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)

Congratulations to Team MetroMinds for winning the 2024 Wharton People Analytics Case Competition! The competition brought students from all around the globe to the analyze data and innovate solutions to tackle organizational challenges.

A special shoutout to Pallavi Janiani and Ananya Shah, both WSMC consultants who were central in Team MetroMind’s success!

WSMC members have expertise in developing human capital strategies that will open doors for clients to address the root causes of people-focused cases. We take a holistic approach utilizing data, theory-based research, and our expansive network of our consultants, alumni, and professors to advise our approaches and suggestions.

Q&A

• What was your overall experience participating in the Wharton People Analytics Case Competition?

  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.

• What were some highlights and challenges you faced throughout the process? 

  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.

• 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?

  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.

• 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?

  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.

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