![[Interview] Michael Stanuszek & Elisabeth Ball, Visier](images/loader.gif)
[Interview] Michael Stanuszek & Elisabeth Ball, Visier
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
[Michael Stanuszek] Throughout my career, I have dipped my toes in different industries ranging from finance, marketing, HR and even the Police. One thing that they all have in common was the necessity to work with people, fight fires and technology (some better than others). The sole purpose of technology is to make ‘things’ easier and consequently provide value to what it is you are using it for. This is what I geek out on.
Having been a technology consultant for the early part of my career and now more on the new business sales side, I have found my passion for working with data – specifically people analytics. Never has this area been so important and the ability to help business realise some of their people analytics initiatives is what makes me get out of bed each day.
[Elisabeth Ball] With 25 years in Solution Sales and the last 12 specialising in Compliance and HR, I am passionate about enabling HR professionals and business leaders drive forward people focused transformation, connecting all elements of the employee lifecycle to take the dialogue beyond HR value to Business Impact. Having focused on the Retail Industry for many years I have seen huge transformation – and continuing challenges, that I relish helping people solve.
Outside of work I live with my husband and two sons in a sleepy Worcestershire village. When my nose isn’t in a book, I can be found indulging in good food, enjoying an eclectic mix of music at concerts or festivals, or working out with a fun but focused local group
What does your company do? / What is your USP?
[MS] Visier provides on-demand answers for people related questions. We focus on what matters to business leaders: answering the right questions, even the ones a person might not know to ask. You might think “but wait, couldn’t I build this myself?”. The advantage of using Visier for people analytics, is that we make people analytics easy so that you can focus on what really matters.
How does a product/service implementation look like and how do you measure success?
[EB] We call implementation ‘onboarding’ because, as a prebuilt solution, the ‘project’ is primarily onboarding your data which lights up our thousands of analyses and insights. Success for us is when our clients see successful business outcomes. i.e. data democratisation for data driven decisions, reduced attrition, increased DEI & engagement scores. We map out the key project objectives and align them to achieve those targets, furthermore our wrap-round services and experienced consultants ensure best practices are embedded and communication and adoption strategies are well crafted and monitored for success. Ongoing interaction and care from our Client Experience team means that we truly partner with our clients to deliver demonstrable value and ROI that impacts the bottom line.
Our approach is collaborative and outcome centric. As an example, we can help you roll out a High Risk Intervention Program to reduce turnover.
How are retailers using your systems to gain competitive advantage and what does best practice look like? Can you share a case study with us?
[MS]Retailers are using Visier to recruit the right team, retain the best workforce, manage workforce costs, improve merger and acquisition outcomes and fundamentally impact the bottom line. Here is how Uber was able to quickly enable hundreds of business and HR users to go beyond just ‘analytics’
[EB] Ebay use Visier to support a team culture of data driven decisions and collaboration. They use Visier every day to provide their leaders with data-informed people solutions and coach stakeholders on how to take action on those insights. Read more HERE
[EB] Wayfair use Visier to help identify opportunities to create a more diverse workforce, ensure equitable people processes (e.g., recruiting, performance reviews, compensation), and help leaders and managers steward an inclusive culture that fosters a sense of belonging and retains their people. See further about this HERE
Are there other companies you partner with?
[MS] Visier partners with tons of companies to ensure that businesses can see the truth of their people. The beauty of Visier is that we can take data from pretty much any source, so we have the benefit of gaining experience of different combinations of source systems.
What challenges and opportunities do you see in UK retail for the rest of 2022 and into 2023 / What challenges are retailers facing right now to prepare better?
[MS] Those businesses reliant on retail outlets (in some cases, high end jewellery and watches, as an example, around 70% of revenues might be generated through stores) are heavily focussed on providing exceptional customer experiences that will result in purchases. Employees are the key attribute, critical in the success of these stores and keeping them is key.
[EB] Retailers are balancing the need to keep prices low as the cost of living continues to rise whilst at the same time recognising the impact that same hike in inflation is having on their workforce. In essence retailers are being squeezed from both ends and having the insights as to what is REALLY impacting engagement, retention and talent acquisition is critical in putting in the right strategic compensation and doing the best for their people as well as their consumers.
How will you address these challenges and turn them into successes?
[MS] The biggest driver for turnover in retail stores is the lack of career opportunities. The biggest focus for retailers and brands right now should be to create clear career paths for their workers at lower levels and development opportunities too. With that, job architecture and employee listening can come hand-in-hand to ensure the success of such programs.
[EB] The ability to quickly and easily model and collaborate on Strategic Workforce Planning is pivotal in planning ahead and accounting too for ad hoc change for example avoiding unnecessary downsizing when natural attrition and a temporary pay freeze could achieve the same end result.
What is on the horizon for you as a company?
[MS] People analytics is a continuous cycle of predicting questions that will be asked by our customers. We tirelessly create new content and capabilities so that our people analytics teams are always one step ahead of the game.
Visier is increasing our presence in Europe – in fact after the recent years of remote working and significant growth we officially open our new HQ in London later this month!
Come and chat with Michael and Elisabeth at this years Retail HR Summit in London on the 21 September: Register HERE
