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An increasing number of businesses invest in advanced technologies that can help them forecast the future of their workforce and gain a competitive advantage. Many analysts and professional practitioners believe that, with enough data, algorithms embedded in People Analytics (PA) applications can predict all aspects of employee behavior: from productivity, to engagement, to interactions and emotional states.
Predictive analytics powered by algorithms are designed to help managers make decisions that favourably impact the bottom line. The global market for this technology is expected to grow from US$3.9 billion in 2016 to US$14.9 billion by 2023.
Despite the promise, predictive algorithms are as mythical as the crystal ball of ancient times.
[...] To manage effectively and develop their knowledge of current and likely organisational events, managers need to learn to build and trust their instinctual awareness of emerging processes rather than rely on algorithmic promises that cannot be realised. The key to effective decision-making is not algorithmic calculations but intuition.
What do you people think about predictive algorithms ? Mumbo jumbo or ??
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Tuesday February 13 2018, @11:35AM (3 children)
I've seen the sort of attitudes that foster processes like this even in a very small company. Management that completely saturate themselves in business bullshit for human resource development and take every process in the book there as a drop in fix for any problem with their staff. The staff are unhappy and argumentative. Right, just send them to a team-building event. Productivity is down and staff are stressed. No problem, let's just put up some motivational posters. (I love despair.com )
Now I'm not saying that the above techniques can't work for some employees, sometimes, but cynics like me just see them as a patronizing insult. The really, really idiotic part of isn't just that they take these business processes as some kind of divine truth, it's that almost always the real causes of the employee dissatisfaction are starting them right in the fucking face! Especially in a small company where they can, you know, actually talk to their employees. And I don't mean talk down to them in some detached, holier-than-thou, wanky business lingo. I mean actually frankly talk to them as human beings about what is wrong! More often than not in fact there will be employees that are already telling them exactly what the problem is. But the business bullshit bible tells them that those employees are not team players and are a poor fit in their organization. They don't share the same vision. Probably best they seek opportunities else where.
Basically, these people have a massive fucking common sense bypass. I suppose part of it is it's not convenient, or profitable for them to admit the truth to themselves. Much better to bolt on some bullshit platitudes so the company can claim to care about their stuff yet still get all the benefits of not giving a fuck.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Tuesday February 13 2018, @12:34PM
My rant was typo-ridden - I know. Just to put it in context, my post was illustrating that most of the problems involving human beings often can't be solved with lazy, simplistic algorithms or flow charts. It's pseudo-science trying to find shortcuts to solve problems when typically there will already be a real, optimal solution staring somebody in the face. The trouble for the management overlords is they can't tell who to ask or who to believe for that optimal solution. It will be one of their subordinates. And the information they need probably won't appear on some crappy feedback form. I can't see how a prediction algorithm can approach anything like that optimal solution without actually acquiring the data that involves it. For example, say employees are stressed an less productive due to unrealistic deadlines. If the magic employee behavior prediction algorithm isn't fed data about deadlines being perceived as unrealistic, how can it possibly come out with the right result?
It's total bullshit for unscientific idiots.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Tuesday February 13 2018, @01:45PM (1 child)
I agree with your comments for small organisations. What about for big ones where the management are several layers away from the people actually doing the work. In an outfit with more than ~ few 100 staff, it isn't possible for senior management to just chat to people. What happens if "joe middle management" is an arse, how do you then manage joe to make sure that the people under him don't suffer too much?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by acid andy on Tuesday February 13 2018, @08:48PM
Yeah in the big organizations it's down to the middle managers to cut the bullshit and talk frankly to those under them and escalate any needed changes or even better find a way to deal with it without involving their higher ups. As for the asshole managers, those that have a high employee turnover or lots of employees requesting transfers are probably the ones the higher ups need to bypass, move or get rid of.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?