At last, the world is distancing itself from the pandemic and leaving a year of economic challenges behind. Budgets, requests, presentations and hundreds of meetings can now be held. The business world survives by redefining itself every day and trying to generate results; if only public administrations would do the same and finally modernise as it’s needed.
We already live immersed in the so-called digital transformation which absorbs everything. Processes, methodologies, protocols and a long etcetera of procedures are being revised to be more effective and efficient within the service and productivity. All the resources available to the company are being readapted, knowing that they will probably have to be modified or revised again in a short time.
Among these new resources that are being updated and even reinvented, one of them seems to be key: dashboards and the use we make of them. Managers need a simple glance to get the rhythm of their organisation and of the market itself to make any kind of decision from that point. From these dashboards, also known as “scorecards”, strategies are generated and that can save results and above all employment at some point in time.
Data management is not only providing us with information on the degree of employee satisfaction or absenteeism, but through the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), we can also learn more about the emotions that drive purchasing habits or the necessary improvements in certain technological developments. All these variables combined mean that the correct reading and handling of data is now the main issue for companies. Anticipating the future and foreseeing it are indispensable requirements for decision making and business investment.
OK, so far I have only alluded to the technical field or the game that data manipulation offers, but can we consider ourselves to be good managers or leaders in our organisations with this alone? The answer is no. Can data, on the other hand, help us to be better leaders or managers, even if we do not have clear or innate competencies as leaders? The answer is yes.
I recognise that no matter how much of a database we have or can work with, there is a subjective part of the leadership that is inherent and complicated to study, much less to define, that is to say, an innate, personal and intrinsic part that only certain leaders possess. Personal skills, elusive as they are, are an example of that. According to author Daniel Goleman who wrote “What Makes a Leader?”, what distinguishes a leader is not so much his or her technical ability but his or her ability to manage what is known as Emotional Intelligence, and he describes it using 5 skills:
- Motivation
- Empathy
- Social skills
- Self-regulation
- Self-awareness
I am not trying to correct Mr Goleman but I would probably update some more. Times have changed and I think that when he wrote them down, social networks were not a part of our lives. I would add, for example, the habit of having the correct ability to be able to read reality, something like “immersing oneself in chaos and coming out unscathed”. A reality like today’s, which distils millions of pieces of information per second, is impossible to master.
Therefore, can dashboards help us to be better leaders? It is obvious that not every manager or leader is fit to be one, as it is a rare competence or innate ability suitable for only a few, but it’s true that the correct reading of the inputs that reality produces, well digested, can turn one into a good leader.
Thus, if we combine a good data management, exposition and translation module, we can have a leader who, although he or she does not have innate competencies as such, can have attributed such competencies as leadership, empowerment and successful management.
The purpose of a good Workforce Management tool is, above all, to demonstrate effectiveness and efficiency in critical processes in our organisations. Therefore, the solutions offered in all areas, including leadership, are conclusive.