Using data to justify internal changes
A data-driven organisation is one that strategically uses data analysis to inform their decision making, at each level of the organisation. Companies invest in the collection, storage and analysis of data, enabling objective, fact-based business decisions to be made.
As with any major business transformation, the move from traditional decision making to data-led business practices takes time. However, data-driven decisions have become the new business norm; HubSpot reported that companies who were not data-driven had become the minority.
With reports as clear as this, the writing is very much on the wall that data-led decisions are not a passing trend, neither are they the cutting-edge business manoeuvre they previously were; data-led decision-making has instead become a necessity, required to keep up with the competition. If you are unsure about why so many companies have made this transition, then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we will look at the benefits of data-led decision making, and how the vast majority of businesses have justified the cost of implementing such a strategy.
Justifying internal changes through data
“Decisions are no longer based on gut feeling, Data should be used to justify any changes. Data driven decisions are the future.” – Jadd Elliot Dib
In the olden days, decision making was essentially just an educated shot in the dark. The older and wiser and more tempered the business owner became, the wiser decisions they might make; but that approach was quickly outdated with the advent of data collection and analytics.
Research confirms this, revealing that data-driven companies are 6 times as likely to retain customers, 23 times more likely to acquire new customers, and 19 times as likely to turn a profit. That’s huge. Evidently, it makes far more business sense to implement changes based on objective data as opposed to subjective thoughts and feelings. So how can you go about making this change or improving the system you have in place?
- Build capabilities in the organisation
Investing in training for your staff will help them understand how they can gather, enrich, and analyse quality data, leading to better decisions being made within their roles. Known as Data Literacy, the ability to read and interpret data is a vital skill for all staff within the organisation, and encourages participation in data collection.
Different roles can acquire different sets of data; for instance, the marketing department can track the effectiveness and engagement of social media campaigns. Successes and failures will determine the approaches these campaigns take in the future. The IT department, on the other hand, can track the traffic to and through your website. They will be able to see which products or pages are visited most often, where time is being spent, and at what stage the website is most frequently closed, or the shopping cart abandoned.
The more data literate staff you have within your organisation, the more data-driven your organisation will become at all levels, ultimately leading to more informed decision-making throughout.
- Foster a culture of data-led innovation
Empower employees to suggest new, innovative ways to use data. In their day-to-day roles, they know best what works and what doesn’t, how processes can be streamlined and what issues are faced most often. Enabling staff to share their experiences and recommendations to best appeal to the target market, will benefit the company and the staff at the same time.
- Educate employees on data culture
In order to have data-driven decisions taking place at every level throughout the organisation, a data culture must first be established. A positive data culture is established when the accumulation and analysis of data is encouraged throughout the company. This empowers not only department heads, but also staff members in general, to make data-led decisions that are based on what the analytics has revealed.
Employees should be educated on how to read analytics without jumping to conclusions or skewing results through bias; analytics are purely objective and must be treated as such. This can take a great deal of practice to perfect, however, there are freelancers who can educate department heads on how to read and understand analytics without bias.
Every employee should be able to access the relevant analytics information for their department, when they need it. This enables them to fully understand what they are doing, why, who their target market is and the impact that any changes or influences may be having on the business.
- Make analytical choices
Once the data is there, ensure it is used within every level of the company. Wherever employees can access the analytics reports for the data, informed decisions can be made. Using the available data and reports, future actions can be shaped, and targets can be tracked, met, and even surpassed.
The decisions made can then be tracked throughout, any issues promptly corrected, and each department can stay up to date with the effects of the data-led decisions they implement.
- Engage in data-driven decisions
It is important to note that a data-driven approach is not something that happens once; it is a continuous process. Establishing a data culture means these processes will take place again and again, with optimisation continually happening as new data comes in, and as technology advances. Some companies hire full-time analysts, whereas others trial the system or keep overheads down by hiring freelance Data Scientists. Whichever choice you make, it is vital to stay consistent with the processes for an extended period of time so that you can compare the figures before and after data-led decision making, and truly understand the value of your investment.
Summary
Data-led decision making is upon us; now fully established in the world of business, those who do not use data to guide business decisions are now in the 26% global minority. While an initial investment is required in order to make the switch, the fact remains that 74% of leading companies worldwide have been able to justify and maintain the investment into data-led decisions. These figures indicate that a great deal of value is being realised through this process.
Handling data in the right way is vital to ensure its quality, validity and security, so this is a task best suited to professional Data Scientists. An entire department could be hired if you wish, but why not lower your overheads and instead get started by cherry-picking from our database of data professionals at Pangaea X?
Get your data results fast and accelerate your business performance with the insights you need today.
