Introduction
Analytical skills play a crucial role in maintaining a productive workplace culture because they enable professionals to address problems in a very effective way. According to the Corporate Finance Institute (2020), analytical skills make it easier for individuals to identify problems based on the available information and facts and evaluate the different possible solutions. In this way, they are directly related to problem-solving and decision-making skills, and they are polished to manage challenging managerial and leadership roles effectively (Corporate Finance Institute, 2020).
According to Marchetti et al. (2018), making decisions involve different types of processes. They can either be normative or prescriptive (Marchisotti et al., 2018). However, in any case, analytical skills play an important role in assessing the available information and finding the best possible solution. Therefore, strong analytical skills are always required from professionals in any field.
Throughout my academic and professional career, I have tried to develop and polish my analytical skills by playing an active role in different activities. One such case is presented in this essay, where I utilized my analytical skills to make managerial decisions for the benefit of the company I was working for.
Analysis Of The Situation
I was once selected as a Site Director for an afterschool program for school-going children. The program involved different activities for the children to help them develop better communication and team-playing skills. The program also involved strong collaboration between on-site teachers/instructors and children to run different activities. Considering the need for any other assistant for the program, our company decided to hire a new person. According to the hiring department, they completed the hiring process keeping in view the requirements and working conditions of the program. So, they selected a person and appointed her to the school.
However, I, as a Site Director and my supervisor, was assigned to make the final decision about whether to keep this person permanently or not. Considering the importance of her role, we made very clear observations about how she interacts with children and the other staff. It was required from anyone assuming this role that he/she is responsible, polite, dedicated and very conscious. However, after a few days of observation, we analyzed that the children and staff members were not happy with her behaviour. This was an important factor to consider because it could affect the progress and productivity of the whole program.
As Abubakar et al. (2019) noted managers and directors have the great responsibility of achieving the objectives and goals of the organization, being a site director, it was my primary duty to ensure that the program becomes successful. So, after discussing the issue with my supervisor, we decided to enquire about her negative behaviour and suggest she improve her interactions. Unfortunately, she did not even respond positively to our queries. It became very clear that her behaviour was not compatible with the theme, culture, and reputation of the school and particularly the program. So, we made our decision and asked the hiring team to recruit a new member.
Recommendations
Considering the time and effort the hiring department went through, we put special focus on understanding the mistakes that they made. We thought that it was not possible that after implementing the right recruitment strategy, they would select a person whose attitude is completely against the norms of schools. So, after making a few assessments and interviewing the HR managers, we came to know that they did not formally interview the candidates and were selected based merely on the collected resumes.
Even their previous experience of working in a school setting was also completely ignored while evaluating the candidates. So, it was concluded that the screening process of the applicants should have been performed more carefully, keeping the right requirements in mind. In addition, HR managers could have initiated a trial period for potential candidates to ensure whether they can perform well in school settings or not. This will make it a lot easier to choose someone as an employee.
HR professionals are also required to develop strong analytical skills. According to Kryscynski et al. (2017), this makes them more useful business partners who can contribute more to the company in a very meaningful way. Further, as they noted, the analytical abilities of HR professionals have a direct impact on their job performance. Fajaryati et al. (2020) have also emphasized the development of analytical skills for all professionals in a particular workplace. According to them, these skills enable individuals to adapt to different changing circumstances and continuously play a positive role in improving the productivity of the workplace.
Conclusion
Supervisors and managers often have to face many challenging circumstances. Therefore, they need to have essential analytical skills to respond to them effectively and make correct decisions. The situation that my supervisor and I faced also required such a level of decision-making. Considering all the available information, we critically analyzed the situation and implemented the best solution to run the program successfully. We also evaluated the existing recruitment strategy and made recommendations to avoid problems in the first place.
References
Abubakar, A. M., Elrehail, H., Alatailat, M. A., & Elçi, A. (2019). Knowledge management, decision-making style and organizational performance. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 4(2), 104–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jik.2017.07.003
Corporate Finance Institute. (2020, July 16). Analytical Skills. Corporate Finance Institute; Corporate Finance Institute. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/careers/soft-skills/analytical-skills/
Fajaryati, N., Budiyono, Akhyar, M., & Wiranto. (2020). The Employability Skills Needed To Face the Demands of Work in the Future: Systematic Literature Reviews. Open Engineering, 10(1), 595–603. https://doi.org/10.1515/eng-2020-0072
Kryscynski, D., Reeves, C., Stice-Lusvardi, R., Ulrich, M., & Russell, G. (2017). Analytical abilities and the performance of HR professionals. Human Resource Management, 57(3), 715–738. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21854
MARCHISOTTI, G. G., DOMINGOS, M. D. L. C., & ALMEIDA, R. L. D. (2018). DECISION-MAKING AT THE FIRST MANAGEMENT LEVEL: THE INTERFERENCE OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE. RAM. Revista de Administração Mackenzie, 19(3). https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-6971/eramr180106
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