We hope you enjoyed last week’s sneak peek at the results of our second annual data culture survey, in which we revealed that companies are now deploying code more frequently than in the past. This time, we’re giving you a preview of some interesting findings around job expectations when it comes to companies’ use of data.
Last year: A data-driven culture was exciting
In our inaugural survey in 2014, we asked survey respondents how they would feel about working at a company where data was used to prioritize work, build and adjust feedback loops, and hold teams and team members accountable. The top response last year was “exciting” (at 48%), followed by “this is what I expect from a work environment in 2015” in second place (at 41%).
This year: A data-driven culture is expected
In 2015, it seems respondents got a bit more exposure to data-driven decision making because nearly half of them (48%) responded that a data-driven culture is now what they would expect in a work environment in 2016. A large number (42%) still find a data-driven culture exciting. Only 8% were unsure, while 2% would find it distasteful (huh).
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Who has the greatest data culture expectations?
We also looked at the role of the respondent to see who felt most strongly about data-driven culture being an expectation in 2016. You probably guessed it: software developers were more likely than any other role to say that they expect a data-driven culture in a work environment today. IT operations was the next most likely to report the expectation, followed by engineering executives/management. At the bottom end of the scale, respondents who reported they were in sales (in our opinion, a data-driven job if ever there was one) represented a mere 1% of the “expect” responses.
Those in technology companies had the highest expectations
Looking at the responses by industry sector, the industries most likely to find working in a data-driven culture either an “expectation” or “exciting” were technology-related businesses. Of those answering that they expect a data-driven culture, 40% were technology-related, with the percentage of responses from the remaining industries all in the single digits.
The key takeaway is that if your company is looking to expand your team in 2016—particularly if you seek software developers in a technology-forward industry—then you should be prepared to impress jobseekers with how your company uses data to drive business decisions. Our survey results show that job candidates (not just the ones for Chief Data Officer) are likely to judge your company on the extent of its data-driven culture.
In any case, stay tuned. There are more valuable nuggets coming soon in our full survey report.
