What are your key areas of focus for data and analytics in 2022?
My key areas of focus for data and analytics in 2022 is talent management, workforce intelligence, skills (learning analytics), diversity and strategic workforce planning (connecting people strategy to business strategy; building a strong workforce capability from a strategic workforce planning perspective). These are important areas because they are not only valuable assets to the organization’s strength and productivity, but they are critical in impacting the employee experience as a whole. In this post-pandemic world as more people are looking for new positions, flexibility and non-traditional ways of working, these key areas are worth paying attention to and taking positive action to improve as they directly correlate to the bottom line.
Tell us what leadership means to you in the context of your role as a senior data leader.
Leadership, from my perspective, is one that embraces authenticity, where one shows up and creates a space where people can be themselves, be in psychological safety. Leadership is also recognizing employees’ individual strengths and potential though it may look different across the board and giving opportunities to those who really tap into their potential. Leadership is being an example of an autonomy and flexibility of taking on different projects; one who inspires and encourages others as they create opportunities for career- and self-development.
And what about the skills of your data teams and of your business stakeholders? How are you developing data literacy across the company/organization?
The skills needed for my data team to be proficient in data literacy consists mainly of understanding how to insightfully analyze collected data – whether through a methodology, strategy, or specific technological tool – to help them determine key trends with our employees and, in turn, understand how to use such analysis to genuinely guide, support and improve our workforce. As for developing data literacy across my organization –including business stakeholders – I strive to do so by being a proficient data storyteller, understanding the soft skills needed for the future of business and analyzing the people analytics data and soft skills data together as they affect each other.
