Surviving Business Transformation
Business transformation is ever-evolving, and all organisations are continually susceptible to change. An agile approach and effective change management are vital to surviving in any market, and right now, data skills are one of the most valuable assets a business can possess. The digital skills shortage is costing the UK economy £12.8bn every year, and this can quickly create a domino effect, impacting other areas of the business and, crucially, its ability to adapt and change.
Recognising your business’ need for change and the prerequisite skills to achieve this is vital. Prioritising data as the core driver of decision-making and, therefore, change will position your company effectively in the current market.
Empowering Employees with Data Knowledge
A key blocker commonly arrives when developing business change is the change management and understanding of new processes. This is especially true in the data space, which needs continuous monitoring and learning to adhere to your company’s specific data governance models.
Any change is something you have to approach with caution but also proactively. Getting the entire organisation to embrace it entirely can be difficult when implementing business change. For example, suppose you are implementing new processes and tools for data democratisation and sharing throughout your organisation. In that case, you must support your employees through the change with the proper training, documentation, and processes. Without this, they can easily get stuck using legacy tools or relying on your data centre or department to manage even the most basic queries, slowing down business processes and limiting transformation. Without good data knowledge across your organisation, it is easy to end up with silos and confusion relating to data storage, management, and protection. Furthermore, the World Economic Forum report 95% of cybersecurity breaches are down to human error, so organisations must equip their people with the knowledge and confidence to navigate the digital world.
Building a Collaborative Data-Driven Culture
Another key challenge when developing business transformation is the structure of your organisation and how well this allows for information sharing and collaborative change. Many businesses lose out due to their lack of champions for change within their key business areas and departments. When it comes to data, this means you lack the departmental specialists to manage and support the wider team in using data effectively and silos quickly develop. The Hub-and-Spoke method is highly effective for counteracting the risk of silos and ensuring you have the right people in the right areas, supporting greater data literacy across your teams.
Breaking Down Barriers to Business Transformation
Many organisations recognise issues regarding their business transformation, often closely linked to issues with digital or data skills. Gartner describes many businesses as “flying data blind with regard to the skills they need for transformation”, and this makes finding the right solutions difficult. Their research also found 53% of people surveyed said that their inability to identify the required skills was the number one impediment to transformation in their workforce.
Businesses need to find the right solutions and the right approach to data and digital transformation that suits their organisation. You have to define and understand what business transformation means for your organisation and develop an approach that matches.
The Power of Embracing Data for a Data-Literate Workforce
Embracing must be at the heart of any business transformation. Encouraging an understanding and appreciation of data in your wider teams is essential for making it a central factor in decision-making and change management. The key to this is data democratisation, the process of making data accessible to all employees and stakeholders within your organisation. Accessibility is only the beginning, and you must move on from this stage towards advancing data collection skills to management, analysis and handling. To drive business change through data, you need a data-literate workforce.
Digital transformation is not about replacing human capabilities with technology, it’s about enhancing them. One of the most effective ways to motivate, inspire and convince your people of the effectiveness of data in their work is a commitment to education and training. To embrace your change, your business needs to embed data education and belief in your internal teams and give them the infrastructure and training opportunities to approach change proactively.
Using training initiatives such as the Corndel range of data programmes provides your business with a uniform and consistent approach across your organisation. You can provide data upskilling across departments and ensure individuals can develop their data skills to the levels necessary.
Exploring Corndel Data Training Programmes
Corndel delivers data literacy training programmes at several levels utilising your apprenticeship levy funding. Organisations can access the relevant programmes for their workforce or discuss a training academy approach, where several levels of the programme are available to employees requiring different data skills.
Our programmes include:
The Imperial College & Corndel Data-Driven Professional Programme:
A level 3 apprenticeship programme to boost understanding of how to use and manage organisational data in workplace decision-making.
The Imperial College and Corndel Data Analyst Programme:
A level 4 apprenticeship programme which transforms your employees into confident data scientists capable of acting as the data champion in their department and driving change.
The Corndel College London Digital & Technology Solutions Professional Degree Apprenticeship:
A degree apprenticeship program that is a powerful way to fast-track and enhance your businesses rising stars’ potential and develop a generation of data-literate experts to guide your organisation through change.
Each programme can be tailored to your organisation’s specific needs, with core modules that ensure a high level of data competency in all programmes. We specialise in blended learning programmes, including one-to-one learning opportunities and pairing learners with experienced and knowledgeable coaches. Data literacy can and will drive your business transformation, and without a commitment to upskilling your organisations people to enhance their data skills, keeping up with the competition may become difficult.
Data literacy is a fundamental part of any company-wide business transformation. Your employees need the technical skills and knowledge to move forward effectively. Get in touch to learn more about data programmes and promote data-driven change in your company.
