Only one in three Australian businesses offer employees basic data skills training despite 71% saying they expect that skillset from all employees, according to new research commissioned by Tableau. Insufficient investments in data training are leaving business leaders with a false sense of security.
Data skills are the ability to understand data and draw actions from it. Think of it as having fluency (like a language) so you can then have a conversation.
The survey ‘Building Data Literacy: The Key To Better Decisions, Greater Productivity, And Data-Driven Organisations’ was conducted by Forrester Consulting and indicated a disconnect between the training expectations of employers and employees. Nearly 80% of the Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) region’s decision-makers (Australia decision-makers: 71%) say that their department successfully provides its workers with needed data skills. However, less than 40% of regional employees (Australia employees: 33%) share the same view, with Aussie employees emerging as the most dissatisfied in the region.
The study included interviews with more than 2,000 executives and employees from 10 countries including Australia.
Data skills are increasingly vital, yet the training lags
The low commitment to training programs is a stark contrast to rising expectations for data-skilled employees. By 2025, close to 70% of employees in Australia are expected to use data heavily in their job, up from 42% in 2018.
While more than half (53%) of Aussie business leaders view basic data skills as the most valuable asset to have in 2025 – beating out the likes of project management and communication skills – that awareness doesn’t translate to investments in data skilling. Only 39% of Australian business leaders make data training available to all employees. Compounding the issue, the survey revealed that 37% of local decision-makers offer training only for employees in traditional data roles (e.g. analytics, data science).
Robert Wickham, Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, Asia Pacific & Japan, Tableau at Salesforce, said this might also have long-term implications for businesses. He said, “It is clear that businesses who equip their employees with data skills have a significant competitive advantage over those that don’t. But the value of data can only be realised when everyone – not just those traditional data-focused roles – is able to draw insights and turn them into action, fast. This is a rallying call for business leaders in Australia to act now and invest in their people through data training programs. Only then can leaders reap the dividends of new revenue streams and empowered employees.”
Without investments in data training, employers risk employee resignation
The impacts of the talent shortage are being felt globally and Australia is no exception to that. Recent local data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics found that at the start of this year, job vacancies had increased 6.9% from November 2021 and were 86% higher than 2020 figures.
Australian businesses are under pressure to retain and attract talent. In fact, 84% of Australian employees told researchers that they were more likely to take another job if it provided an opportunity to use data skills. Data literacy has a positive correlation with employee retention – 90% of Australian employees were more likely to stay with a company that invests in training to improve their individual data skills. This figure was the highest of any country in the APJ region.
While the local data literacy skills gap is clear, so is the opportunity
The disconnect between decision-makers’ beliefs and the reality employees face may result in steep costs for businesses but also presents an unprecedented opportunity to build a data-driven organisation.
“Data fluency is a key lever to support our team’s vision of helping people to see and understand data. It ensures our analysts and business users understand data as a second language, enabling us to derive ROI to clearly communicate the value delivered,” said Fiona Gordon, Global Director BI Strategy & Enablement, JLL, a leading professional services firm that specialises in real estate and investment management. “Our gamification programs have supported talent retention during the great resignation with a low 2-year turnover rate of just 5%, compared to more than 20% in benchmarked industries.”
MIP Australia, an end-to-end data analytics solution provider, has seen a 106% increase in revenues for training services in the past 12 months. “Data literacy is a key attribute and an enabler for organisations that aspire to be data-driven and build a data culture of their own. This means that people can ask questions, challenge ideas, and use data instead of gut feel to make decisions,” said Peter Kokinakos, Chief Operating Officer, MIP Australia. ” Data literacy is not just about the data itself; the real skill lies in the critical thinking required to interpret data and communicate its significance to others through data storytelling.”
“Data is one of the most important strategic assets organisations have. However, without a strong data-driven culture, and the ability of their people to be able to make and implement data-driven decisions, organisations won’t be in a position to properly harness it,” said Dr. David Bond, Director, Master of Business Analytics at the University of Technology Sydney. “We’re seeing a substantial increase in people who want to improve their data fluency to drive their careers forward.”
Even small training investments boost business performance, employee retention and innovation
Overall, Forrester found that upskilling initiatives, formal and informal, produce clear benefits for employees and businesses alike including improved performance, customer and employee satisfaction and employee retention.
Across the board, employers highly value data-skilled employees — viewing them as making better and faster decisions while being more productive and innovative. Employees in Australia agree: 87% believe they made better decisions and 88% made faster decisions when they use data.
About the Building data literacy study
For this study, Forrester surveyed more than 2,000 executives, decision-makers and individual contributors in ten countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. Respondents work at global companies with 500+ employees.
More information
Read the full study
In November, Tableau pledged to train 10 million data learners over the next five years. Read more about the pledge.
Go deeper into Tableau and Forrester’s data literacy findings on Tableau Public
Learn more about workforce trends outlined in Salesforce’s Global Digital Skills Index