18 Illu s t r a t i o n : i S t o c k / D rA f t e r 12 3
B C B U S I N E S S . C A
M AY 2 0 24
Anyone who has seen or
read Moneyball has witnessed
how data and analytics have
transformed the science of
winning in sports. This was
further evident in the most
recent
NFL season. In the
past, fourth down and short
yardage remaining resulted
in teams punting the football
away to the other team. In
the 2023/24 season, this same
circumstance often resulted
in teams going for a first down
instead. The reason for this
fundamental change in football
is that analytics have informed
coaches that going for it has
led to winning more often than
punting the ball away.
In business, data and
analytics have for many years
helped leaders optimize their
cost structure, marketing
approaches and customer un
derstanding. However, when
it comes to a company's work
force, data and analytics have
been woefully inadequate.
Luckily, this shortcoming is be
ginning to be addressed thanks
to innovations being achieved
through AI and analytics.
WORKFORCE ANALYTICS BEFORE
THE NEW MILLENNIUM
When I first entered the
management ranks, the only
workforce analytics available
to us were surveybased. En
WINNING
WITH DATA
Analytics are popular in sports these days. How
can they be used to improve your organization?
I N T O T H E F U T U R E
gagement surveys, as they are
often called, were conducted
once or twice a year to illumi
nate a team's views on matters
ranging from their commit
ment to the company to how
satisfied they were with their
compensation. While this was
useful data, it was limited in
its depth, frequency and how
actionable it was.
SECOND-GENERATION
WORKFORCE ANALYTICS—
2000 THROUGH 2020
The next 20 years saw the
advent of software systems
that provided new levels of
workforce intelligence. These
included performance man
agement systems that tracked
the ability of teams to deliver
against key performance in
dicators, skills inventory and
upgrading systems, and sales
funnel platforms that enabled
you to track the progress of
your sales team in hitting their
by Josh Blair
Josh Blair is a B.C.-based
executive who currently serves
as the co-founder and CEO of
Impro.AI and the vice-chair of
Telus International.
