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People Power: How Talent Data Is Advancing Location-Based Decisions

Companies that embrace a talent-first approach using deep-mined data and analytics are more likely to attract the best and brightest, which can, in turn, help unlock the full value of their real estate portfolios.

Q2 2022
As we emerge from the pandemic with changed mindsets and priorities — and new outlooks — the war for talent is in full force, making location-based real estate strategy more critical than ever. Companies face a multitude of challenges in attracting and retaining top talent to support their business goals while managing costs and mitigating risk given the uncertainties of tomorrow. Given how important talent is in fueling innovation and driving business growth, companies that fully embrace a talent-first approach using deep-mined data and analytics to direct location-based real estate decisions are more likely to attract the best and brightest talent which can, in turn, help unlock the full value of their real estate portfolios.

Big data and new analytic platforms can provide companies with fresh insights to support their decision-making process and enable leadership to execute long-term and costly location-based decisions with greater confidence. Rather than using a “build it and they will come” mentality, company leaders can leverage talent data to directly support initiatives and more efficiently and strategically allocate resources toward business growth and profitability.

A Data-Driven Approach to Talent
As we move into spring months of 2022, we continue to be inundated with new technologies, machine learning platforms, and constant talk of “big data.” Access to analytics platforms and tools that can clean and marry data sets and rationalize billions of data points to support intelligent and predictive decision-making are becoming more readily available. Top business leaders have taken notice and are beginning to adopt these tools to support their own decision-making. In fact, access to these new data analytic platforms allows business leaders and their advisors to fundamentally change how they build and execute real estate strategies to achieve their business goals with greater success and significantly less risk.

Leaders can now leverage this data in a meaningful way to influence real estate location decisions that better align with business requirements. Data enables decision-makers to identify the talent that directly coincides with specific business needs — specialist skills and qualifications, years of experience, educational attainment and degree type, and wages. Business decision-makers can build comprehensive talent profiles with increasing precision based on business requirements and leverage tools to pinpoint talent and labor pools with the exacting qualifications required. Furthermore, such data can enable companies to identify and locate talent pools that were previously hidden or overlooked.

Big data and new analytic platforms can enable leadership to execute long-term and costly location-based decisions with greater confidence. Leaders are also better equipped to more thoroughly analyze talent patterns with increasing accuracy. Examples include historical in- and out-migration patterns for areas of interest, local and regional economic indicators, and competitor information. With better data, companies can make more educated decisions, predict trends with greater confidence, and greatly mitigate and minimize talent and business risks. The result can lead to vastly improved talent recruiting coupled with greater business alignment, higher productivity, and a clearer path toward sustainable growth.

Optimized Strategic Planning
Businesses seeking to optimize their location strategy might consider the potential benefits of a true talent-first strategy and leverage this information to help inform and direct real estate decisions. The potential benefits are compelling: portfolio optimization, greater resource allocation and cost reductions, and stronger alignment with long-term business initiatives, to list just a few. Exploring this approach enables leaders to more effectively balance the inputs that go into location-based decision-making — real estate costs, wages, and talent availability — rather than allowing for the first two factors to drive the outcome.

Leveraging robust talent data can help leaders to identify talent pools with greater precision, and, via the use of predictive analysis, better assess the adequacy of the existing talent supply and future talent pipeline. In fact, companies that harness predictive analytics to support their talent strategy can more easily maintain a future talent pipeline ahead of business demand. Resource allocation provisioning efficiency exponentially increases as supply and demand moves toward equilibrium.

Robust talent data analytics can allow for enhanced tracking of existing, emerging, and future job skills. By understanding the current and future talent pipeline and other dynamics, including political climate, micro and macroeconomic risk factors, cost of living, and wage information, enterprises can gain a competitive market advantage and increase their chances for long-term success. As an added benefit — by prioritizing talent pools and aligning with location requirements — company leaders can somewhat free themselves from the constraints of geography and more effectively mitigate the risks of entering a new market. Leaders can also develop and execute strategies with greater accuracy as they target specific labor pools and skill sets to solve for future business requirements.

Data of this nature also offers additional benefits. For instance, robust talent data analytics can allow for enhanced tracking of existing, emerging, and future job skills. Rather than being reactive and waiting to find talent to fill new positions and uptrain, leaders can proactively target specific skills needed to fulfill their business goals and build recruitment and subsequent location strategies around skill and qualification alignment. By maintaining a “stronger pulse” on existing skills and emerging trends, company leaders can more effectively train their workforce and evolve to meet changing market demands and conditions. This type of analysis enables vastly superior business decision-making and execution — enabling company leaders to prepare more prudently for future growth and the uncertainties of tomorrow.

When assets are optimally located around talent, companies can unlock value and realize the full potential of their real estate portfolio. Investments Maximized
Location decisions are incredibly capital- and time-intensive and involve long-term commitments and risk. By integrating key talent and labor data into real estate and greater business strategy, companies can gain a competitive advantage. When assets are optimally located around talent, companies can unlock value and realize the full potential of their real estate portfolio. Indeed, sound talent strategy directly supports enhanced real estate location decisions and proactively optimizes resource allocation and increases financial performance while eliminating inefficiencies — all goals which any future-focused company should strive for.

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