are more confident about the future as 83% of the respondents felt that the changes would be gradual, as opposed to the global figure of 66%.
Usage of advanced analytics such as predictive and prescriptive analytics in organisations to support decisions was associated with greater certainty and optimism among Indian executives with respect to their next big decision and its likely impact. Cost reduction and market share gains are the big focus areas for Indian firms while leveraging advanced analytics solutions.
In the future, analytics-driven applications will know consumers so well that they will be able to look beyond their usual preferences and discover new ones. Millennials are already attuned to this trend: They expect more than customer service assistance and are looking for bots to make entertainment recommendations. According to PwC’s Bot.me report, more than half the respondents (55%) said they would be open to their media list being curated heavily or even completely by a recommendation engine. Virtual personal assistants and automated data analysts are a few similar examples that leverage big data and analytics solutions.
Advanced analytics and machine learning techniques help companies to complement human instincts and experience to make better decisions and gain a competitive edge. Within an organisation, HR, sales and marketing, finance and manufacturing operations functions are seeing a huge shift in the way they operate with the advent of data-driven decision making using advanced analytics. From an employee perspective, several of the organisational processes are being impacted by advanced analytics.
People analytics solutions are helping the HR function to proactively plan a strategic workforce for the organisation, use data-driven inputs during hiring, predict frauds and identify the training needs across levels. Organisations are no longer making instinct-based hiring decisions but are using several data points and advanced forecasting techniques to model future demand for talent and skills based on business growth forecasts. Using advanced statistical techniques, attrition risk is predicted, which in turn is used to predict the expected tenure for each of the prospective candidates.
Advanced analytics is also being leveraged to analyse employee data and identify possible incorrect practices or non-compliant individuals. Predictive analytics is being used to profile an employee and design training programmes for various identified segments. This, in turn, will help companies achieve higher employee satisfaction.
