The verdict is out - Data is the new currency.
With the advent of Big Data and Data Analytics, companies are leveraging data as the next strategic asset. If utilized correctly, data promises an infinite potential to boost your business' growth.
According to industry reports, the Big Data Analytics Market is set to grow at a CAGR of 12.3% for the forecast period from 2019 to 2027. These figures make it abundantly clear that data is here to stay in the long run.
Only a data-driven company can make the cut and stay relevant in the future. However, for a company to be data-driven, it needs to inculcate a data-savvy workforce. In this post, we will discuss why employees need to be data-savvy and how you can achieve it.
If you're still on the fence regarding whether you should invest in having a data-savvy workforce, here are a few considerations to factor in:
Data is the Key to Success
A survey highlighted that nearly 73% of businesses are making use of data for their organizational growth. Data-Driven Decision Making enables the companies to capitalize on new business opportunities, generate more revenue, predict market trends, optimize current operational efforts, and fabricate actionable insights.
Senior Data Scientists can be a Hefty Investment
Dubbed as the "Sexiest Job of the 21st century" by Harvard Business Review, the position of a data scientist has been highly in demand. As per Robert Half Technology, Data Scientists make an average of $119,000! Companies are ready to shell out these paychecks in their desperation to harness data.
However, SMBs and startups that are strapped for finances and cannot afford such luxuries. The good news is that you don't need to have a data scientist with intimidating experience to have a data-savvy work environment. Employing data scientists at junior-positions and nurturing their talent is yet another way to incorporate fresh ideas while also driving data-centricity.
Alternatively, you can tech train your employees since sufficient corporate training can give birth to data-savvy employees. Regardless of the method that you choose, investing in your current human resources by training them is the safest investment in the future growth of your company.
Data Complements Human Effort
While data is important, businesses cannot win in data visualization and analytics without human intervention. Nearly 69% of businesses believe that data training and empowerment are essential for transformation in the data-driven environment. In fact, talent shortage is one of the key hiring issues in the tech industry and the gravest problems of Big Data, which can be countered through IT training of your in-house employees.
Data-Driven Culture is the Future
A data-driven company offers 5% to 6% higher output with increased productivity when compared to other less data-driven organizations. Further, they are also in a better position to utilize their assets effectively and gain handsome returns on equity and market value. Researchalso indicates that data analytics can pay back $13.01 per dollar investment!
Here is an overview of how you can develop a data-savvy workforce:
What is it that customers do while interacting with your business? They ask questions!
Hence, to think like a client, you have to follow the same process of asking questions.
A question always urges people to find solutions, it involves an interactive exchange of ideas. Asking the right questions will help the company identify key data points and develop algorithms that make the best use of Big Data.
Understand Data Science
Develop a basic understanding of data science within the workforce. This can be achieved through corporate training your employees with data analytics training as a subset.
These training sessions can expose them to the fundamental concepts of Big Data and data analytics. It sheds light on how data is collected, how can one store it, and the best practices to analyze this data. Managers must reinforce how companies plan on exploiting the data and how it will help the company realize its goals.
Depending on how you wish to differentiate teams, data training and data visualization can also be imparted.
Retrieve Existing Data
Once the human resource infrastructure is set up, companies can retrieve the existing disparate data to get started. Qualify this data and assign them to various data classes to analyze them better. With this information at hand, your now data-savvy employees can use it to find answers to key business questions and relevant business solutions.
Decide on Data Analytics Toolsets
After retrieving data and identifying the data that you need, it is now time to decide on an optimal data analytics toolset. Choosing this toolset depends on your organization type, size, and nature of work. You could opt for something as simple as Google Analytics to something more advanced like Tableau or even Python.
Companies don't become data-driven overnight!
Once your workforce is ready, it is all about catalyzing the change and keeping the workforce motivated to adopt the data-first approach. Companies should allow and foster a data-driven set up so that even the executives who are not directly dealing with data are skilled enough to understand its importance.
While being data-savvy is the ultimate goal, it comes with its own set of obstacles. Some of which include
As stated previously, hiring talent can be a major pain point for companies who wish to recruit data analytics experts. However, companies can focus on the employees at hand and work towards data training them. Coaching in-house talent in data analytics training may be a better alternative to making fresh recruitments.
With a data-savvy approach, you may find the formation of data silos with disparate data spread throughout the organization. However, these can be overcome through the integration of Data Warehouse Systems and Data Analytics toolset.
Ensuring Data Fidelity
Gathering data is a massive responsibility. After data capture, it must be identified, cleaned, maintained, and shared. However, failure to abide by these processes and not having a single source of data could dilute data quality.
Processing Data Influx
Big Data is voluminous. Performing quality checks and processing this data influx can be a humongous task, especially for companies that are just starting out.
Having a data-savvy workforce doesn't necessarily mean that you need to have a fleet of data scientists or math experts to make it work. For a company to emerge as a data-driven business, it needs to follow a well-established strategy that can help them overcome the possible challenges. Hone the skills of your current workforce, and you shall be suitably rewarded!
This brings us back to our original question - Why should employees be Data-Savvy?
The answer is simple - to allow your company to grow!