Data silos in workforce compliance management are not just inconvenient: they come at a significant cost in terms of productivity. As any HR administrator will tell you, a great deal of time is spent simply “chasing people up” for information that, with the right system in place, should be accessible at the touch of a button.
Alongside a reduction in productivity, data silos (also known as information silos) can raise IT and data management expenses, reduce trust in data due to incomplete data sets, create duplication, hinder collaboration and expose the organisation to regulatory/compliance and safety risks. CompTIA’s Big Data Insights and Opportunities research found that:
- 80% of companies report high or moderate degrees of data silos
- Two-thirds of companies experience some degree of shadow (or rogue) data depositories
- 69% are unable to provide a comprehensive, single view of their data.
Below, we summarise the most common types of workforce compliance data silos and explore what can be done to eliminate them.
Individual silos
Arguably, the most common type of silo is the individual information silo. In this case, data is stored by individuals across the business in spreadsheets, in email attachments, on mobile devices or even on paper. This data is invisible to other users, cannot be leveraged for analysis and raises data security risks for the organisation.
Business unit data silos
Without a centralised database, different business units or functions can create their own data silos. This has led to the term “silo mentality”, where units jealously guard their data and do not share it across the business. Worse, this situation can lead to duplicate or separately-managed data platforms (shadow IT), adding to IT costs and inefficiencies as data updates are not replicated across silos.
Geographic data silos
Geographic data silos occur when businesses operate across multiple locations, such as an aged care company with several homes, or a resources company with mine sites scattered across vast distances. The risk is that each site develops or procures its own workforce compliance management system, whether it is a software solution or simply a spreadsheet. Again, this leads to incomplete data sets, inconsistencies, duplication and increased compliance risks.
Platform data silos
Lastly, data silos that exist in standalone technology solutions that fail to “talk” or integrate without the need for manual intervention, particularly in the case of legacy tech. Data sharing is not impossible, but incompatible systems often require a time-consuming task such as exporting data to a spreadsheet first.
How to spot data silos in workforce compliance
It may seem difficult to spot something that is invisible by nature, but the impacts of data silos are easy to discern. Look out for:
- Significant time spent on “busywork”: chasing employees and contractors for data that you cannot access yourself.
- Business units, teams, or sites that manage their own compliance data with standalone systems.
- Rising IT costs due to a prevalence of shadow IT systems.
- A lack of trust in data due to incomplete data sets.
Busting data silos with an all-in-one workforce compliance platform
The Cited platform delivers a total technology solution spanning mobile and web applications to simplify compliance for everyone in your organisation.
But how does Cited bust information silos? With the help of a data management framework and the cultural change required to shift users to a single, centralised source of truth, Cited will:
- Hold all your worker’s information centrally and update it in real-time.
- Eliminate duplicated, outdated documentation, leading to 100% trustworthy verified data 24/7.
- Remove the need for manual data entry as each worker can easily supply their information via their mobile device.
- Integrate easily with other management systems via a simple API to enable data sharing and avoid manual data handling.
- Put your centralised data to use with a unified real-time view of compliance status across the organisation, with the option to drill down to a single worker when needed.
- Provide a real-time picture of offsite and remote workers, making compliance simple across multiple locations or work sites.
It’s time to say goodbye to data complexity and information silos in compliance management. Get in touch today to find out how Cited can make compliance simpler and more effective for you.