Lack of Data Literacy Is Undermining Business Performance

Firms are missing three crucial opportunities to improve their performance because they do not learn lessons from the data they have access to. Questionmark, the online assessment provider, is urging employers to measure data literacy skills so that they can improve performance by identifying where to focus training and support.

Organizations that use new digital and customer data to inform their development make better decisions.1 This data may come from new digital data sources or digital tracking of customer interactions.

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“New technologies create a world of opportunity. Firms can best take advantage of them if they learn to understand the new data streams that digitalization is creating. ”

But despite the importance of being able to understand and make good decisions from data, just 21% of global employees are confident in their data literacy skills.2 As a result, firms are failing to tap into a wealth of data and missing crucial opportunities.

The top-three missed opportunities

1. Creating the best customer experience – as customers access more services and products digitally, organizations can better track and understand their behaviors. Firms can use this information to enhance the way they serve their customers. But only if they understand the relevant information properly.
2. Accelerating business processes – data from digitally-executed operations can help employers make efficiencies and identify cost and time savings. When the data is not analyzed, or analyzed badly, decision makers risk missing these insights.
3. Develop the best products and services – leaders can use data to better understand what products people are using. By understanding the customer needs that drive that use, firms can prioritize the development of superior products and services.

Lars Pedersen, CEO of Questionmark said: “New technologies create a world of opportunity. Firms can best take advantage of them if they learn to understand the new data streams that digitalization is creating.

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“To stop missing out on golden opportunities, employers should measure the strength of data literacy skills across the workforce. What they measure, they can manage and they can make better decisions on support and training.”

The Questionmark Data Literacy by Cambridge Assessment test enables employers to measure data literacy skills across the workforce. The results indicate which team members can understand, apply, communicate with and evaluate data in their job role. It can identify training needs.

The assessment is aimed at anyone who might benefit from better understanding data. It covers:

• Understanding data and data visualizations
• Applying knowledge of data to understand its implications
• Evaluating the quality and appropriateness of data
• Communicating data appropriately and effectively

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