The benefits of being a data driven leader…
As a leader, you can always count on your own experience, intuition, and industry knowledge to make the best business decisions. A data driven leader excels by adding data analytics to the operational decisions. Using data allows you to have actionable insights that drive profits and sustained results.
If you feel intimidated by the amount of raw data, or you find yourself ignoring it when it’s displayed in rows and rows of a hard-to-read spreadsheet, you’re not alone. The fact is, data without context is generally useless, and your warehousing operation doesn’t need random statistics. You need sharply focused information to help you plan ahead and achieve higher levels of sustained performance.
What data can do
Your data can bring instant, helpful insight on shipping, maintenance, billing, staffing and other areas of the organization. For example, it can tell you that from November to January you need extra staff on Mondays and Fridays to process holiday orders. Or, that February would be a good time to shut down for maintenance. You could discover that for some reason, based on previous patterns your production needs are likely going to increase by 8% in the second week of July. Or, you may find that you are spending an average of $5,000 more per month on shipping than last year. Your data allows you to quantify the numbers, adjust staffing, and quickly shift resources to meet changing needs.
Data and staffing
Data analytics can help with recruitment efforts and determining competitive wages, by comparing your compensation with similar warehousing operations, or with a variety of warehouses in your immediate vicinity. Sometimes by making a slight wage adjustment (or perhaps offering more overtime) you can attract more qualified employees. Data helps you make the right strategic moves based on facts, not speculation.
Data and ops
You can evaluate numerous other operational metrics with data analytics. Does your company have excessive downtime? What are your throughputs (the amount of goods processed within a given time) and how can this figure be improved? By utilizing this data and taking the appropriate actions you could see drastic productivity improvement.
Data analytics can spawn an abundance of useful information and business leaders often see bottom line results when this knowledge is put to work. So, it’s important to look for a workforce provider with the resources to help you be a data-driven leader.
Leadpoint’s PeriscopeSM routinely collects data and reports on customer key performance indicators (KPIs) along with staffing metrics and quality performance indicators. This data helps Leadpoint measure employee performance, develop industry benchmarks, and suggest a wide array of continuous improvement initiatives for its clients.
Contact Leadpoint at (800) 552-3136 to put the company’s data management and analytics to work for you.