FINAL WORD
Jordan Morrow, Global Head of Data
Literacy, Qlik
true change and will ensure employees
understand the positive contribution data
can have to both their own role and for the
broader business.
2. Get prepared
Just as you wouldn’t commit to organisational
restructuring without carrying out thorough
analysis, nor should you embark upon a data
strategy without an accurate understanding of
the current state of data-informed decisionmaking
across the organisation and the
potential barriers to success.
When armed with that information, work
with the senior stakeholders of each
department and the data champion to
ensure that every employee has access to
the data and tools, as well as the appropriate
skill level required to succeed with data
in their role. This is critical, as the Human
Impact report exposed a disconnect
between leaders’ perception of their
workers’ capabilities and actual employee
experience. Indeed, 46% of public sector
respondents believe that all or most of their
employees have the tools they need to work
productively with data, compared with just
half of middle managers and below.
To gain an accurate view of data skills across
the enterprise, coordinate focus groups with
different teams to understand how they are
currently using data and what further access
and tools they need. An understanding of
skill levels can be ascertained by using a data
literacy assessment, which measures the
ability to read, understand and work with
data, rather than technical expertise. There
are also free individual assessment tools
available online, while bespoke, enterprise
assessments can be provided by data literacy
consulting services.
With this holistic view of employees’ use of
data, the data champion will identify and
dictate the investments that will empower
employees to deliver against the organisation’s
goals and for the enterprise to action.
3. Arm employees with the right tools
It is essential to work with the CTO and
CIO to ensure that the data tools serve the
needs of each user. Not only will these tools
look dramatically different across skill levels
(for example, a finance analyst compared
to a HR manager), but they must be easily
integrated into existing working practices to
encourage adoption.
Therefore, to support the uptake of dataorientated
working practices, tools that are
put forward for business users must meet the
following criteria:
• Relevant: Does this tool provide
appropriate and useful insights that can
inform the decision-making process for
that role?
• Consumable: Is the information
presented in a way that can be
easily digested?
• Embedded: Can this tool be embedded
into existing software, such as HR or CRM,
so that it’s easy to integrate data insights
into the user’s working practices?
4. Educate to improve data literacy
The true benefits of data are realised when
everyone – no matter their level or function
– is comfortable and confident using data to
inform the decisions they make every day.
Yet, we are facing a significant data literacy
skills deficit.
Overall, 35% of public sector employees
believe that data literacy training would
help them be more productive. This can take
many forms, with some integrating data
literacy training into existing skills initiatives,
while others provide standalone e-learning
courses or specialised classroom training
for staff. However, it should always be a
continuous learning programme to ensure
that skillsets are continually reinforced
and developed. The data champion must
therefore work closely with HR teams to
evolve the programme every year in line with
the organisation’s changing use of data and
employee needs.
5. A constant state of evolution
To extract the greatest value from data,
public sector organisations must constantly
be exploring new opportunities to better
inform processes and decision-making.
In collaboration with the data champion,
leaders have two critical responsibilities
here: firstly, they must ensure that
this process becomes ingrained in the
organisation’s DNA so that data is always
used to effectively improve its competitive
advantage. Secondly, they must ensure that
employee skill levels, access to data and tools
are continuously reassessed to ensure that
they can deliver on these new opportunities.
People at the heart of
successful data strategy
We are living in a time when we all
understand that having access to reliable,
accurate and up-to-date data is critical
to decision-making. Yet, too few leaders
actually lead from the front and recognise
that success is dependent on their ability
to empower employees to comfortably and
confidently use data. Following these five
steps, public sector bodies can put people at
the heart of their data strategy to unlock the
potential for data-informed decision-making
and deliver the services and experiences
that their citizens demand, as well as
drive more efficient services during these
unprecedented times. •
“
35% OF
PUBLIC SECTOR
EMPLOYEES
BELIEVE THAT
DATA LITERACY
TRAINING
WOULD HELP
THEM BE MORE
PRODUCTIVE.
86 INTELLIGENTCIO www.intelligentcio.com