.managers today use more information to make deci- sions than ever before. Perhaps the most obvious example comes from the retailing sector. Point-of-sale technology helps managers know exactly how many units of every product in a store are sold every day. They can correlate this information with sales of other products; track it on daily, weekly, monthly, seasonal, and annual bases; and monitor the effects of price fluctuations on customer demand. Similarly, hotel man- agers can track occupancy rates in real time, website administrators know how many people view their sites every day, and airline managers know how many reser- vations are made, how many people are on each flight, and how much luggage is on every airplane. It should come as no surprise, then, that HR manag- ers are also getting into the act. HR managers essentially use two kinds of data. One type they gather themselves: For instance, they can collect, store, and access objective data related to employee education, skills, experience, demographics, and so forth. In addition, they can conduct employee surveys to assess attitudes, job satisfaction, engagement, and the like. In most cases, they can also access organizational data related to finance, operations, marketing, and so forth. HR managers also often rely on the second type of information, from external sources. For instance, salary surveys, cost-of-living data, projected population shifts (migration), and labor force profiles can all be useful. This and related information can be obtained from govern- ment sources, consulting firms, and so forth. FedEx is a great example of a firm that relies heavily on HR information in making decisions. For instance, if FedEx is considering acquiring a company, it first ana- lyzes data from the target company related to employee engagement surveys, turnover rates, experience, educa- tion, and diversity tocompare with its own workforce in- formation. This helps FedEx understand what additional investments (if any) it will need to make in human capital if it completes the acquisition. The firm is also looking into ways to compare data its employees provide on engagement surveys with theinformation they share on various social media platforms. 20 THINK IT OVER
1. Can a manager ever have too much information? Why or why not? 2. What issues arise when a firm looks at its employ- ees’ posts on social media sites to gain information about them? "Our analysis provides management with another data point before they make their decision." —bO