Every decision your institution makes hinges on information collected from various sources and examined by analysts. If you group your team into doers and thinkers, analysts most likely belong to the latter group. But while they handle the brainstorming for your end, they can only go so far in your organization as the path carved for them.
A business analyst’s career roadmap is never smooth. Bumps should be expected, but your actions can give your team members a driving force to avoid unnecessary roadblocks. In this article, we share with you some methods to help map out your analysts’ career paths and ensure success for your analysis team.
Know Your Analysts
Before you create any kind of professional development goal for business analysts, it’s best to first understand where they are coming from. You lessen errors when you establish a starting point for their career advancement.
If you know where to start, you avoid repeating lessons they already know, lessons that may lessen their engagement in the initiative you have started. Moreover, when you know what these analysts are aiming for, you can use various tools to improve their precision as professionals. Lastly, you reduce wasting resources that could be used to improve other employees’ skills in other fields.
Below are some starting points to get to know your analysts better.
1. Self-Assessment
Remember that the skills of an entry-level data analyst are focused on problem solving, and analytics differ greatly compared with a senior analyst. The roles and responsibilities of each member are delegated according to their level of expertise.
The International Institute of Business Analysis has created a competency model for analysts to determine their professional capabilities. You can give this test to your analysts and determine which roles suit them best based on the test results.
By creating this period of self-assessment, data scientists have the opportunity to look inward and examine themselves. When they do, an image of where they are now becomes clear. Also, self-realization of their current skill sets will launch data analysts into a career path with a clear vision of where they want to go and what they want to do in the future.
2. Openness to Weaknesses and Strengths
Common ground in understanding can be found when everyone’s strengths and weaknesses are laid out. Both colleague-to-colleague relationships, as well as colleague-to-employer relationships, will benefit here.
Take this scenario for example. Consider two employees, one who is skilled in business analysis planning and monitoring, and another in elicitation and collaboration. Group these two analysts together and create an initiative to hone and complement their skills.
During the process, they will learn something new and enjoy their improvements along the way. At the same time, your analysts will appreciate the way you handle their growth when you actively take part in it. You now know what your employees lack, so the activities you design should bring out the best in them, highlighting their best skills.
Train, Train, Train
The goal of the self-assessment period is to shed light on employee personalities and skills. On the other hand, the goal of training is to put those on paper into practice. Training is the midpoint of an analyst’s career path; practicing what they know will come later, once analysts are confident enough. As their employer, you can give more opportunities and platforms for analysts to fortify their strengths as well as improve areas they may be weak in.
1. Strengthen Weak Traits
The employees you have now were once aspiring candidates. You were convinced to let them join your organization with the qualities they showed during the application process. However, even when in your workforce, they still have parts of them that need improvement.
The Economic Times published an article regarding “training needs analysis,” a method where employees are tasked with completing assignments to assess their knowledge further about their work. You can use this method to address blind spots and ensure your analysts grow into their chosen expertise.
At the same time, a simple yet practical approach could be to let those who are well-versed lead the other budding analysts, as The Education Times suggested. The experience and expertise of the former creates a model for the junior analyst to follow, all while fostering camaraderie.
2. Fortify Strong Traits
Knowing where your analysts’ skills may be weaker conversely means knowing where they are stronger. As their employer, you should capitalize on those strengths. It will boost their morale, knowing that you acknowledge their work.
The Harvard Business Review created an exercise called Reflected Best Self (RBS), where company leaders ask people under and around them about their insights on their leadership. This practice emphasizes positive feedback rather than negative.
If you can implement this, allowing analysts to be the ones asking for feedback, you can be one giving insight, instilling a mindset that their work is appreciated and that their best parts are not left unseen.
Let Analysts Lead the Leaders
Analysts are behind every major organizational decision. In the same way, you should be behind your analysis team. When you show them that they are vital, they will return the favor by doing what they do best: analyzing situations and translating information into something everyone gains from.
1. Leaders for Personal Growth
Aside from the activities you have initiated, it helps to communicate your aim for their growth. Listen to what they want and need. While an analyst’s annual salary ranges from $66,284 to $102,995, not only do they aim for good compensation, but they also want to put their hands on work that positively affects everyone. With your contribution to their growth, business analysts will feel empowered to make things easier for consumers and companies alike.
2. Analysts for Organizational Growth
According to an article in Harvard Business Review, analysts create inspiration from data, which decision-makers (leaders, senior managers, or employers) can use to point the whole team toward success. With their wide range of specialties, analysts can take intersecting roads from data science to marketing analysis, as mentioned in an article in The Muse.
With think tanks like these on your team, placing analysts in your senior leadership team will be a good idea. Businesses can uncover success by having an in-house chief data officer. A C-level role will be the ultimate position analysts can aim for within your organization. But more than the position, your analysts would be glad to expand their influence in the decision-making of others when they join the top leadership team.
Success in Analysis, Success in The Field
By knowing deeply who your analysts are, you would be able to begin a career action plan tailored to their job titles. By training them, you improve the skills important to their field. These two factors will ultimately lead to your analysts collecting essential information quickly, leading you to decisions that can increase your profit while decreasing your business costs.
The best analyst career path is the one that caters to their needs. Your analysis team sees the bigger picture. Let the information they collect be the leading force for your decisions, and let those decisions you make affect everyone’s lives for the better.
SEEK THE RIGHT STAFFING PARTNER FOR THE BEST ANALYSTS
This process of molding analysts into their best versions may seem daunting, but ACS Professional Staffing can provide ways to adjust your mindset and implement improved methods for your organization. It is easier to begin when you already have the best partner in the field.
ACS Professional Staffing can give you a head start with the professionals you hire. Our candidates can serve as your model for top-tier employees, while serving as assets themselves. Look no further. Here are reviews from Indeed about the service we provide and the people we hire. Contact us today for the best analysts in the field!