SAS’ Jon Lemon on Potential Role of Data Analytics in Federal Workforce Management

Jon Lemon, a strategic solutions specialist at SAS’ government unit, wrote in an opinion piece posted Wednesday on Federal Times how data analytics could help federal agencies in their workforce management efforts.

A federal agency’s time and attendance systems, human resource platform, financial tools and employee satisfaction surveys are some of the data sources that could be integrated to form a “centralized analytics dashboard,” he wrote.

Lemon cited several variables that could be used in developing an analytics platform for workforce management. These include employee grade and step, occupational categories, work schedule types, tenure, salary locality adjustment and awards.

“With this information, agencies can gain insights into whether employees with high-valued skills, such as cyber, are in danger of leaving. They might also learn if there is a certain location that is at risk of a sudden flood of retirements,” he noted.

He also discussed how analytics could help agencies address retention, workforce-related misconceptions and other issues.