Some companies such as
Bank of America want to track their employee’s behavior so they ask their
workers to wear tiny sensors. The tiny sensor can track and store workers’
movement. Then they can use the data to analyze workers’ performance. And now, employers and governments want to use
Big Data to predict whether or not an
employee is likely to be a successful, effective and efficient employee.
First, I
want to talk about the reasons why employee leaving the company. According to
Evolv, the leaders in this field, there are two major factors to cause employee
leave: The job doesn’t suit an employee’s skill set, or the employee doesn’t
fit in the culture. The main problems are 1. The HR hires the wrong guy because
the employee is unequipped. 2. The payroll can’t fit the employee’s performance
which means lower than expected salary. 3. A bullish supervisor.
Then,
what are better employees?
1. A better employee doesn’t use integrated Internet Explorer coming with
the computer. Workers who download
Firefox or Chrome "may to reach informed decisions. Does that mean using IE is a
worse choice??
2.
Workers who have been out of work for a long time don’t mean that they
are not good workers. They tend to stay in their new job as long as the other
workers.
3.
A criminal background doesn’t hurt a worker’s performance. Sometimes, it
is a good asset in some careers.
4.
Honesty matters a log more than experience. According to Xerox, this
company gives workers personality tests. One of the questions is the ability to work with computers. And then, the next
question is “What does control-V
do on a word-processing program?" If applicants fail the second
question and answer “yes” in the first question, then they won’t pass the test.
References:
There are a lot of interesting implications from this topic. I think that monitoring a worker's movements throughout a typical day (with them knowing) might give some skewed data. I know that if I was being watched (knowingly) in the work place, I would definitely be busting my butt to be as productive as possible. What would be interesting is if you compared the normal throughput from a worker before and during the sensor analysis.
ReplyDeleteI really like the thought that this could benefit those with a criminal background. I think that's phenomenal. America is NUMBER ONE in incarcerated citizens and a significant chunk of those behind bars are returners. Check out this ted talk - http://www.ted.com/talks/jeff_smith_lessons_in_business_from_prison.html
Jeff Smith spent some time in jail and concluded that we have to be doing something different with these guys when they leave or the jail cell will continue to have a revolving door.
I have written a similar blog before this one about the things Evolv is doing to help companies retain their most high performing employees. You can check it out here: http://auburnbigdata.blogspot.com/2013/03/big-data-helping-companies-retain-high.html.
ReplyDeleteThe comment about employees that use other third-party browsers outside of the native browser that comes with a particular software OS being able to make more informed decisions is very interesting to me. For example, the only time I use Internet Explorer is to fix a problem I may have with a third-party browser I have installed (which is pretty rare, I might add!). The reason I don't use IE to begin with is because I notice that it is not as capable of a browser performance-wise as other browsers; however, I can not say that this makes me a better employee than one who may be less technologically proficient, or that IE is a "worse choice".