According to Gartner’s 2024 CDAO Survey, poor Data Literacy is among the top five challenges hindering success in Data and Analytics. While companies invest significantly in analytics tools and data-driven initiatives, these efforts often fall short of delivering real impact when teams lack the skills to interpret and apply data effectively.
Take Mark, for example, an HR Manager at a data-driven organization. As an expert in managing people, he has access to a wealth of information: turnover rates, engagement scores, recruitment metrics, and more. But without the knowledge to fully understand and utilize this data, he struggles to make informed, data-driven decisions. This knowledge gap not only limits his ability to identify actionable insights but also impacts his capacity to present compelling recommendations to leadership.
This is where Data Literacy becomes a game-changer, empowering professionals like Mark to unlock the full potential of their data and drive meaningful business outcomes.
What exactly is Data Literacy?
Data Literacy is the ability to read, work with, analyse and communicate data. It’s about making sense of raw information and understanding how they translate into actionable business decisions. According to DataCamp, almost three-quarters (74%) of respondents agreed or strongly agree employees with Data Literacy skills outperformed those with poor data skills. With the constant increase of digital transformation, being data literate is essential for professionals across all industries and not just data scientists or analysts.
Here is a selection of key profiles that benefit most from Data Literacy training:
- HR Managers: Can make better hiring and workforce decisions by understanding employee data.
- Sales Directors: Can use data to analyze customer behaviors and personalize sales strategies.
- Project managers: Can use data to gain a better understanding and overview of their projects
- Risk Managers: Can perform more accurate risk assessments using predictive models.
When employees lack Data Literacy skills, they miss out on opportunities to optimize operations, make data driven decisions and stay competitive. Studies have shown that businesses with low Data Literacy suffer from:
- Inefficient decision making
- Underutilization of data tools
- Missed collaboration opportunities
- Bottle neck effects
Data-driven decision-making can transform your business – whether it’s improving efficiency and performance or building a culture of innovation. Like Mark the HR Manager, many professionals find themselves increasingly reliant on data and data tools without the training and understanding on how to use them efficiently. This knowledge gap also leads some professionals into making more gut feeling decisions.
Data Literacy includes technical but also non-technical skills that are beneficial for any employee regardless of their knowledge level. Some of the non-technical skills include critical thinking, research and communication.
As stated in HBR, while data is becoming more influential than ever, most people are still not very good at interpreting and making sense of it. Data and data tools are supposed to enhance business intelligence and decision making but they can only fully live up to their potential when thoroughly understood regardless of their departments. This gap can be bridged through Data Literacy.
How do you bridge the gap?
At CBTW, we specialize in helping companies build a workforce that’s not just comfortable with data but empowered by it. Here are some of the measures we take:
- Tailored Data Literacy Programs
- We customize Data Literacy training programs designed to meet your organisations specific requirements. Whether your employees need foundational skills or advanced data analysis capabilities, we customize a plan that fits your goal and business objectives.
- We customize Data Literacy training programs designed to meet your organisations specific requirements. Whether your employees need foundational skills or advanced data analysis capabilities, we customize a plan that fits your goal and business objectives.
- Interactive, Hands-on Workshops
- Our workshops don’t just teach data but allow your teams to engage and experience it. This gives your employees the opportunity to practice what they learn.
- Our workshops don’t just teach data but allow your teams to engage and experience it. This gives your employees the opportunity to practice what they learn.
- Ongoing Support for Continuous growth
- Our Data Literacy Solution is not just a one-time training, it’s an ongoing skill set that needs to be sharpened as your business grows. We offer continuous learning resources, ensuring that your organisation stays up to date as new challenges emerge.
- Our Data Literacy Solution is not just a one-time training, it’s an ongoing skill set that needs to be sharpened as your business grows. We offer continuous learning resources, ensuring that your organisation stays up to date as new challenges emerge.
- Fostering a Data driven Culture
- We also help organisations build a data driven mindset across all levels. Working with leadership to foster a culture that encourages data driven decision making.
After undergoing through our tailored Data Literacy training, employees such as Mark, the HR Manager, can work to their full potential. No longer overwhelmed with the sea of data or stumbling through the data tools but instead confidently navigating through the flood of information. Mark and his team are now able to dig deeper and use the attained knowledge to make more impactful decisions that not only increase but also improve his department’s performance.
Don’t let your company’s data go to waste. Let’s have a conversation about how we can help your team embrace Data Literacy and drive real measurable success. Learn more about CBTW on our website and discover all the info about our Data Literacy Solution here.