The 5 Biggest Inhibitors to Resource Management Governance

Resource management is an ever-growing and complex field within professional services, where data governance and associated processes play a crucial role in achieving success. While the implementation of effective governance measures supported by scalable processes and technology can be challenging, good governance is essential for the long-term growth and stability of businesses in the professional services industry.

To help professional services organizations understand the role that governance plays in the long-term success of their business, Kantata has sponsored new research from the Resource Management Institute (RMI) centered on resource management governance practices. The resulting survey draws insights from 56 global companies in fields ranging from consulting services to marketing agencies. The report identifies how businesses are handling the data and processes that inform governance, as well as where they are struggling the most. 

This blog looks at the five main inhibitors to successful resource management governance RMI identified in its research.

1. Lack of Quality Data

According to the study, 27% of professional services businesses say that the quality and accuracy of their data are the biggest inhibitors to their governance processes. Additionally, almost half of the survey’s respondents (47%) reported that the reliability of resource management data varies depending on the input source. These findings suggest that organizations often struggle to maintain a consistent level of data quality across the board, leading to governance issues that impact decision-making and performance.

Supply and demand data highlights a good example of this inconsistency. While 78% of respondents say they have some data on resource supply and demand, and 58% of respondents say their supply and demand data is updated at least daily, only 24% say that data is good. RMI posits that “perhaps we have a data quantity over quality issue that effective [resource management] Governance can help redirect and correct. Inadequate processes and

disparate systems are leading to an abundance of supply/demand data, though it’s potentially not organized and perfected in a way it can be used effectively.

2. Poorly Defined Processes

A lack of well-defined processes was identified as the most significant obstacle to effective governance by 23% of companies surveyed. This isn’t surprising when you consider that 62% of respondents revealed that they do not have controls in place to monitor adherence to resource management processes. Successful governance is only possible with clearly defined processes that can be adequately monitored for compliance. Addressing a lack of either process definition or process monitoring should be a top priority for professional services organizations looking to improve governance.

3. Lack of Resource Management Data Monitoring

For 19% of respondents, lack of adequate controls for monitoring resource management data is the biggest barrier to successful governance. Technology plays a key role in surfacing and analyzing resource management data. While 40% of respondents are satisfied with the tool they are currently using to enable and control resource management data and processes, 34% of respondents are dissatisfied and 26% are neutral. Clearly the majority of organizations see room for improvement when it comes to the role their technology plays in monitoring resource management data. It will be important for businesses to leave legacy and generic solutions behind and seek out tools that are purpose-built to address the core resource management governance needs of the professional services industry.

4. Lack of Resource Management KPIs

A total of 11% of responding professional services companies say that there are not enough resource management key performance indicators (KPIs) to drive effective governance. When it comes to what categories are being used to define resource management performance metrics, the majority of businesses are focused on staffing efficiency and productivity. This leaves a major opportunity for Resource Management Offices to create greater insights and improved performance by measuring more KPIs, including compliance and accuracy. This ensures that resource managers are able to optimize more than just utilization rates and instead start driving meaningful change within the business.

5. Unavailable Data

Finally, 10% of professionals reveal that there is simply not enough of the right data available to create strong governance capabilities. In a related note, 42% of the respondents stated that resource data was stored in multiple systems among teams/departments/practices with some sharing of common processes to provide the data. This siloed and incomplete data can render data unavailable or unreliable when it is needed the most, weakening governance around key resource management processes.

While not every business will struggle with all of these governance inhibitors as each company is structured differently and has its own unique challenges, a fundamental starting point for tackling these inhibitors is to focus on developing a well-defined charter for the Resource Management Office (RMO). By having an official company-approved focus for your RMO, your organization will have the clarity needed to create a budget and support new processes and software to improve data governance.

With stronger data and processes that you can trust, your RMO can make meaningful decisions based on critical insights.

Fine-tune Your Resource Management Governance With RMI Insights

Learn more in the Kantata-sponsored research report “RMI Survey Series: Resource Management Governance” and uncover the data-driven insights that will help you support your teams in the ways they need most today.