TRENDING
Kerry Koutsikos , Regional Vice President ,
MEA , at Alteryx
For Gulf business leaders , understanding and fully utilising digital skills is essential for success . Enabling these workers to use their skills for business benefit will also significantly drive competitiveness . 51 % of data workers admitted they see a significant strong correlation between upskilling and salary increases from improved data skills , with 10 % expecting a 71 to 100 % salary increase and 57 % expecting a salary increase of at least 21 % from upskilling . With this high expectation of a salary increase , it comes as no surprise that 64 % of Gulf data workers are motivated to upskill themselves outside of business-led training .
“ The fields of data analytics and Digital Transformation continue to challenge companies to break the mould and deliver new and constantly evolving ways to
Almost half ( 40 %) of these business leaders recognise that driving upskilling initiatives is the responsibility of top management , but the research found that dayto-day challenges continue to take priority over critically important data training . upskill and deliver ROI ,” commented Alan Jacobson , Chief Data and Analytics Officer , Alteryx . “ A core feature of Digital Transformation that is often under considered is the human factor and the development of the foundational skills required to make such projects a success .
Jacobson added : “ With data workers entering employment at any and all skill levels across the analytic continuum , leadership must commit with conviction to evolve beyond any antiquated approach to data literacy and analytics utilisation and drive a cultural shift to delivery within their organisation that starts with employees . Only by making long-term commitments to prioritise – and investments to incentivise – good quality data work will the workforce be empowered to deliver more efficient outcomes and ensure competitiveness going forward .”
Three core business challenges stalling data literacy as highlighted in the research include :
• A disconnect between digital skill use and the business reality : leaders require digital expertise but fail to enable workers in utilising them
• A shift in the organisational structure for training : workers are instinctively reinforcing the view that those closest to a problem are best placed to solve it but are not supported on their upskilling journey by those senior to them
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