The Imperative of Data Ownership

The Consumer Mentality and Its Consequences
A data strategy is a plan about data—a plan that outlines how an organisation will use data to support business objectives. It is not just about data, however. It is equally about people, because data is handled by people. The success of a data strategy hinges not just on the capabilities of the data team, which typically spearheads it. Just as critical is the involvement and commitment of everyone who encounters data as part of their work. A robust sense of data ownership across the entire organisation is essential for a data strategy to thrive.

Sadly, individuals often fail, or even refuse, to take data ownership, abdicating any responsibility and accountability for the accuracy, integrity, security, and proper use of data within an organisation. They do so because they view themselves merely as passive “consumers” of data. They are blissfully unaware of the vital role they must play in the data “production” process.

This consumer mentality has wide-ranging repercussions, of which the most obvious and immediate is on data quality. Without a sense of data ownership, people are less likely to take the necessary steps to ensure the accuracy or completeness of critical business data. Data security can be compromised as well. When data is not used responsibly, it can result in unauthorised access, breaches of privacy, regulatory non-compliance, and ultimately, massive penalties. Individuals may also exhibit a tendency to offload onto the data team the simplest data-related tasks—straightforward data imports, checks, or entries—without consideration for their proper ownership. These and other issues collectively overwhelm the data team and diminish their capacity to undertake more impactful, strategic work.

The most alarming manifestation of weak data ownership is excessive focus on the end products of a data strategy. These may include Power BI/Tableau reports to track campaign performance in real time; customer segmentation models to personalise customer journeys; and predictive algorithms to forecast future outcomes. The data team, whose KPIs are linked to these outputs, face Catch-22. In the absence of data ownership, they are too busy addressing the downstream consequences of their colleagues’ upstream actions. There is little time left for reporting and modelling. If the data team manages to put any reports or models together, they are based on suboptimal data and are likely to be suboptimal. Suboptimal reports and models, in turn, lead to suboptimal business decisions. In any case, it may not matter. Those who request the reports or models may rarely look at them because they regard it as yet another data task. (Many readers of this article may recognise this dreaded Power BI notification: “Your scheduled refresh has been paused [because] no one has viewed dashboards or reports built using this dataset for two months”!)

The Critical Role of Executive Buy-in
The Internet is replete with ideas on how to foster data ownership within an organisation: “Establish clear roles and responsibilities”, “Promote data literacy”, “Reward and recognise data ownership efforts, and so on. Of these ideas, none are nearly as important as securing executive buy-in. Without executive buy-in, everything else falters.

Few leaders would disagree about the importance of data. The 2023 State of Data and Analytics Australia and New Zealand survey, conducted by Corinium, pointed to a rising demand for data and analytics expertise in Australia and New Zealand. Of the 159 data leaders surveyed, 86% indicated the need for data and analytics specialists had increased, with 35% having experienced a major increase. Most Australian companies are investing in cloud and digital enablement as well to optimise data infrastructure. In my observation, the nonprofit sector is not an exception. I come across a growing number of organisations looking to fill data-related positions. There is a rising trend towards adoption of modern CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems, such as Salesforce, that provide a 360-degree view of customers.

I have personally seen many senior leaders express data as a priority—all too often without backing up their words by action. They divert funds from data to non-data initiatives and expect the data team to do more with less, all the while hyping data.

Executives who genuinely embrace data demonstrate their commitment by actions.

Specifically:
1. They invest in people as well as in tools.
Effective data strategies call for investments in tools and people. As noted above, an increasing number of Australian nonprofits are jumping on the CRM bandwagon. A CRM, no matter how sophisticated, couldn’t realise its full potential without matching investments in people—those outside as well as within the data team. Non-data teams may need time and space, away from their day-to-day, to learn how to navigate the new tool; members of the data team may require additional resources to effectively manage the CRM. These needs grow greater as an organisation expands its CRM ecosystem by integrating more systems. Without appropriate investments in people, non-data teams may never develop the necessary technical competence, and the data team may end up being overworked.

2. They empower non-data teams to own parts of the data lifecycle.
When it comes to promoting data ownership, the data team faces a particularly steep uphill battle. I noted earlier non-data teams’ tendency to avoid the responsibility for all things data, inadvertently overloading the data team. Senior leadership who are serious about data would see something not quite right with this picture. They would encourage every team member to play a role in the data lifecycle, because they treat data as a collective asset. They would vocally champion cross-departmental ownership of data and motivate all teams to contribute.

3. They provide consistent, sustained sponsorship for data initiatives.
“Data” often gets tossed around as a buzzword. Senior leadership might say “Data is a priority” at one moment, only to be distracted by everything else at the next moment. Data is suddenly all but forgotten. Yet, without unwavering, sustained executive sponsorship, a sense of data ownership cannot possibly grow. Leaders must consistently communicate the importance of data, reward data-informed decisions, and support the data team’s efforts to share data ownership across the organisation. Data ownership is most effective when woven into the culture. This only happens when there is sustained, visible leadership support.
In an ideal world, senior leadership would naturally possess these traits. Seldom is that the case , and in reality, it is up to the data team, especially those who head it up, to guide them. I will be honest and confess I haven’t figured out exactly how. I can only say, from experience, that it helps to have an ally in the senior leadership team who is willing to listen—a case of “easier said than done”, I know.

Building a Culture of Data Ownership
So, what happened to the organisation that I talked about at the beginning of this article—the nonprofit where leadership commitment to data ownership was in doubt? I am not sure, as I have since left the organisation for another opportunity. Knowing what I know about the role of leadership in fostering data ownership, I do wonder whether I could have helped drive a positive change if I had stayed. All I can do now is sincerely hope that they have stronger executive support for data ownership in place because, without it, their data strategy would struggle. Building a culture of data ownership is a cornerstone of any successful data strategy, and executive buy-in is essential to building a culture of data ownership.

Notes

According to the Privacy Legislation Amendment (Enforcement and Other Measures) Bill 2022 (s. 13G), the maximum penalty for serious or repeated privacy breaches is the greater of:
• $50 million;
• Three times the value of any benefit obtained through the misuse of information; or
• 30 per cent of a company’s adjusted turnover in the relevant period.

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LinkedIn. (2023, August 16). How can you share data ownership among stakeholders? Tips for Sharing Data Ownership Among Stakeholders. https://www.linkedin.com/advice/1/how-can-you-share-data-ownership-among-stakeholders
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