Our colleague Manuela joined DONE!Berlin in summer 2022. Since then, she has accompanied clients such as Contenful, The Quality Group, and Knauf as HR Operations Consultant. She would describe herself as a People & Culture generalist, but at the same time she is devoted to controlling. If she has the correct database, she can incorporate your numbers into a wide range of reports, tailored to your liking in terms of layout, data display, or any special features you desire.
„For me, numbers are the best instrument to lead and direct business decisions – rather than winging it by following a gut feeling or solely relying on input by the employees,“ comments Manuela. „Most people think Controlling is boring. However, I find it extremely exciting. With data, you can create meaningful reports, for example to show progress in or gain important information during the recruiting process. You can track your hiring speed, find out which platform is the best for hiring people for certain positions, or simply track the numbers of roles which are still open. In addition, you see if the effort you put in pays off or if there is room to optimise. Controlling helps me to reflect which tools, measures, and resources have been most efficient to reach certain goals. To put it in a nutshell: it is about getting to the core of what really works and what doesn’t and finding out where there is room to optimise and - if necessary - also streamline.“
· Increases employee engagement and retention: Employee surveys, feedback mechanisms, and performance data can help identify key drivers of engagement and areas for improvement to enhance job satisfaction, create a positive work environment, and boost retention rates.
· By tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), organisations can provide timely feedback, identify training needs, and align individual goals with organisational objectives. Data-driven performance management facilitates employee growth, development, and career progression.
· Data can also be utilised to monitor and promote employee well-being. Metrics like absenteeism rates, burnout indicators, and employee assistance program utilisation can help identify areas of concern and develop strategies to support employee wellness.
· In addition, people operations teams often play a key role in overseeing change management processes across the organisation. Data can help these processes to go more smoothly.
· With numbers, People Operations can predict future trends and behaviours. By identifying patterns and correlations, HR teams can anticipate attrition rates, identify skill gaps, forecast workforce needs, and develop proactive strategies to address potential challenges.
„Actually, it is a common misconception that you have to be good at math to do this. You don’t,“ says Manuela. „However, you should be good at logical thinking as well as have the tendency to dive deep into things and only let go once every issue is resolved, every number is where it should be and every bit of the piece you have been working on makes sense. If you tend to give up quickly because something doesn’t work, then this is probably not for you.“
Another challenge is to develop a meaningful report out of all these numbers which everyone can read. For Manuela, the key is to understand what the department needs to see to make their decision and to put it all together, so it makes sense. It is also important to keep this kind of tracking up over a long period of time to have enough data to make an informed decision and to be able to monitor long-term developments within the company.
When Manuela and the DONE! Operations team build such a data tracking system for their clients, they make sure that clients are able to work with this on their own in the future as well. „In case you don’t have the resources for a pimped out platform or program, you can always fill in lists for example in an Excel sheet or in google sheets and use Pivot tables and charts; this also helps you to focus on things that are really important and to find potential issues quicker,” comments Manuela.
Manuela is a dog lover and cares about his well-being, as well as her family, and friends. She is interested in good books and shows on Netflix or Disney+. In addition, she likes to challenge herself by diving into totally foreign topics and coming out the other side victorious, meaning: at the end of the day knowing absolutely everything about it. This just makes her day.
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