You think so too?
Data…
is…
everywhere…
Not only straight in our face, reading and hearing the word multiple times every day. But also around us in a less visible way. Whether you use Waze or Google Maps to get to that new recommended tiny restaurant on a rather unclear location, get the stuff you bought online delivered tomorrow between 14h04 and 14h34, call your mother in law via videocall, ask Chatgpt to “create an impactful LinkedIn post” or share the 50th picture of your newborn on social media this month, it seems like everything became data.
Data in business
You are not the only one who can’t imagine a life without data anymore. Businesses are as much in love with data as you are. With the graphs, the real time dashboards, the forecasts and the deep dives in customer data. But I’ve got bad news as well. Data is nothing more like a promising diet: it looks great on paper, but it only working properly if you go all in. (This definition would go for a marriage as well actually). So yes, data is the new gold. “But my gold is stored in a dark basement safe and I don’t use it the way it should.”. Then how do we make the gold useful for your organization? And especially, when?
The start
That was one of the questions I asked myself as well in 2021. POV: in our sales department at the Ormit Talent offices we received at a rapid pace more and more data related questions from our customers. And our colleagues of Recruitment & Selection saw an increasing number of data oriented candidates knocking at our door. Naturally the question rose: should we do something with this in a dedicated way? A particular question since we’re especially known for our expertise in talent recruitment, development and retention of generalistic management profiles. On top of that there are soooo many active players out there. Data consultancy boutiques are like mushrooms popping up in autumn. So do we have a real added value to offer in that case?
After a profound market research and a couple months of conceptual work the answer was a big fat YES, and the reason is pretty straightforward.
The difference
In essence you are nothing with data, as long as it’s not used properly. Used properly, or the real difference, comes thanks to the person dealing with data. You can have the most innovative technology implemented, the fanciest subscriptions on tooling platforms, and have a team trained technically on how to work with data. But that’s not enough, on the contrary. Having the same bike and training program as Pogačar or Evenepoel, or using the same material and an imaginary meet & greet with Banksy, it won’t get you automatically to the same level.
In other words: not everyone is able to transfer a technical skill into real value and the magic. Applying that in data the difference between good and great is the capability of:
Working together with Grumpy George from IT for the information you need but would rather avoid because he is not your type of person.
Understanding hidden information from Smooth Sales person Steven that tries to explain what he needs but doesn’t come much further than “good insights on my customers, oh and predict what the market will do”.
Communicating your findings in concise way to Rushy Rose in max 15 minutes ‘cause as a busy busy CFO she looks more on her smartphone than being actually present in the meeting.
Creating visualizations in such a way that Blurry Bob understand them in less than a minute.
The essence
All framing aside, you might recognize parts of it.. if we zoom out from Grumpy George and Rushy Rose, you come to the conclusion that the ideal data profile stands out not only technically but also humanly. The golden combo of hard skills and human skills. And exactly that is the essence of the Ormit Talent data program, Data Chiefs.
Bringing me to the mission statement of Ormit Talent’s Data Chiefs:
We’re a pleasantly disturbed group of people that believe in the power of talent development to change the business world for the best, by focusing besides technology and hard skills especially on the human side of business and the punch of young data talent.
We focus daily on the companies and the young data talents. To the companies that want to ensure their raison d’être by onboarding both the future generation of leaders and the data way on working, while thriving on the current ones today. And to the young data talents that want to grow to the best versions of themselves by discovering, learning, and inspiring the leaders of today.
– The *New!* hard skills and tooling change every 5 years, so start focusing on the person that uses them
Sounds like a group you want to be part of? Or are you part of a company that wants to onboard these talents? Let’s talk!