Deploying flex workers. It sounds simple, but in practice it can be challenging. In the upcoming series of articles, "Fleks Talks," we delve into the subject with a range of experts. This time, Fleks CEO Ricardo explores data. Because to measure is to know. But then you need to know how to measure.

In my circle, I increasingly hear companies talking about their added value. To be honest, I do this myself during my commercial talks. The question is: what exactly is that added value? It is difficult to define. It is usually a lot less concrete than solving a problem. Value can be created by improving your customer's key metrics. But what are those metrics and how do you do that?

The most obvious figures, such as financial figures (EBITDA, turnover, profit), are easy to analyze but often only represent the result. If you dig deeper, you will find certain sales deals and possible cost reductions. If you dig even deeper, you will find the more qualitative metrics. Now it gets interesting! These metrics can provide predictive value, enabling you to make certain strategic decisions (earlier).

When we look at our market and customer groups from Fleks' perspective, there are various metrics you can consider:

Employees (field service)

Employee activity | how many hours of availability do they report?
Work performance | number of hours worked, number of sales, etc.
Reliability | checking in on time and reporting absences

Employees (office)

Skillful planning | Has the database been used optimally, and have travel distances been minimized?
Reliability | % of schedule filled, is the schedule completed on time?
Relationship | with the field service and/or customers

The two examples of employees above are important stakeholders and essential to keeping your organization running smoothly. Ultimately, they ensure a positive EBITDA. By analyzing the above metrics, you will be able to make the right strategic choices. Is it really necessary to hire new people, or do you still have enough capacity in your database? Who are the top performers you want to reward and retain?

Your metrics can be very far-reaching, providing you with interesting insights. Take Facebook, for example, which for years has been able to predict whether your relationship will end based on your data (before you even knew it yourself (1)). Perhaps that's not entirely the intention, but knowing who is performing well based on simple statistics isn't such a bad thing. Start simply by collecting the data in a simple Excel file. You can do this using various tools such as Geckoboard, Google Datastudio, PowerBi, or one of the many other options (a good article on this subject can be found on Emerce).

1.1. Example of a DataStudio Dashboard

At Fleks, we are also increasingly encouraging our customers to collect and analyze these key metrics. We do this using PowerBi, which can be connected directly to the database. The data is already there; it's just a matter of visualizing the figures so that they are easier for our customers to interpret. This enables Fleks to empower its customers even more. Returning to my opening remarks, this is the added value that we can (now) focus on during a sales conversation.

This was part 1 of our Fleks Talks series. Subscribe to the Fleks LinkedIn page and stay up to date with our blogs.

After reading this article, are you curious about your key metrics in terms of personnel and planning? Or are you unsure how to easily map this out? Feel free to send Ricardo a message. He will be happy to help you, with no obligation!

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