A: Bridging the gap between data teams and non-technical stakeholders should be a multi-way effort. From the technical side, data analysts first have to be aware of business needs and then adopt communication best practices. Insights should be delivered in the plain language of stakeholders, eliminating technical jargon and providing business context. Data storytelling techniques should be leveraged to ensure communication is engaging and persuasive.From the side of stakeholders, having a high level of data literacy is key to avoiding communication gaps and insight misinterpretations that can lead to distorted decision-making.Moreover, as hierarchical organizational gaps widen in larger businesses, having mediator roles can also be beneficial. These roles can be performed by experienced business analysts or specialized positions like data translators. Making room at the management tables for data-experienced managers and chief officers will bridge the gap more easily.From a big-picture perspective, developing a wider data culture environment within an organization can eliminate such gaps on different levels. Business data maturity can only be achieved if business objectives are aligned with and then enabled by data uses, which highlights the importance of crafting a data strategy in alignment with the overall business strategy.
About the expert:Islam SalahuddinData Analyst,The KPI Institute
A data analyst with a strong focus on storytelling and data visualization, growing statistical knowledge and a developing set of technical skills and tools
As a specialist in data analysis at The KPI Institute, Islam leads the generation of research on the domain of data analytics and the development of business analytics toolkits
A former research analyst at Frontier MEA Ltd, in charge of data gathering and introducing data analysis pieces
Worked as a junior data analyst at InfoTimes, performing data scraping, analysis, and data visualization and producing data-driven pieces in both Arabic and English
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This feature was first published in the Ask Our Experts section of Performance Magazine Issue No. 26, 2023—Data Analytics Edition. To download the free digital copy, visit the TKI Marketplace. You can also purchase an additional printed copy via Amazon.
Q: How can an organization create meaningful sustainability reports?
I will reply with a question: meaningful for who?
My point was to bring to your attention the importance of knowing your audience and the information they expect or need to receive. To identify what your sustainability report focuses on, one must identify the needs of the audience, and as you can assume, there will be one approach to report internally to the top management on the latest progress and a completely different perspective if the annual sustainability report must be released for external stakeholders. Moreover, there are compliance issues that must be considered since regulators, depending on your location, will require certain aspects to be captured in the reporting.
Putting aside the specific context of each organization and the local compliance issues, I find the following principles valuable for producing a quality sustainability report:
Identify the materiality issues – Identify what is the most relevant issue for your organization and consider the informational needs of the report’s users.
Ensure data accuracy – Misinterpretation of results or simple error calculation can lead to serious legal consequences, reputation damage, and loss of stakeholders or shareholders’ trust.
Focus on impact – Use specific KPIs or metrics to measure the achievements of objectives, avoid presenting only what the organization is doing, and include more data about the performance achieved and the impact created.
Provide regularity – Information should be reported on a predefined schedule (e.g., quarterly, annually).
Communicate with clarity – Use simple language, include essential information (not all data available), and use visuals that convey the data’s meaning effectively.
Center for Government Performance, The KPI Institute
Business Unit Manager of Research Programs at The KPI Institute.
Her professional experience embeds research skills with performance management consulting and practical strategy development and execution for the Research division.
In the last 10 years, Cristina contributed to the development of best practices and standards in how to use and leverage KPIs that are taught in the premium certifications of The KPI Institute worldwide and assisted large organizations in industries like oil and gas, financial sector, telecommunications, manufacturing, and utilities.
She conducts maturity assessments for performance management systems and has trained over 500 professionals over the last years getting first-hand experience with the most stringent issues organizations face.
This feature was first published in the Ask Our Experts section of Performance Magazine Issue No. 25, 2023—Sustainability Edition. It offers deep dives and practical insights into the sustainability strategy and performance management. To download the free digital copy, visit the TKI Marketplace. You can also purchase an additional printed copy via Amazon.
In 2017, the Performance Magazine editorial team interviewed Mahadi Osman, Accounting and Business Planning Specialist, currently working for Arabian Trading Est L.L.C., United Arab Emirates. His thoughts and views on Performance Management are detailed below.
The need for building a loyal, supportive and happy team means that issues like the behavioral implications of a performance management system or the need for motivating and building a strategic mindset are of paramount importance.
In 2017, the Performance Magazine editorial team interviewed Francesco Consolati, Advisory Business Solution Manager – Risk, Fraud and Performance Management at SAS –Italy. His thoughts and views on Performance Management are detailed below.
”In my opinion, the integration of analytics in the daily activities of any organization boasting a Performance Management System should be a high priority objective.”
In 2017, the Performance Magazine editorial team interviewed Bart Geeraerts, Management Consultant and Performance Management Reporting & Projects Expert at Degroof Petercam, Belgium. His thoughts and views on Performance Management are detailed below.
“At the employee level I expect more and more companies to step away from the annual performance appraisal, as it can lead to an increase in unhealthy competition between employees.”
A: Bridging the gap between data teams and non-technical stakeholders should be a multi-way effort.
From the technical side, data analysts first have to be aware of business needs and then adopt communication best practices. Insights should be delivered in the plain language of stakeholders, eliminating technical jargon and providing business context. Data storytelling techniques should be leveraged to ensure communication is engaging and persuasive.
From the side of stakeholders, having a high level of data literacy is key to avoiding communication gaps and insight misinterpretations that can lead to distorted decision-making.
Moreover, as hierarchical organizational gaps widen in larger businesses, having mediator roles can also be beneficial. These roles can be performed by experienced business analysts or specialized positions like data translators. Making room at the management tables for data-experienced managers and chief officers will bridge the gap more easily.
From a big-picture perspective, developing a wider data culture environment within an organization can eliminate such gaps on different levels. Business data maturity can only be achieved if business objectives are aligned with and then enabled by data uses, which highlights the importance of crafting a data strategy in alignment with the overall business strategy.
About the expert:
Islam Salahuddin
Data Analyst,
The KPI Institute
In 2017, the Performance Magazine editorial team interviewed Mahadi Osman, Accounting and Business Planning Specialist, currently working for Arabian Trading Est L.L.C., United Arab Emirates. His thoughts and views on Performance Management are detailed below.
In 2017, the Performance Magazine editorial team interviewed Francesco Consolati, Advisory Business Solution Manager – Risk, Fraud and Performance Management at SAS – Italy. His thoughts and views on Performance Management are detailed below.
In 2017, the Performance Magazine editorial team interviewed Bart Geeraerts, Management Consultant and Performance Management Reporting & Projects Expert at Degroof Petercam, Belgium. His thoughts and views on Performance Management are detailed below.