Day in the Life - Alan Medinger, Data Scientist
How would you describe your role at Workhuman?
As a data scientist on the Workhuman iQ team I work with our customers to help them understand the ROI of their recognition/Conversations programs. On a day-to-day level I produce statistical analyses that tie a business outcome of interest to a client, say turnover or engagement, to the recognition activity at that client. I also partner with internal stakeholders to better understand cross-client trends in our data.
How does your team impact the business strategy for the organization?
The WHiQ team plays an important role in impacting the strategy of Workhuman. As the resident team of Data Scientists at Workhuman, we often provide hard data to back up the decisions made by our exec team. When a new product launches, WHiQ provides the analysis of how quickly usage is adopted and when the e-Commerce team wants to analyze the efficacy of an email campaign they reach out to our team. We play a hand in just about every part of our business.
As we see new ways of working due to COVID-19, what new trends or interesting patterns have your team uncovered?
One of the more interesting trends that our team has discovered is that throughout the pandemic the weekly award counts have remained steady. Even with all the chaos going on in the world right now, our customers are still taking the time to thank and congratulate their co-workers on their accomplishments. In statistical terms, we might say that our team has validated that human kindness and appreciation are “robust” statistics.
How has your team adapted to a remote work environment, and how are you staying connected?
Fortunately, as a team of data scientists most of our work is done on statistical software so the transition to working remotely has been pretty seamless. And even before the pandemic the vast majority of my meetings were virtual. Since the office closed, I’ve been meeting my manager and team more frequently on Zoom, but otherwise it’s mostly business as usual. I will say that the team has been sharing far more images of our hobbies and dogs which I really appreciate as my current apartment doesn’t allow pets.
What is it about Workhuman that you enjoy most?
I think beyond providing the opportunity to examine some really exciting datasets, I love working for a company that truly values its employees. Working human is quite literally what Workhuman encourages. I always feel recognized and appreciated for my work and it always feel like we’re celebrating a co-worker’s accomplishments be it a marathon or a long-term project.
What does the future look like for you and your team?
Our future is pretty clear, even during a pandemic. There’s always more data flowing into our platform and there’s always something new to analyze. We’ll continue innovating our methods and will keep providing insight to internal and external stakeholders.
What advice would you give to someone looking to join the Data and Analytics team at Workhuman?
Be prepared for an almost aggressively friendly interview process! Jokes aside, having a strong grasp of a programming language such as R or Python is important, along with a good understanding of statistics and statistical methods. There are tons of online resources today and it’s never too late to learn.