Having a data-driven culture can mean the difference between survival and bankruptcy in a competitive world. This is because such an approach will completely transform the entire operations of a business – everything from strategic decision-making to day-to-day operations will be backed up by data. For the same reason, it will be possible to build a business built on hard truth instead of “gut instinct”. But developing a data-driven culture is not as easy as it sounds.
Understanding Data-Driven Culture
Most businesses think that such an approach is all about collecting and analyzing data. However, having a data-driven culture is much more than that. It is the method that influences how a business thinks, operates, and makes decisions. What’s more, it’s not limited to one department: it’s something that every department and every employee of a business should have. This is one of the key differences with data analysis.
- In traditional data analysis, only certain departments of a business (say, accounting) collect and evaluate data. So only these departments have access to information. They create reports and share them with other departments. In a sense, they are the only source of info: no one else has access to it.
- In a data-driven culture, data and analysis are available to all departments. Everyone can access the information and use it in decision-making. There is no need to wait for a manager or a specific employee to generate a report.
Predictably, while such an approach is important for all types of companies, it is particularly important for a tech company. The tech industry is built on market trends, competitive analysis, user interaction, and product performance. In other words, it is based on analyzing large amounts of data. However, if access to this data is limited, as in the traditional method, a tech company may struggle to make the right decisions. This is why a data-driven culture is most beneficial for tech companies like Spincity Casino. Data analysis is at the heart of online casinos: what casino games players are playing and what they are interested in is extremely important information for iGaming.
Key Components of a Data-Driven Culture
There are basic standards that every business that wants to make the transition to such a way of working and operating should follow, and the most important ones are the following:
Leadership Commitment
Change starts with leadership. The first person in a business who needs to embrace this kind of approach is the leader. This does not only include the CEO of the business: managers of different departments and team leaders also fall into this category. For this culture to take root, organizational leaders need to start trusting decisions based on certain information, not their gut instincts.
Leaders need to take the initiative to ensure that the use of data is part of everyone’s job. That is, they should not see it as the responsibility of, for example, the IT department: leading the change themselves will ensure that this culture is adopted much more quickly and efficiently. To this end:
- Leaders should make it clear in meetings and organizational reviews that they are using data. They must show that they rely on hard information and make decisions based on it, not on the assertions or hopes of employees.
- Leaders also need to encourage all employees to question processes, work on innovations, and replace existing practices with more efficient ones. All this requires using information and analytics as a guide. Moving to a data-driven culture will require a change in thinking too.
And, of course, leaders must eliminate anything that restricts access to information. If a department wants only itself to have access to certain info, it is not acting following this approach. The leader needs to remove these potential barriers and make it clear that they can be contacted directly if there is a problem.
Clear Strategy and Vision
When you are about to change the way a business operates from the ground up, you cannot rely on good intentions. Every department needs a roadmap that shows how this change will start, how it will continue, and how it will end. This map should be designed with the specific needs of the departments in mind. For example, the roadmap for human resources and IT departments will of course be different.
In any case, this roadmap should include how data will be collected, managed, analyzed, and distributed across the business. It should include clear metrics to measure progress and enable everyone to see at a glance what is expected of them (and what they can expect from the business).
Training for Every Employee
You cannot just explain this culture as a “concept” to employees. This culture requires the use of specific tools and platforms, as we will discuss below. Access to data will only be possible through these tools, and in businesses that have not paid enough attention to digitalization, it can be unexpectedly difficult for employees to use them efficiently.
It is therefore imperative that every employee, without exception, gets specialized training for both this culture and the tools that will enable them to use it. Don’t define who receives the training by position: everyone should be part of it, regardless of their role, title, and background in the company.
The goal is to enable everyone from the CEO to the intern to make firm decisions that show results, so the training process should be inclusive.
Using the Right Tools
And of course, you will need to use tools to analyze and make data available, automatically manage roles, access methods, and users, or a platform that offers all of this in one place. It would be pointless to recommend a specific tool/platform: every business has its own needs and you need to take this into account when choosing. Don’t get lazy and go for the popular options: this can lead to overspending or not getting what you want.
Consider whether a subscription system is right for you: perhaps a one-off payment will save you money in the long run. There is also no point in opting for platforms that offer more than what you want, as the training time will be longer. Each company needs to make a choice that fits its budget, expectations, and strategies.
Potential Challenges & Problems
The biggest challenge will be resistance to change. “Old guards” who have been working in the business for a long time and are used to things being done in a certain way will not only find it difficult to transition to a data-driven culture but will also not accept that information is available to everyone. It is imperative that the leadership team is alert to this resistance and tackles problems before they arise.
Providing consistent data is another potential problem. Depending on the tool/platform used, ensuring that the information provided remains the same can be a bigger problem than one might think. There should be no difference between the data the CEO sees and the data a recruit sees. Otherwise, employees will not be able to trust the info and will not be able to adopt a culture based on it.
Transitioning to a data-driven culture is a journey and will not be short: don’t expect results in a few weeks. It should be seen as a long-term investment and should not be expected to deliver satisfactory results in a short time. However, a tech company like this will always stay one step ahead of its competitors, as it will use strategies based on market trends and hard information.
