By: Greta Roberts, Conference Chair, Predictive Analytics World for Workforce 2015

 

In anticipation of his upcoming conference presentation at Predictive Analytics World for Workforce, “Using Predictive Analytics to Predict and Manage "Road Warrior" Burnout (Frequent Travelers)” Greta Roberts interviewed Scott Gillespie, Managing Partner of tClara.  View the Q-and-A below to see how Scott has incorporated predictive analytics into the workforce of tClara. Also, glimpse what’s in store for the new PAW Workforce conference.

Q:  In your work with predictive analytics, what specific areas of the workforce are you focused on, (i.e., optimizing workforce productivity, using big data to solve workforce challenges, building a workforce analytics driven culture, etc.)?

A:  The corporate road warrior – the people whose jobs require a significant amount of travel.

Q:  Do you primarily work inside of HR – or inside of the Line of Business?  If Line of Business – which one(s):

A:  Our primary stakeholder – so far – is the corporate travel manager.  We're knocking on HR's door, but find it difficult to identify the HR executive most interested in retention and employee engagement.  We're also keen to identify the LOB executives with large travel budgets.

Q:  What workforce outcomes do your models predict?

A:  We identify cohorts of travelers with high risk of burning out from their travel workloads.

Q:  What is one specific way in which predictive analytics actively drives decisions?

A:  Companies can tailor their travel policies to address the needs of at-risk road warriors, such as encouraging less weekend travel, or allowing a better class of hotel.

Q:  Can you describe a successful result, such as the predictive lift of one of your models or the ROI of a predictive analytics initiative?

A:  Our value prop is reducing the cost of turnover among a very valuable segment of any company's workforce.  

Q:  What is an example of surprising discoveries you have unearthed in your data?

A:  We measure traveler wear and tear using a Trip Friction(R) metric.  Our data shows that turnover among frequent travelers is less related to the accumulated amount of Trip Friction, and more related to the pace and intensity of travel.

Q:  Do you feel any urgency you want to pass along to your fellow HR and Business Executives to implement predictive analytics to help solve employee challenges?  Why?

A:  As a pioneer in this niche of predicting traveler burnout, I am very keen to see companies pay attention to the predictive power of our models.  It's hard to get disparate functions, e.g. Travel, HR, Procurement and LOB Management, to collectively grasp the opportunities offered by predictive analytics.  I hope the PAW Workforce Conference helps to solve this problem.

Q:  SNEAK PREVIEW:  Please tell us a take-away that you will provide during your Presentation at Predictive Analytics World for Workforce.

A:  We'll provide benchmarks for recognizing true road warriors – those that travel more than 90% of all other travelers – and therefore, those at significant risk of traveler burnout.

Don't miss Scott Gillespie’s conference presentation, Using Predictive Analytics to Predict and Manage "Road Warrior" Burnout (Frequent Travelers), at PAW Workforce, on Tuesday, March 31, 2015, from 3:05-3:25 pm. Click here to register for attendance. 

By: Greta Roberts, CEO, Talent Analytics, Corp. @gretaroberts and Conference Chair of Predictive Analytics World for Workforce