Consultants Achieving!
Our Consultants apply the scientist-practitioner lens to their internships & case competitions, and they go on to succeed in their full-time roles as alum of the program.
2024 Wharton People Analytics Case Competition Winners - Team MetroMinds
From left to right: Pallavi Janiani (MA in I/O Psychology, WSMC Consultant), Anway Agte (MS in Computer Science), Ananya Shah(MA in I/O Psychology, WSMC Consultant), Aasim Yacub (MA in I/O Psychology)
Q: What was your overall experience participating in the Wharton People Analytics Case Competition?
A: At the Wharton People Analytics Case Competition, we competed with 30+ global teams to tackle real-world employee survey data. We explored the dynamic relationship between employee preferences, productivity, and organizational goals, using surveys to inform workspace design and redefine the hybrid employee experience.
Q: What were some highlights and challenges you faced throughout the process?
A: The competition provided valuable experience in data-based storytelling and audience based insights to cater to a mix of academic, industry and analytics professionals.
On the other hand, the case presented challenges with tackling real world, messy data such as missing values, limited alignment in survey questions, and lack of qualitative and demographic data.
Team MetroMinds presenting at the Annual Wharton People Analytics Conference at the University of Pennsylvania.
Q: How do you think winning this competition has equipped you to be a better consultant at the Washington Square Management Consulting group, and in what ways do you plan to apply the knowledge and skills you've gained from this experience to client projects, especially those requiring innovative human capital solutions?
A: This competition taught us the value of grounding insights in both qualitative and quantitative information. Moreover, it revealed that when working with data, a significant portion—about 80%—of the effort is dedicated to understanding it, cleaning it, and conducting exploratory analysis. From a client perspective, it helped us realize that data backed recommendations have a much stronger impact.
A: In an era where the conversation oscillates between the allure of remote work and the traditional office setup, it was noteworthy that none of the participating teams leaned towards mandating on-site work.
Our recommendations advocated for designing workplace environments that are tailored to nurture both individual well-being and collective performance enhancement. These insights can be leveraged with clients to design workspaces that maximize employee productivity, while providing provisions and support for their home offices and flexibility for in-office days.
Q: Based on your experience and the insights gained from the competition, what innovative human capital solutions do you think could be transformative for your clients? Can you describe how you might implement one of these solutions in a client's organization?