How to bridge the data literacy gap in your team?

Data has reaped enormous benefits for businesses all over the world in recent decades. Now, organizations can make better-informed decisions and plan their strategies based on data rather than intuition. Consequently, they outperform less data-driven companies.

As an example of data-driven growth in recent times, Netflix [1] comes to mind. The entertainment giant provides a more personalized experience to its viewers and develops innovative concepts by using data. Netflix created bespoke streaming experiences and made more informed decisions about what content to create using viewer behavior data.

However, when we look at the industry as a whole, some gaps still need to be filled. According to a Gartner report, International Data Corporation (IDC) estimates that 50% of organizations still lack the data literacy and AI skills required to achieve business value [2]. It makes no difference how much data an organization collects unless companies can generate actionable insights. Data must be understood and used by employees at all levels of an organization. As a result, gaining a competitive advantage and profitability requires a higher level of data literacy.

Improve communication and company culture

A company's culture can impede its progress toward better data literacy. Employees may be skeptical and resistant to change if they do not understand how to use data to its strategic advantage.

Business leaders who lead teams with a data-first mindset should be at the forefront of change. Employees should be encouraged to inquire. Furthermore, companies can improve data literacy through collaboration and teamwork, in which knowledgeable users assist others in learning. Workshops, knowledge sharing, and brainstorming sessions can all assist employees in determining how other professionals handle data.

To achieve goals, everyone in an organization must be on the same page. As a result, they must comprehend the concept of data literacy and learn to interpret and critically evaluate data.

Overcome technological obstacles

Data-driven employees often face steep learning curves. Employees will be more willing to learn about data and apply it to develop insights if they can easily handle data processing tools that make data easier to understand and interpret.

Understand and define your data literacy objectives

When teams generate conflicting reports due to poor data literacy skills, the leadership team becomes vulnerable to different interpretations, making it challenging to ask data questions and make informed decisions. It does not mean that everyone in the company should be a data scientist. Employees should be able to read and understand their domain-specific data. The level of data literacy required for various roles varies across businesses.

As businesses become more automated, workers' tasks frequently require judgment, improving data literacy. Management should explain the importance of data, its value and impact on business, and how to use and consume it to all employees as part of the information strategy.

Assess to bridge the gap

Business leaders should develop a plan to achieve, track, and maintain data literacy goals. companies can assess the organization to check the existing skill-sets and:

· level of data-literacy

· readiness to become more data-literate, and

· the percentage of existing vs. required data-literate employees

The evaluation will assist organizations in determining their position and developing a skills framework based on the data skills required by the workforce. Such assessment will allow us to devise a strategy for skill enhancement through data-literacy training courses and coaching sessions. By doing so, employees will be able to ask questions and gain insight.

Develop continuously

Identify the gaps and how to fill them. Everyone will be able to improve their analysis, delve deeper to gain data insights, and discover solutions to business problems as a result of this. As a result of data-driven insights, organizations can identify new opportunities.

Conclusion

Data literacy is becoming an essential skill for improving efficiency and making business decisions as organizations undergo digital transformation. In fact, 'Data Literacy' is to the twenty-first century what 'Literacy' was to the nineteenth.

Employers who are data-literate can make a significant contribution to the success of their company by unlocking the potential of data. The data-literate workforce will be more engaged in their work as they learn data skills and understand how to handle data effectively (resulting in fewer data breaches). As an organization, you can create a thriving data-driven culture.