Analysis of SoundCloud
Statement of the Problem
The problem that was facing SoundCloud was a lack of a company-wide people dashboard to enable decision-makers to easily access data and make data-informed decisions, particularly in the context of people and talent management. Some issues that needed to be addressed included the hiring panel’s limited data visibility for the people they were recruiting. The HR crew at SoundCloud relied on manual and often time-consuming processes like Excel pivot tables and Google Sheets tables to generate reports.
These methods were not only slow but also prone to unnecessary errors. The company needed a centralized and user-friendly people dashboard that would provide valuable insights for decision-making. The firm also faced data privacy problems, especially in Germany, where data privacy restrictions were strict. When designing the dashboard, the team strived for perfection but learned this was not a good approach.
Key Takeaways
SoundCloud’s case study revealed three key data and people management takeaways. First, information-based decision-making is better for an organization, especially during recruitment. Additionally, the case showed that when making changes in a firm or doing a new project, it is essential to start small and let small incremental changes drive the project toward significant success.
In the case of building the people’s dashboard, the company made the changes step by step until it achieved excellent results. The authors of the case study emphasize this by saying that it is more important to enjoy the process just as the results. The third essential takeout from the project is the importance of iterations when doing projects. Moreover, the writers recommend that ensuring the optimized system should never be stopped but continue for eternity.
Surprises in the Project
As demonstrated in the case study, this project was well-thought-out, and its managers did not think anything would have gone wrong. However, a few days after launch, it had to be shut off due to privacy issues. This is shocking as the data was only available to members of the organization. The shutting off the project due to confidentiality challenges shows that even the best well-thought projects could lead to trouble. I was also surprised by the author admitting that this setback was a positive thing in their quest to build an all-around dashboard.
Critical Elements Missed in the Project
One critical element the team forgot to consider in the implementation process was integrating all the people in the organization into the data at the beginning. Doing so would have saved the firm time and resources, as data integration could be costly and time-consuming. Conducting an initial needs assessment would have helped them deal with the privacy concern and the failure to integrate the whole team into the dataset. The needs assessment must be the first stage for organizations when initiating changes.
Recommendations
Enhancing Privacy Compliance
SoundCloud did not have proper data privacy measures before implementing the project, which resulted in confidentiality issues that had the dashboard shut down for some time. With the help of the company’s engineer, proper privacy measures that safeguarded the firm’s data and increased discretion were initiated. However, the data privacy landscape is constantly evolving, and what was legal in the past could be deemed unacceptable shortly (Attaran, 2023). To mitigate this challenge, the company should hire privacy experts who regularly monitor the organization’s systems and spot any areas with potential privacy challenges. This expert should also monitor the external regulatory environment and inform the company’s data team of any regulatory requirements, such as changes in GDPR requirements.
Expanding Data Integration
Initially, SoundCloud set up the people’s dashboard to help recruiters gain information about potential employees and enable them to make choices based on that information. However, the experts soon realized the importance of adding data from other departments, such as ATS and HRIS, into a single view.
Therefore, the company can benefit massively by combining details from all other sections. Integrating the data from different departments gives an organization a holistic view of its operations (Tseng et al., 2021). It could also design this product to become scalable and sell it to other like-minded organizations. This information incorporation and distribution of the product will help the organization make better decisions and give it alternative sources of income.
Focusing on Data Literacy
SoundCloud’s journey of ensuring that data-based decision-making is followed in the organization has long relied on data experts within and without the organization. Nevertheless, to fully leverage the fantastic power data has, the organization needs to train all its experts to use information when making decisions.
For instance, training the marketing team to leverage the data alone could be essential to identify the most reliable market segments to target (“Implementing HR analytics,” n.d.). This would align with studies that reveal organizations that rely on data have better decision outcomes than those that do not (Janssen et al., 2020). Prioritization of data literacy could also result in that organization’s culture of using data, thus revolutionizing SoundCloud’s operations.
Establishing Regular Data Checks
From when the organization relied on Google Sheets and Excel pivot tables to integrating that tableau-powered people’s dashboard, SoundCloud has always prioritized checking its data for quality. Launching regular data checks results in better decision-making as an organization can generate more accurate models. Some standard methods for ensuring data quality are the percentage of data values that match the referenced values, finding the completed records rate, and how the values fit the pre-defined datasets (Hassenstein & Vanella, 2022). Establishing these consistent information checks ensures that the information gathered about the organization’s people is correct and dependable. Adopting this recommendation will give the organization a competitive advantage as a more efficient human resource management strategy will be formulated.
Fostering Data-Driven Culture in the Organization
Although SoundCloud has traditionally used data-driven techniques to perform its roles, they have not fully integrated them into the organization. The company had a limited data team comprising an analyst, an intern, and a data engineer. This group is insufficient and too little to impose the culture in the organization.
Since incorporating data practices partially will not benefit the firm, SoundCloud’s management must take the initiative and integrate a data-driven culture. This mandate could be achieved by allocating resources to fund data-fueled initiatives such as training, tools, and infrastructure. A clear organizational vision, mission, and objective strategy can change a corporate culture (Lasrado & Kassem, 2021). The company under analysis could create and share a vision that fosters data-based decision-making. The firm should also form milestones to be celebrated that seek to foster this culture.
References
Attaran, M. (2023). The impact of 5G on the evolution of intelligent automation and industry digitization. Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Humanized Computing, 14(5), 5977–5993. Web.
Hassenstein, M. J., & Vanella, P. (2022). Data quality—concepts and problems. Encyclopedia, 2(1), 498-510. Web.
Implementing HR analytics. (n.d.). HRMG4092[PowerPoint slides].
Janssen, M., Brous, P., Estevez, E., Barbosa, L. S., & Janowski, T. (2020). Data governance: Organizing data for trustworthy Artificial Intelligence. Government Information Quarterly, 37(3). Web.
Lasrado, F., & Kassem, R. (2021). Let’s get everyone involved! The effects of transformational leadership and organizational culture on organizational excellence. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 38(1), 169-194. Web.
Tseng, M. L., Tran, T. P. T., Ha, H. M., Bui, T. D., & Lim, M. K. (2021). Sustainable industrial and operation engineering trends and challenges Toward Industry 4.0: A data-driven analysis. Journal of Industrial and Production Engineering, 38(8), 581-598. Web.
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