Case Study: SymphonyIRI Group achieves accelerated analyst onboarding — new hires tackling live projects within three weeks with SAS

SymphonyIRI Group makes the on-boarding process easier, helps new analysts tackle projects faster

SymphonyIRI Group, an IT and consulting firm serving consumer packaged goods, retail and health care clients, needed a reliable way to onboard SAS analysts who arrive with widely varying experience and domain knowledge. The challenge was to create a flexible, repeatable process that teaches mainframe/UNIX SAS, statistical methods, communication and adaptability—and gets new hires contributing to live projects within three weeks.

Over two years SymphonyIRI developed a five-level onboarding curriculum using SAS Analytics that combines pre-start orientation, a buddy system, staged technical and domain training, and frequent coaching and performance checkpoints. The program accelerated ramp-up and productivity: new analysts gain the skills and organizational context to handle live work quickly and become fully integrated contributors within the first year.

SymphonyIRI Group

Aaron Augustine

Director, Analytics Research and Development