Headline Partner

Dave Monks, Global Vice President, Data and Analytics, Governance and Ux, Brambles

Describe your career to date

I have worked within the data and analytics space for the past 24 years, within almost all areas of data analytics, and for some of the world’s largest multinationals. For the past 12 years I have led large globally diverse teams and transformations for Brambles, Reckitt, Diageo, and Yildiz Holding (Pladis). This has given me unique perspectives into teams and cultures to help drive faster insights and informed my understanding of navigating large organisations to achieve complex change journeys.

I am neurodiverse, which means I think differently to some people. This has given me a different perspective, a creative advantage, and a laser-focus in achieving outcomes and problem solving throughout my career.

I am the ambassador for neurodiversity at Brambles and believe that to develop our data maturity we need diverse teams. My belief, which is reinforced by my experience, is that this approach ultimately leads to better performing teams, improved retention, and greater financial outcomes and results.

As a leader, I am known for a strong focus on creating a data-driven culture, boosting data literacy, and developing high-performing teams. I strive to do this in partnership with internal and external customers, and create an environment of empowerment, high energy, and fun.

In the past 12 months I was ranked 9th in the DataIQ 100 awards, while the broader data team earned three nominations. We have also been recognised in the press for contributing to a 14% increase in NR, and a 19% lift in underlying profit in financial year 2023. Our analytics helped recover and salvage 10 million pallets leading to a positive impact on both the environment and sustainability efforts.

Data literacy is a key enabler of the value and impact from data. How are you approaching this within your organisation?

We have successfully conducted an extensive multi-day training programme for all 300 company leaders, in partnership with a leading university and a consulting partner. Data literacy has now been established as an integral component of our company-wide onboarding process for new leaders. Additionally, we set up mentorship networks for executive leaders with data leaders.

We also have elevated data governance (regulatory, safeguarding, data quality, and algorithm transparency) to executive team and board level. This ensures top-down support to leverage data as an asset, giving the necessary license to disrupt current ways of working, and cementing the importance of data and literacy for Brambles and its workforce.

Our dedicated training team has developed personal and role-based training and delivered it to over 5,000 colleagues, with additional training modules for a further 3,000-plus.

We have also developed classroom and on-the-job training programmes for technical teams in collaboration with technical partners and software providers.

This is all underpinned by measurable success criteria to ensure we can track and adjust our approach as we see fit.

Have you set out a vision for data? If so, what is it aiming for and does it embrace the whole organisation or just the data function?

Our ambition is to be a data and insight-driven organisation, which leverages data as an asset. We aim to continually use data to challenge the status quo, to create a meaningful impact for the company financially, and to meet sustainability and safety objectives.

We have elevated data across the organisation and helped deepen the recognition of its potential among the executive leadership team. We have taken this as a four-level approach: technology, data, processes, and culture-change behaviours, but have emphasised the importance of cultural change – which is often overlooked, despite presenting the largest risk and opportunity for truly transformational activity.

Dave Monks
has been included in:

100 Brands 2021 (EMEA)
100 Brands 2022 (EMEA)
100 Brands 2023 (EMEA)
100 Brands 2024 (EMEA)

Enabling data and AI leaders to drive impact

Enabling the success of Data and AI leaders and their teams.

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