An Era of Data-driven Decisions: 7 Steps on How the Management Today can get its Data Game Face On!

Author: Gautam Mane

The Contemporary C-Level Executives are fraught with fierce Competitive Challenges, that can only be surpassed with Data and Analytical Competencies.

Gut Feelings are so out and Fact-based Decision-making in!

We all know Data as one exponential Revenue-generator and Growth-Stirrer, that improves upon Work efficiencies.

But, how can Business Leaders imprint Data into the DNA of their Organizations? How can they best convey the benefits of Data and AI to the different departments of their company? Or state the risks of being complacent at this stage?

We surveyed 800 C-level Executives on their views about using Data and Analytics to shape their current and future Business Decisions. We tried to understand their key fears and challenges in on-boarding and utilizing predictive Data.

“34% of Respondents said, they know by 2030, Artificial Intelligence Backed Decision-making will be a usual!”

Hence, we engineered a 7-Step Question-based Guiding Stairway to help you build a fully functional Data-driven Organization, that sharp-focuses on Growth.

STEP 1: Does my Organization Use Data?

• 47% CXOs said that they do not have knowledge on how to become more Data-driven.

• 87% Respondents agreed that Data is an underutilized Asset in their Organization.

• 44% of Organizations faced Data Quality Challenges.
• 57% of Marketing Heads said they could not interpret the Data well.

During our survey, we first segregated the responding Organizations as per their levels of Data Maturity. The results:

• 16% Respondents were found as Laggards. They stayed aloof of Data Analysis.

• 27% were Inquisitive. They tried to explore Data Analytics but didn’t gain much traction.

• 25% were Well-defined. They had a Database ready, everyone in the organization had access to this Data and could freely utilize this Data whenever required.

• 22% Respondents were Strategic. They based most of their Strategic Decisions on Data Analysis.

• 17% were Data-driven Decision Makers. They systematically and continuously used Data to Support their organizations Strategic Initiatives and Goals.

(Overlaps were found in the Respondent Survey; hence they could not be totaled as a 100%.)

As an insight, it was found that Laggards, faced high-employee turnover and were low on performance as compared to Data-driven Decision Makers.

This was a Wake-Up Call for the Laggards!

STEP 2: Is Management Data-friendly? 

• 1 in 2 C-Level Executives interviewed said they knew Data, Automation, and AI will be the future ahead, but had no clarity on the subject matter at hand.

• 1 out of 3 Top Management agreed that they were unaware of the future of Business Intelligence and AI in their Industry.

The respondents knew a thing or two about Digitalization but were not aware of the spectrum of applications that Data Analytics can have. Their own Data Maturity being poor, it percolated into half-baked Decision Making and Performance!

STEP 3: Are my Employees Resisting Change?

How would the CXOs know if everyone is on-board the same Data-driven ship, as them? One of the top Challenges, as reported by Management, in becoming a Data-driven Organization was that; Employees, Managers, and even Management sometimes were outright reluctant to Change.

“1 in 4 CXOs believed that there is too much talk about Data and AI, and it is just a passing trend!” 

Some strong reactions observed by CXO respondents were:

• “My Employees don’t accept this”

• “Employees who have been working with us for a long time, don’t see the need for change”

• “There is Fear of Change in my Organization”

• “My Management is not Data-driven and doesn’t know the benefits of Data-driven Decision-making”

Thus, for Management, the third step is to get everyone on the same page. The CXO must take the lead, in bringing positive change to the organization.

STEP 4: How do I better my Organizational Culture?

It helps to study the Organizational Culture found in Data Analytics-mature Organizations. Using an Organizational archetype model presented in Harvard Business Review, we compared the varied Organization archetypes from our Sample Data, across the Data Awareness Stairways mentioned in Step 1. Some Cultural Traits that clearly stood out were:

This environment was in sharp contrast with a warm, collaborative, and predictable workplace where people were rather safe than sorry! (View below)

Apparently becoming more Data-Driven bought a shift in culture from Stagnancy to promoting Learning and Achieving!

STEP 5: How do I attract Data Competent Talent?

This is where our Stairway took a twist. We asked CXOs about their Bottom-Line Challenges and Fears.

• The Biggest Challenge they said was having Robust Processes in place that work towards optimum Data Analysis.

• Another challenge was the sheer lack of knowledge in becoming more Data-driven.

Hiring seasoned Data Professionals remained a pivotal truth.

The ‘Laggards’ remained happily Unaware of Talent Hiring, but the severity of finding the Right, Data Talent increased at the ‘Strategic’ and ‘Data-driven’ levels.

STEP 6: Where do I make my Data Investments?    

How does the Management decide where to make it Data Spends? At the early stages of the curve, where many organizations are at today, Data Analytics stands as a primary job of the IT Department.

Post that, Production and Customer Service grab the limelight.

Shifting perspective from Inside-Out to Outside-in is extremely important. The probing question is – are we over-investing in IT Systems, especially when Sales, Marketing, and R&D has shown a direct correlation to high performance in an organization?

STEP 7: What do I focus on, in the future?

In Conclusion, even if you have reached the Data-driven Stage, there will still be a voyage to undertake. Increased Data knowledge will open up a treasure chest of opportunities.

Knowledgeable Management teams will discover more and more potential in AI and Automation.

• 3 in 10 Respondents said that by 2030, all Strategic Decisions in their Industry will be taken by Artificial Intelligence.
• 34% of CXOs say that by 2030 their Leadership Team will have a non-human member.
• 3 in 10 Respondents also opened a Pandoras box saying – Most Managers too will be replaced by AI. Sounds Dangerous?

Like the old adage goes,

“With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility.”

Until then, it is wise to tap – as soon as possible – into the Universe of Data Potentialities! Simply because Data is here to stay and how!!!!!

Remember, the world is yours!