Five steps to help improve data integrity in your organisation
It’s been described as the new ‘oil’ for business and there’s little argument the role of data is becoming more important each day.
Everything from financial records and customer files to research reports and performance projections have become a vital part of daily activity within most organisations.
However, despite its importance, the value of data can be significantly reduced if its quality is poor. Incomplete records or out-of-date reports can hamper planning and cause problems fulfilling customer demands.
A recent survey conducted by Talend found that only 38% of respondents believe their organisation excels in controlling data quality.
It appears less than one in three (29%) of data operational workers are confident that data within their organisation is always accurate and up to date.
Clearly this is a situation that needs to improve.
Having trusted data within an organisation is not just about implementing the right tools, it’s also about empowering people and driving effective cultural change.
Five key steps needed to achieve this are:
Achieving improved data integrity is something that will involve representatives from across your organisation, as it’s not something that can simply be left to the finance department or the IT team.
All areas need to understand what you are trying to achieve and the reasons for doing so.
They also need to know their role in the process and how the ways in which they manage data have an impact on the wider picture.
Conduct an initial series of training and awareness sessions and follow these with regular updates as progress is made.
Once employees understand the benefits that changes are delivering for the organisation, they will be more likely to change their processes which will continue to improve overall data quality.
When educating staff about the practices they need to adopt to improve organisational data integrity, make use of the recognised ‘70-20-10’ model for learning and development.
