THE CHALLENGE

Spreadsheets and inconsistent data clouded the picture

Leaning on spreadsheets wasn't just slow for Kong — it kept insight out of leaders' hands, because not everyone had access to the various systems of record. “It seems like in some organizations, people get props for creating spreadsheets. We have to put an end to that culture,” says Mark Tucker, director of HR Technology and Analytics at Kong.

Worse, teams calculated even basic metrics like headcount in different ways. Kong needed to unify its data sources into a single source of truth everyone could agree on. In 2022 it transitioned from Namely to a combination of Workday and Visier — using Visier to standardize and clean all its data a full seven months before the Workday implementation.

THE SOLUTION

A single source of truth, starting with the basics

One thing holding HR back was simply not knowing how to pull data from the HRIS consistently. Reports took so long to build that no one wanted to add a new metric or spreadsheet on request. With Visier People in place, the data became easy to pull and accurate enough that leaders could get a clear view of headcount, department, and region. A span-of-control report that had been effectively impossible to produce was now visible immediately — and Visier standardized metrics and made the data transparent along the way.

Visier allows us to see the data and start drilling into the insights. Without being able to see it, it's just numbers on a spreadsheet, but with Visier, we make all the connections in a way that people understand.

— Mark Tucker, Director of HR Technology and Analytics, Kong Inc.

THE OUTCOME

Data over gut feel, and reporting six times faster

Kong suspected retention was a problem but wanted to go beyond the “gut feeling.” Connecting performance data to turnover exposed a new insight: turnover among low performers ran higher than average, while turnover among high performers sat well below — and the team could finally see where tenure might drive attrition and build an action plan around it. Hiring got sharper too; Kong found that applicants who applied directly through its system had a surprisingly high 85% retention rate, and is now using that to hire good candidates more efficiently.

Integrating Visier with Workday dissolved data barriers and cut tool-switching, admin costs, and errors. “We've realized a huge time savings and efficiency boost with Visier at least six times,” Mark explains. “For example, if it takes me an hour in Workday to build a report, it would usually take approximately 10 minutes in Visier. This means we can keep up with the speed of business. And, once the integrations are set up, it's very low maintenance on an ongoing basis.” Two years in, Kong is extending its use of Visier — exploring Extend to bring previously siloed data, from a talent acquisition platform to engineering and services metrics, into a single analytic view.

Tired of spreadsheets, too? See how Visier makes sense of your data today and gives you a clear view of what's next. See what Visier can do for you.