We live in an information economy. The need for an effective business-driven data strategy is being driven by the fast adoption of cloud services and the digital transformation taking place in most organisations.

It is no secret that we are currently entering what is being called the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Big Data Analytics Revolution.

This places a premium on companies who know how to capitalise on data and analytics and puts an onus on hiring the best data leaders to achieve this.

So, what are the 4 key components of success that the best data leaders need from a prospective employer?

As a minimum, 2 out of the following 4 components should be in place:

#1 A Shared Vision

Having a shared vision in place sets the tone for creating a successful data strategy and sits at the centre of subsequent planning. Why do you want to do this?

This feeds into operational readiness and directly influences the appetite for transformation and change within the organisation.

But what if you don’t have the experience or know-how to find your shared vision?

The courage to say if you don’t know how to achieve the aims, but the willingness to learn how, is key to delivering on a strategic vision.

#2 A Culture for Change and Transformation

This is a critical component and one that is often not approached in the way that best ensures success. There has to be a willingness to ‘get things done’ that emanates throughout the company, from the top down.

For those people in the organisation who are reluctant to change, bring them closer to the data strategy process and work hard to help them become advocates!

To succeed, you need your team to take the first steps, to re-evaluate what needs to be done, how to do it. Do you have the tools and people that are needed to achieve?

The attitude of ‘wanting to be the first to do something’ leads to many happy data teams and successful data strategies!

#3 Funding

You may have a shared vision, a great culture and knowledge base of skillsets, but the best data strategy in the world cannot be delivered without the funding in place to support it.

Lack of funding for relevant data products and services threatens the success of key stages in a data strategy.

This has a knock-on effect that could mean losing your best staff to competitors that offer a clearer and better-funded approach to data projects.

A realistic approach to the funding required must be in place. By its nature, a data strategy is cross-organisational so what financial resources are available from the budgets in other areas of the business?

#4 Knowledge Base

One of the biggest challenges that faces organisations wishing to create a data strategy is that often the job roles required do not exist within the business or that the right people are there but have fallen behind on the skillsets needed.

Another common scenario is that of the ‘heroic’ IT employee, who makes things happen behind the scenes, but no one knows what they are doing.

The best data leaders will recognise how to mitigate these scenarios, building teams that blend business and technical, working with people around the organisation to build and deliver a successful data strategy. This, in turn, helps to influence and build a successful culture.

At Clermont, we understand that Data Analytics is fast-moving and transformational. Whether you want to improve operational efficiencies or grow revenues and profits, effective data strategies are now needed.

You could go as far as to say that, when it comes to the future, businesses now need to put digital and data at the centre of their operations or die.

With our team of subject-matter experts with decades of experience in IT, Project Management and Recruitment, Clermont makes it our mission to take a consultative approach, to understand your organisation’s objectives, challenges and needs.

By working closely with you and building a picture of your business and data strategy, we are able to match the very best candidates by creating a resource roadmap, tailored to your organisation.

This approach will help to create a recruitment strategy, meaning that you will hire the best data leaders to take your organisation forward!