Major, Lindsey & Africa Launches Analytics Service
April 6, 2018 – Major, Lindsey & Africa has released Smart-Look Analytics, a new service that helps companies assess their business health and vulnerabilities, as well as their risk exposure.
The review service combines powerful search tools with the Hanover, MD-based search firm’s expertise in the legal sector to conduct a thorough analysis of businesses and develop custom solutions for a broad spectrum of business challenges. It is powered by Exego Select from Planet Data Solutions. Leveraging the processing engine’s ability to search and deduplicate on the clause and paragraph level allows the recruiter’s Smart-Look Analytics project teams to perform precise and substantive document review that delivers better results at a lower cost, said the search firm.
Filling Knowledge Gaps
“Often, companies have a limited understanding of their vulnerabilities and contractual obligations,” said Mark Yacano, global practice leader of Major, Lindsey & Africa’s managed legal services team. “They may understand payment terms and potential costs, but they lack the resources needed to navigate all of the obstacles they face or understand the full extent of their exposure. Our Smart-Look Analytics service goes further than traditional assessments by filling the knowledge gaps and offering a complete picture of a business’s health.”
By pairing sophisticated technology and with nimble teams of subject-matter experts from Major, Lindsey & Africa, the review service assists businesses with legacy data clean-up in contract management implementations, contract review in M&A-related activities, regulatory compliance work and proactive assessments of contractual and legal risk when a business lacks a contract management system. The service gives companies a precise review of their business risk.
Executive Search Firms Seek to Make Data and Analytics Less Burdensome
Big Data is changing business everywhere. The explosion of available information in the past few years has created a seismic shift in how companies now operate and go to market.
“If a company goes through an acquisition and needs to make sure it fully understands the contractual and regulatory obligations it acquired, or it wants to decrease unnecessary legal spend, by using our Smart-Look Analytics service, the company will be able to utilize a holistic approach to navigating any risk facing the business,” said Chris Tkach, director of analytics for Major, Lindsey & Africa’s managed legal services team. “Our technology and the expertise of our team allows companies facing these challenges and many more to evaluate their risk with speed and surgical precision in a cost-effective way.”
More Services
Major, Lindsey & Africa’s managed legal services team is part of a growing suite of advisory services offered under the MLA Transform umbrella. MLA Transform services enable law firms and legal departments to manage business risks through custom, nimble solutions best suited to their needs. By designing systems, processes and labor solutions, the managed legal services team helps businesses and law firms understand their risk profile and develop steps to mitigate or eliminate threats to their business’s health.
Major, Lindsey & Africa’s review service is but one example of how recruitment firms are repositioning their businesses in the age of analytics and AI.
Related: For Executive Search Firms, Analytics Can be a Game Changer
The market for Big Data and business analytics is expected to grow to $203 billion in the next three years, according to the International Data Corporation, a marketplace intelligence provider. It only makes sense that analytics should become an increasingly vital component of the executive search process.
“Clients have forever been longing for better, more concrete, evidence about whom they should they hire and why,” said Scott A. Scanlon, founding chairman and CEO of Hunt Scanlon Media. “But analytics also reveals a lot about the hiring process itself and where adjustments must be made to produce the best results.”
Providing Evidence
“I find that executives react well to hard data,” said Ian Ide, managing director and partner at WinterWyman. “It’s tangible and sets the stage for a much better conversation. The data provides evidence and allows the client to draw logical conclusions. If parameters of the search need to be changed, the data arms the stakeholders for conversations they may need to have throughout their organization.”
Some of the search parameters that may change include compensation level and reporting structure, said Mr. Ide. “In other cases, mapping the candidate pool and gaining an understanding of the availability of local talent at the outset of the search helps us decide whether we conduct the search nationally or locally, as well as understand what industries might be particularly viable,” he added.
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Mr. Ide oversees operations and delivery activities for the Waltham, MA-based executive search firm, ensuring that its offerings are effectively meeting client needs. He also works directly with clients in regard to their executive hiring needs.
Analyzing Reactions
One area that’s clearly of interest to clients is being able to quantify and analyze positive or negative reactions toward their particular search. To cull such information from the data, said Mr. Ide, it’s important to establish a baseline norm and proceed from there.
Five Ways HR Can Maximize Data and Analytics
Big data is rewriting the script for how companies around the world do business. The market for big data and business analytics is expected to grow to $203 billion in the next three years. For HR, the implications include better and more efficient talent management processes.
“We track how candidates are reacting to a search and how that compares to other searches with similar parameters, companies, etc.,” he explained. “Once we have had enough conversations to have a viable data set, we can provide feedback on a company’s reputation, reaction to the opportunity, target salary and reporting structure, along with common questions that have arisen. By providing clients with this information early in the search process, it allows for adjustments to be made when necessary and possible.”
Related: Six Leadership Megatrends Changing the Workplace
Data-driven analysis on the front-end of a search can help facilitate necessary adjustments to parameters such as compensation or relocation, said Mr. Ide. This becomes relevant in emerging sectors where there is a dearth of outside information to draw upon. “For example, leadership roles within the data and analytics space; many companies are hiring chief data officers for the first time,” he said. “Questions such as, ‘Who should that role report into?’ and, ‘What is a competitive pay package?’ are the kinds of questions many companies are facing.”
To be able to compare results, it is critical to maintain multiple sets of data as points, said Mr. Ide. After all, the information can be very different from search to search and company to company. “It’s crucial to get a comparable set of data by which to compare the search,” he said. “For example, an executive search for a well-known leader in the marketplace may generate a better reaction than the executive role for an unknown company. Having a relevant point of comparison will make all of the data much more meaningful and relevant.”
Related: Eight Trends for Recruitment Firms to Heed In Changing Times
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Andrew W. Mitchell, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
