Rich in Thought Consulting uses advanced analytics to study people, tools, and strategy and help organizations turn big data into a competitive advantage. We help companies allocate their own analytical capabilities to best capture, quantify, and report essential data. Companies are increasingly looking for this capability in today’s job market.
The 2016, Job Outlook survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) found that 63 percent of employers ranked “analytical and quantitative skills” as one of the most important attributes for a new hire. In 2020, it climbed to nearly 80%. When asked to rank the attributes most sought after, employers said that the top four attributes were (1) problem-solving skills (91.2%); (2) ability to work in a team (86.3%); (3) strong work ethic (80.4%); (4) analytical/quantitative skills (79.4%).
Analytics is a broad field that uses statistics, mathematics, and computational tools to extract information from data. Analytics tools fall into three categories: descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive. Descriptive analytics tools are used to help analyze historical data and help identify trends and patterns. Predictive analytics tools are used to help predict probabilities of future events and forecast consumer behavior. Prescriptive analytics tools are used to help make decisions on how to achieve objectives within real-world constraints.
Descriptive Analytics: Google Analytics provides a variety of metrics for individuals and companies to monitor website performance. This type of descriptive analytics displays loading time for their pages in different browsers and on different devices; how much time a viewer spends on the page; and the number of visits per interval of time (i.e. hour, day week, month, etc.). Google Analytics also displays bounce rate (percentage of viewers who exit the site after seeing only the homepage) and the click-through rate (percentage of viewers who click on the ad when they view it on the webpage. These metrics are important in assessing a website’s performance and design.
Predictive Analytics: In 2014, Oracle acquired Datalogix, a company that specializes in predictive analytics. Dr Pepper is one of its early customers that bought into the idea of predictive analytics. When Dr Pepper wanted to increase sales, Datalogix helped the company design a successful Facebook advertising campaign. Datalogix used analytics to target Facebook users who purchased carbonated beverages, particularly Dr Pepper, and was able to increase its sales by 1.5%. This meant that for every $1 spent on advertising, Dr Pepper saw a $3 increase in revenue.
Prescriptive Analytics: Hotels, car rental agencies, and airlines are known for leveraging this type of analytics. Each day a vehicle is not rented, a hotel room is not booked, or a seat on a flight is not purchased, these companies consider it lost revenue, and rightly so. To improve their demand forecast, they feed large data sets into mathematical algorithms that choose the optimal pricing scheme to maximize the revenue for that asset. This practice is called revenue management and is an example of prescriptive analytics.
These analytical capabilities are quickly becoming expected in today’s digital world. At Rich in Thought Consulting we firmly believe in empowering people with the knowledge and the tools to maximize their success potential. Whether you would like a cursory introduction or an in-depth analysis, you can find us at RichinThoughtConsulting.com.
