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CONTROL S ometimes, the data speaks for itself. Just ask Sapience Analytics. Sapience offers a work- analysis platform, Sapience Vue, helping managers and employees alike become better at what they do. By employing this simple agent that connects existing systems, managers and senior leaders can access im- partial, raw information surrounding work efficiency, effectiveness and productivity. Focused on work efficiency, ven- dor optimization and sales efficiency, the software has implications on the human resources, operations, sales, procurement and workforce manage- ment space, especially for remote and hybrid workers. By diving deeper into staff activity and tools used, Sapience assesses the types of tasks that em- ployees best accomplish in order to allocate maximum resources. “We produce an unbelievable amount of data and analytics,” said Sapience CEO Bradley Killinger. “This en- ables managers to become far more effective, and it allows employees to gain insight into their work habits. Think of it as a Fitbit for work.” Sapience was established 11 years ago by four entrepreneurs in Pune, India, to help manage the country’s numerous, offshore business process outsourcing (BPO) centers, providing insight into fa- cilities and time efficiency. “We saw the localized version of the software primarily being run in India. There were many nuances, but we loved it,” noted Killinger, whose group purchased the company in 2017 and moved it to the U.S. “The rest is history.” Having obviously not foreseen the global pandemic or massive shift in remote work, Killinger has personally witnessed the need for this type of insight balloon in recent years. “We think we’re in the midst of the greatest work transformation since the Industrial Revolution,” said Killinger. “Large enterprises want to retain and attract top employees who have already had a taste of commuting two to three hours each day. Employees want some- thing different. One good thing about the pandemic is that we’re able to expe- rience a better work-life balance.” Killinger believes that Sapience is the perfect tool for remote work, with a completely automated environment that requires no human intervention or data manipulation. This aspect, he feels, makes it way more efficient than what the executive calls “gut- feel” management. “In the old world, most companies and teams were managed based on somebody’s gut-feel, walking down the hallways, looking in cubicles,” he noted. “The future is people working anywhere, any time, on their schedule, with a structured depth and analyt- ics platform such as ours that shows when they are working, if effort is against the right initiatives and how effective they are at what they did. “You can manage with total confi- dence, and people won’t feel like they’re being micro-managed because it’s just data,” Killinger continued. Despite the elevated level of efficiency that Sapi- ence promotes, it does have its critics. Some, for example, fear the implications of employers gaining full, in-depth access to this data. “We only collect work data,” clari- fied Killinger, noting this is not spyware or tattleware. “We have no interest in understanding your personal hobbies, websites or things that are not work related. As users of Vue, we’re actually big on privacy for the employees.” Understanding that most U.S. en- terprises collect data, Killinger noted, “What we’re doing is harnessing that data and turning it into a highly con- sumable product that provides amaz- ing insight into any role – employee to manager to helping senior leaders run their company more effectively.” Efficiency, after all, is key as Sapi- ence focuses on shifting perspectives and promoting data driven-ness. “From employee to manager to CEO, data is the same,” said Killinger. “Transparency is extremely important. We’ve had companies implement us that were shocked to understand who their top performers actually are.” J For more information on Sapience Analytics and its features, visit www. sapienceanalytics.com. Sapience Analytics: A ‘Fitbit’ for Work Productivity and Efficiency By Brady Hicks Sapience CEO Bradley Killinger 32 REMOTE WORK SOLUTIONS rwsmagazine.com