Comfort with Big Data or You May Not Be Hired
April 5, 2019
I read an interesting essay in Analytics India Magazine, a source I find useful in explaining how managers from that country think about certain issues.
Case in point: What makes a good employee, presumably of a company operating in Analytics India’s home territory or managed by a person who devours each issue in search of data nuggets.
The article which caught my attention? “Why Everyone In The Organization Has To Be Comfortable Dealing With Data.”
I noted this passage:
For a successful functioning of an organization, it is necessary that everyone in an organization is comfortable dealing with data.
I like the categorical affirmative: Everyone.
I like the notion of not being informed, good, or competent. Comfortable only.
Now the questions?
- Does the argument require the HR (personnel) to define “comfort” and then measure that quality?
- What happens to those who perform certain services like greeting visitors, providing administrative support, or chauffeuring the owner to his or her private jet? Outsourcing perhaps? A special class of workers removed from the Big Data folks?
- What happens to employees in countries which graduate individuals from a university lacking desired numerical skills? No jobs?
I enjoyed the recommendations for addressing this requirement. Educate and upskill (presented as two action items but to innumerate me these are one thing. Then “every department has to realize the power of data.” I love the “every” and the sort of adulty phrase “has to realize.”
But the keeper is this statement: “Adopt methods for data cleaning.”
Yeah, clean data for Big Data. Who does that work? Obviously employees who are comfortable. Yep, comfort will deal with data issues like validity, consistency, etc. etc.
Stephen E Arnold, April 5, 2019
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
