New Research from Accenture and Qlik Shows the Data Skills Gap is Costing Organizations Billions in Lost Productivity
January 22 2020 - 8:00AM
A new report from Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Qlik, titled “The Human
Impact of Data Literacy” and conducted on behalf of The Data
Literacy Project, found that while most organizations understand
the incredible opportunity of data, a gap has emerged between
organizations’ aspirations to be data-driven and their employees’
ability to create business value with data.
Data is a gold mine that can fuel a culture of innovation and
growth. However, when employees struggle to make sense of data,
productivity and business value can be affected. Accenture and
Qlik’s survey of 9,000 employees around the world found that each
year companies lose an average of more than five working days (43
hours) per employee. These lost days due to procrastination and
sick leave stem from stress around information, data and technology
issues, and equate to billions in lost productivity around the
globe: $109.4bn in the US; $15.16bn in Japan; $13.17bn in the UK;
$10.9bn in France; $9.4bn in Australia; $4.6bn in India; $3.7bn in
Singapore; $3.2bn in Sweden; and $23.7bn in Germany*.
The research identified how the data literacy gap is impacting
organizations’ ability to thrive in the data-driven economy. First,
despite nearly all employees (87 percent) recognizing data as an
asset, few are using it to inform decision-making. Only 25 percent
of surveyed employees believe they’re fully prepared to use data
effectively, and just 21 percent report being confident in their
data literacy skills — i.e., their ability to read, understand,
question and work with data. Additionally, only 37 percent of
employees trust their decisions more when based on data, and almost
half (48 percent) frequently defer to a “gut feeling” rather than
data-driven insights when making decisions.
Second, a lack of data skills is shrinking productivity. An
eye-opening three quarters (74 percent) of employees report feeling
overwhelmed or unhappy when working with data, impacting their
overall performance. Some overwhelmed employees will go to further
lengths to avoid using data, with 36 percent of surveyed employees
stating that they will find an alternative method to complete the
task without using data. Six in 10 respondents (61 percent) report
that data-overload has contributed to workplace stress, culminating
in nearly one-third (31 percent) of the global workforce taking at
least one day of sick leave due to stress related to information,
data and technology issues.
“No one questions the value of data – but many companies need to
re-invent their approach to data government, analysis and
decision-marking. This means ensuring that their workforce has the
tools and training necessary to deliver on the new opportunities
that data presents,” said Sanjeev Vohra, group technology officer
and global lead for Accenture’s Data Business Group. “Data-driven
companies that focus on continuous learning will be more productive
and gain a competitive edge.”
Empowering the workforce to thrive in a data-driven
economyTo succeed in the data revolution, business leaders
must help employees become more confident and comfortable in using
data insights to make decisions. Employees who identify as
data-literate are at least 50 percent more likely to say they feel
empowered to make better decisions and are trusted to make better
decisions. Furthermore, more than one-third (37 percent) of
employees believe that data literacy training would make them more
productive.
Jordan Morrow, Global Head of Data Literacy at Qlik and Chair of
the Data Literacy Project Advisory Board added,
“Despite recognizing the integral value of data to
the success of their business, most firms are still struggling to
build teams that can actually bring that value to life. There has
been a focus on giving employees self-service access to data,
rather than building individuals’ self-sufficiency to work with it.
Yet, expecting employees to work with data without providing the
right training or appropriate tools is a bit like going fishing
without the rods, bait or nets – you may have led them to water but
you aren’t helping them to catch a fish.”
In “The Human Impact of Data Literacy” report, Qlik and
Accenture share five steps organizations should consider when
planning their data literacy strategy to build a data-driven
workforce, including setting clear data expectations and creating a
culture of co-evolution.
To support data literacy skills, Qlik and Accenture are founding
members of the Data Literacy Project, the global community
dedicated to igniting richer discussion and developing the tools
needed to shape a confident and successful data-literate
society.
About the research“The Human Impact of Data
Literacy” report is based on research conducted by Opinium amongst
9,000 global full-time employees in organizations of 50+ employees
in the UK, USA, Germany, France, Singapore, Sweden, Japan,
Australia and India in September 2019.
To calculate the average time lost for organizations through
data-related procrastination and sickness leave per year, the
research team calculated the total of the average hours of time
wasted from procrastination per week (measured against the average
working weeks per country at 44.84 weeks) and the average days lost
through data-related sickness leave each year. The time lost per
employee was calculated at 43 hours per year.
*All figures are in USD
About AccentureAccenture is a leading global
professional services company, providing a broad range of services
and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and
operations. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills
across more than 40 industries and all business functions —
underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network — Accenture
works at the intersection of business and technology to help
clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for
their stakeholders. With 505,000 people serving clients in more
than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way
the world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
About QlikQlik’s vision is a data-literate
world, one where everyone can use data to improve decision-making
and solve their most challenging problems. Only Qlik offers
end-to-end, real-time data integration and analytics solutions that
help organizations access and transform all their data into value.
Qlik helps companies lead with data to see more deeply into
customer behavior, reinvent business processes, discover new
revenue streams, and balance risk and reward. Qlik does business in
more than 100 countries and serves over 50,000 customers around the
world.
Copyright © 2020 Accenture. All rights reserved. Accenture and
its logo are trademarks of Accenture.
© 2020 QlikTech International AB. All rights reserved. All
company and/or product names may be trade names, trademarks and/or
registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are
associated.
Contacts:Julie BenninkAccenture+1 312 693
7301julie.l.bennink@accenture.com
Kelly HallQlik +44 7983 298193kelly.hall@qlik.com
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