In this episode, co-hosts Ron Landis and Jennifer Miller deconstruct data literacy. Data is increasingly important to driving important decisions. While many organizations have access to even more data than before, most organizations could gain significant benefits better using their data to its fullest potential. One of the primary reasons for not maximizing the use of data is that many employees do not have key data literacy skills.  

In this episode, we had conversations around these questions:  

• What is data literacy?  
• How can we assess data literacy?  
• How can organizations consider data literacy in the context of so many different roles and positions?  
• What are some examples across users in which aspects of data literacy would be useful?  

Key Takeaways:  

• Organizations must have a robust data culture to make efficient and effective use of their data. Fundamental to data culture is ensuring that everyone is data literate. Gartner defines data literacy as "the ability to read, write and communicate data in context, including an understanding of data sources and constructs, analytical methods and techniques applied, and the ability to describe the use case, application, and result value." Recent studies have demonstrated that data-driven organizations have a higher enterprise value of 3-5%. In our view, data literacy differs based on the role of the employee in the organization from general users to data scientists to executives.  
• At the end of the episode, Jennifer and Ron recommend steps for folks just starting out in this space all the way to the more advanced HR professional.  

Related Links  

• Millan Chicago 
• Data literacy training: What is it and why do you need it?  
• A Data and Analytics Leader's Guide to Data Literacy  
• The Human Impact of Data Literacy