But while public-sector leaders may recognize the value in driving decisions based on data, there is a widening gap between what they want to achieve and how well equipped their employees are to deliver it. According to The Human Impact of Data Literacy, a report from Qlik and Accenture on behalf of The Data Literacy Project, while 45 percent of public-sector workers feel empowered within their organizations to make better decisions using data, the same amount confessed to feeling overwhelmed and unhappy at work at least once a week when reading, working with and analyzing data. More worryingly, nearly one-quarter (23 percent) said they felt so overwhelmed when confronted with data that they avoided doing the task altogether.
It has never been more important for people to understand the information being presented to them every day, not only to help now but to equip them for the future. Sow what can public-sector employers do to close this gap and support their workers to be able to read, analyze, challenge and use data effectively?
Here are five practical first steps:
1. Appoint a data champion responsible for driving tangible results
Public-sector leaders need to ask themselves two questions: What tangible value do they want to realize from their data? And are they currently set up to deliver the desired goals?To identify opportunities that align with and will truly impact the organization’s objectives, a data champion must be appointed. Typically a chief data officer or CIO, their role would be to act as a data ambassador across the organization, working with stakeholders to identify opportunities to better use data, and establish a change management plan to successfully implement them.
Driving a data literate culture is something that no one person can do alone. Therefore, a key function of the data champion role is setting clear expectations for the data-orientated working practices that need to be adopted in every function and at every level of the organization. This helps establish accountability for the adoption of new ways of working, not only for individual employees, but also for senior leadership, who must empower them with the necessary skills, tools and process changes. A top-down approach is critical to delivering 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 organizational restructuring without doing thorough analysis, you shouldn't embark upon a data strategy without an accurate understanding of the current state of data-informed decision-making across the organization 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 percent of public-sector respondents believe that all or most of their employees have the tools they need to work productively with data, while just half of middle managers and below reported the same.
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 organization’s goals and for enterprise to action.
3. Arm employees with the right tools
It’s essential to work with the CTO and CIO to ensure that the data tools available to your agency serve the needs of each user. Not only will these tools look dramatically different across skill levels (for example, a finance analyst compared to an HR manager), but they must be easily integrated into existing working practices to encourage adoption.Therefore, to support the uptake of data-orientated 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 realized 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: just one-fifth of the global workforce report that they are fully confident in their ability to read, communicate with and make decisions using data.Overall, 35 percent 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 specialized classroom training for staff. However, it should always be a continuous learning program to ensure that skill sets are continually reinforced and developed. The data champion must therefore work closely with HR teams to evolve the program every year in line with the organization’s changing use of data and employee needs.
5. A constant state of evolution
To extract the greatest value from data, public-sector organizations must be constantly exploring where the new opportunities are to better inform processes and decision-making.In collaboration with the data champion, leaders have two critical responsibilities here: First, they must ensure that this process becomes ingrained in the organization’s DNA so that data is always used to effectively improve its competitive advantage. Second, 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.
Putting 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 recognize that success is dependent on their own ability to empower employees to comfortably and confidently use data. Following these five steps, public-sector agencies 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.Jordan Morrow is the global head of data literacy at Qlik. In his role, Jordan is focused on helping individuals and organizations realize their data and analytical potential by bringing to light and enhancing skills in data literacy. Connect with Jordan on Twitter @analytics_time.
