Data Analysis Skills Training to Transform Your Organization

All Job Roles Use Data Analysis Skills

As organizations become more data-driven, data analysis skills have become essential for modern-day professionals, even if their job title does not include "data analyst". Data has the power to provide insights that can fuel better decision-making and improve strategic planning, giving your organization a competitive edge. With the rise of low-code and no-code data analysis tools, data analysis has become democratized rather than performed by a select group of specialized IT personnel wielding seemingly mystical powers over data. Whether it is marketers optimizing campaigns, project managers assessing project progress, sales teams tracking their most engaged customers, or HR teams gathering insight into employee engagement, everyone needs data and the ability to make sense of it. This blog post will showcase why this is true and how any member of an organization can become an analytical powerhouse and the many benefits that brings.

Why Data-Analysis Skills Are Important for Organizations

Organizations, whether small or large, hold vast amounts of data collected either internally from employees or externally from customers. When viewed as a large block, data can be overwhelming, making it difficult to see the forest for the trees. Having employees with the right data analysis skills will allow organizations to transform and analyze massive amounts of data to gain important insight into their customers, improve their products and services, improve organizational culture, reduce costs, and gain competitive advantage. Without the ability to properly analyze data, organizations risk basing decisions on incomplete or inaccurate information which can negatively affect everything from employee morale to the ability of an organization to meet and exceed its goals. In the end, regardless of job role, honing employee data analysis skills benefits the entire organization.

Benefits Of Developing Data Analysis Skills in The Workplace

Given the sheer volume of data available, organizations need more than just a select few employees to provide data insights that can turn into actionable recommendations. A benefit of implementing employee data analysis training is that organizations can begin building the foundations needed for a data-driven decision-making culture. Another benefit to organizations is increased employee engagement. Through data analysis training, employees will better understand how their work contributes to the overall success of the organization providing them with a greater sense of ownership and fulfillment in their job role.

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How Data Analysis Can Be Used in Different Job Roles

Many employees may feel that data analysis skills aren’t necessary in their job role, little realizing that data analysis is something they already do. Learning analytical skills can improve employees’ ability to make sound, data-driven decisions that help propel an organization forward. For example:

• HR professionals can provide insight into workforce planning to drive and maintain employee engagement and training.
• Finance professionals can use data-driven metrics to provide more accurate financial forecasts, how best to manage risk, and identify areas of waste or areas with growth opportunity.
• Project management professionals can employ real-time data analysis to track task and project progress, manage and reallocate budgets when necessary, and discover and avoid potential project roadblocks.
• Sales professionals can use data insights to pinpoint their most engaged customers to more accurately forecast present and future sales.
• Product managers can use data to optimize product development, refine processes to minimize errors, and refine market strategies.

The possibilities for the use of data are only limited by one’s imagination, and the potential rewards derived from data-driven decision-making can be huge for organizations.

Low-Code and No-Code Tools That Democratize Data Analysis

As we have discussed, honing employee data analysis skills is an important task for organizations that wish to build a data-driven culture that leads to organizational success. However, many employees may feel intimidated when they hear the term "data analyst" or "data analysis" as they fear they don’t have the ability to perform what they view as a difficult and specialized task.

The good news is that with the development of low-code and no-code applications, those with less data analysis experience can dig into data to find answers to the business questions they are asking without needing to know coding and programming languages. With just a few clicks, these applications allow users to import data, create tables, and generate powerful visualizations that tell the data’s story. Additionally, these analytics tools have freed up IT teams to focus on big-picture technology issues for organizations rather than pulling resources to prepare data and provide data analysis for other departments.

The ability of users, even those new to data analysis, to analyze data using low-code and no-code tools has led to a revolutionary change in the way organizations analyze and use data to inform their decision-making process.

Skills Gained Through Data Analysis Training

When data analysis training is provided, both employees and organizations benefit from the skills gained as a result. Data analysis training teaches many desirable workplace skills including the ability to:

• pull insights from large amounts of data,
• identify key trends and patterns,
• translate data into easily understandable stories and actionable recommendations,
• take proactive approaches to issues through process improvement recommendations,
• identify opportunities for growth,
• hone problem solving skills, and
• hone critical and creative thinking skills

Through data analysis training, organizations position themselves for greater success compared to organizations that don’t invest in employee development. Training employees how to work with data will help organizations make better decisions, drive efficiencies, and provide sustainable success.

The Importance of Tracking Employee Progress

When creating a learning and development program around data analysis, it is important to include the ability to monitor and track employees’ progress as well as provide mechanisms for employee feedback throughout their training journey. Progress monitoring and employee feedback gives leaders the ability to know what aspects of the training are working and areas that may need improvement/adjustment.

To further aid employee learning, whenever possible, make employees with data analysis experience available to answer questions and mentor trainees throughout their training. As training progresses, employees should be assessed at predetermined milestones to show mastery of newly acquired skills. These assessments could be created internally using the organization’s data to mimic the types of real-world data analysis scenarios employees would normally face as a part of their job role. By providing employees with realistic scenarios to showcase their new skills and/or ask questions of those with more experience, organizations help their employees further refine their skills and grow their knowledge.

Conclusion

Organizations that wish to be successful need to create a culture of data-driven decision-making from entry-level to executive positions. To build such a culture, organizations need to provide training to employees to help them attain the skills they need to collect, analyze, and discern actionable insights from available data.

At first, many employees may be intimidated with learning data analysis skills because of the misconception that to be successful, one must have a set of highly specialized skills that may fall outside their experience level. However, with the advent of low-code and no-code data analysis applications, the bar for entry into data analysis has been lowered dramatically. With the click of a few buttons, just about anyone can analyze data and gain important insight that can lead to actions which help an organization reach their goals. By providing data analysis training and mentorship, organizations can empower their employees, leading to greater engagement and an environment where decisions are reached with data, not guesses.

Let United Training partner with you to help determine your training needs and to set up a training program that meets the goals of your employees, as well as those of your organization. Partnering with United Training is the first step to building a data-driven decision-making culture within your organization, leading to better decisions that propel your organization forward.