In 2023, many business problems will still undoubtedly be solved through traditional approaches. However, we are that seeing data-driven approaches to problem-solving and innovation are increasing throughout organisations, and at a rapid rate.
Data analysis, once left to a handful of employees, is now playing some part in virtually every job. Employees are more and more data literate, understanding the value of bringing a data-driven approach and leveraging Data or Business Intelligence (BI) to support their work and using innovative data techniques to resolve challenges in hours, days, or weeks rather than months or years.
Innovative companies are using data to continuously evolve, solve problems, and do business. Companies seen as more traditional are recognising that data-driven approaches are key to keeping pace, and we are seeing business advisories and consultancies expanding their data teams due to an ever-increasing demand for these services.
Companies are searching for methods to help enable more employees to take what they glean from their analysis and trigger actions. Key business analytics platforms such as Microsoft Power BI, Qlik and Tibco now allow users to develop integrations between their dashboards and operating systems to enable actions directly from their BI tools.
Having data skills and understanding how to solve business problems using data-driven approaches is what leaders across all areas in an organisation are increasingly looking for in their employees and the race for talent has never been as competitive.
Strong candidates who are actively looking will have a lot of options. It’s not uncommon for a candidate to get five or more offers. Talented people who are not actively looking are often inundated with LinkedIn messages and emails in the hope that they consider the next ‘exciting’ ‘great’ ‘fantastic’ opportunity which might not be right for them.
In the race for talent, start with understanding your “why?”
As a recruiter, I spend time understanding a lot more than what’s written on a job description or salary band because my experience has taught me that this level of information is not nearly enough to secure the right talent. To quote Simon Sinek “People don't buy what you do; they buy why you do it”.
Every day I work with hiring managers to help them define why a candidate would join their team. If you are currently hiring for data talent, ask yourself the following question: “Why would a talented data professional want to join my team?”
If the answer doesn’t role off your tongue, or your answer was “a bump in salary”, you should take a step back and spend time working on this. To get started, I’d recommend a brainstorming session with your current team members, you might be surprised with some of their reasons for loving their job.
When you’re confident you understand this, then it’s time to ensure everyone involved in your recruitment process, especially your recruitment partners, are able to articulate this.
Get this right and you will start seeing improvements across each step of your recruitment process. You’ll see the right candidates entering the process, and those that are a better fit are far more likely to accept an offer of employment if successful. It will be a much better candidate experience, which will save you time, effort and money interviewing candidates who were never going to accept an offer.
If you're an employer looking for more advice on how best to advertise and showcase your roles, reach out to one of our recruiters. If you're looking to start a new career in this area? Why not have a look at some of our roles here today.
