The team at BAE Systems has been using Tableau software to visualize their data for years. Initially, they relied on SQL and R programming for data preparation, but when they saw Alteryx at the Tableau Conference in 2015, they saw the potential to move their data processing into a higher gear.
Analytics Challenges
“Originally we were managing on a SharePoint site,” said Rana Dalbah, Director of Workforce Intelligence. “We were using SQL to create metrics. We were planning on using R, but Josh [Kabler, Lead BI and Analytics Developer] went to Tableau Conference 2015 and found Alteryx. Before Alteryx, it used to take a lot of time to write code for the metrics and then fix the errors. Change management was a hassle because the metrics and dashboard were evolving, so change was really hard to adjust the SQL coding.”
Alteryx Benefits & HR Use Case
“Alteryx saves significant time by automating the input of files, but it is also more flexible and error proof,” continued Rana. “For example, we now have the ability to fix column name misspellings on the fly. We couldn’t do that before.”
With use cases like flight risk analysis, they are combining many points of data – number of connections on LinkedIn, number of days of PTO left, and other factors – to predict which employees may be considering leaving BAE. “It’s important for HR to analyze flight risk because there is a cost to hire and train new employees,” said Josh. “To analyze flight risk we use predictive analytics. We had to transition from the existing R-code. What used to take six weeks in R, we were able to develop in Alteryx and now have turnaround time of a couple days. Once it was transitioned, flight risk analysis took a couple weeks compared to a couple of months. And we like that the predictive tools in Alteryx have multiple predictive model options.”
The HR team at BAE is now sharing their use of Alteryx with other groups, including manufacturing and engineering, to ensure they are using best practices in preparing their analytics datasets for Tableau. Furthermore, they continue to grow their analytics use cases in Human Resources as well.
Want to learn more about BAE’s use of Alteryx with Tableau? Register for our upcoming webinar, “Revolutionizing HR Analytics at BAE Systems,” and hear the team live on Thursday, January 26th, at 9:00 AM PST.
