{"id":145,"date":"2023-01-06T15:32:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-18T15:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=145"},"modified":"2023-10-18T17:35:22","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T17:35:22","slug":"how-your-company-can-establish-a-data-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/ca\/blog\/how-your-company-can-establish-a-data-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"How Your Company Can Establish A Data Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Taking a data-driven approach to running a business several years ago helped many companies improve their performance. Now, business success is about establishing a data culture \u2013 where employees across the organization adopt a mindset and consistent practices that leverage the full power of automation.<\/p>\n

The distinction between a data-driven approach and a data-driven culture is easy to distinguish. When businesses shift to a data-driven approach, they are often recognizing areas in the company where analyzing information can reduce or eliminate friction for customers and employees. Data could boost the results of a marketing campaign, for instance, or increase the sales team\u2019s win rate. In fact, McKinsey research shows data-driven companies<\/a> accomplish goals faster and that their initiatives contribute at least 20% to earnings before income taxes.<\/p>\n

A data culture reflects a more holistic digital transformation strategy<\/a> that puts data at the heart of all decision-making, among all stakeholders.<\/p>\n

This means working with data and realizing the value from data isn\u2019t relegated to specialists, like a team of data scientists.<\/p>\n

Instead, data informs the behaviour of everyone<\/a> from the CEO to those on the front-lines who are directly delivering customer experiences.<\/p>\n

A data culture is also less reactive. Rather than identify problems in a company and turning to data analysis to solve them, the use of data is introduced and emphasized from the very beginning. This makes it faster and easier to track the root cause of problems, or even anticipate and avoid them altogether.<\/p>\n

Establishing this kind of culture involves going beyond a written commitment. You don\u2019t necessarily have employees talking up their data culture to customers or partners. This is an exercise in training and reinforcing the organization in taking actions that integrate data into the fabric of day-to-day activities.<\/p>\n

In that sense, the importance of data shouldn\u2019t compete with a company\u2019s existing culture. It simply becomes a critical layer that enhances the way everyone works.<\/p>\n

Reaching this point may not happen overnight, but you can begin creating a data culture<\/a> through explicit, visible actions that clearly communicate the change you\u2019re trying to make.<\/p>\n

Hold a data \u2018offsite\u2019 to establish the link to key business goals<\/b><\/h3>\n

Sometimes people need a chance to lift their head up from their workload to consider how they can do things differently. That\u2019s why businesses have often held company offsites to gather employees together where they can dedicate time to connecting, sharing ideas, and deepening relationships.<\/p>\n

Offsites are often powerful culture-building exercises, and they don\u2019t require flying everyone to a tropical destination for an extended period. With more organizations adopting a hybrid work model, the offsite could simply be a time when everyone logs on from wherever they are or gathers in the office on the same day.<\/p>\n

The important thing is to make the offsite a place where everyone can assess the current state of the business, how departments collaborate, and the values that underpin the work they do.<\/p>\n

Use this moment to examine your use of data across the organization today \u2013 where are decisions still ruled by guesswork or gut instinct? What kind of qualitative and quantitative data<\/a> are you working with, and how can this be improved?<\/p>\n

More tactically, begin setting up a framework that ensures your culture encourages the use of data to:<\/p>\n