You have spent hundreds or thousands of hours building the systems that run your business. Now, it’s time to expand your team and begin creating the team that will take you to the next level. In this article, I’ll guide you through some of the key considerations for making your first analytic hire.
I know that embarking on the journey to establish an analytics team is a pivotal moment for any business leader. The first hire in this realm is more than just an addition to your workforce; it’s a foundational step toward cultivating a data-driven culture.
If you’re ready to take the leap, then congrats on making it to this point! If you’re not ready yet, but looking to the future, then kudos to you for planning ahead.
This article will help ensure that your inaugural analytics team member is aligned with your business needs and future growth plans.
Understanding the Role You Need
The most important consideration for your first analytic hire is understanding the role that you envision for this hire.
To keep it simple at this point, consider a few broad levels of skill first.
Do you need a highly skilled data scientist with experience in machine learning pipelines building the cloud?
Do you need an entry-level analyst, capable of basic data manipulation, creating tables and graphs, and identifying basic insights?
Or do you want someone with more experience than entry-level but less expensive than a data scientist?
When considering this aspect of your decision, think about two important elements:
- Complexity of work
- Degree of autonomy
If your analytic needs will focus on basic data manipulations and simple metrics, then an entry-level hire might suffice.
In contrast, if you anticipate developing automated workflows and complex statistical models, then you’ll want a more experienced hire.
In addition to the complexity of the work, consider how much autonomy your analyst will have.
Do you want someone who can do what is necessary with limited direction? If so, then you’ll need someone with more skills.
Or would you prefer working more hands-on to guide their efforts? In this case, a less experienced analyst will be great.
If you’re not sure what kinds of analyses you’re going to need, I recommend you contact someone with expertise in this area to help with this.
Technical Considerations
Once you know the level of skill you’re aiming to hire, your second most important consideration is the tech stack they will use.
If you are new to this type of technology, there are typically three key elements to consider:
- Data storage
- Data analysis
- Data visualization
Data Storage
Many businesses opt for cloud-based data storage like Amazon Web Services (AWS). If your database is growing quickly, and you don’t have advanced security needs for sensitive data, cloud storage could be for you.
On the other hand, on-premise data storage still provides some advantages. On-premise solutions may be cheaper to set up for small-scale data scenarios. You can also maintain better control of your data with on-premise storage.
For data analyses, your big decision will likely be open-source or paid licensing.
Data Analysis
Open-source solutions like Python and R offer high-end capabilities and strong user communities for free. However, they also come with less dedicated support and assistance.
Paid software products like SAS, Stata, Oracle, and others will cost significantly more due to licensing. However, you will likely have better setup and user support.
Data Visualization
You’ll also need to decide if you need data visualization tools like Tableau or Power BI for business intelligence. Interactive dashboards can look amazing and offer easy use for end users. However, they can also require more infrastructure in terms of hosting the dashboard (like a website), development, and maintenance.
Most data analysis software can generate visually appealing and informative graphic images. Therefore, BI software may not be necessary for your situation. If you want to try it out, you can always take Power BI and Tableau for a spin using their free versions.
Putting it All Together
Technology for analytics is a dynamic marketplace that is constantly evolving. You probably already have some solutions in place, like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
However, before building out your tech stack, you’ll want to consider all the features you need. Explore your pricing options and compatibility thoroughly before purchasing.
Don’t hesitate to contact developers with specific questions about the use cases you have in mind. Put in the time and effort to know what you’re getting and how it will work BEFORE you spend money.
Reporting Structure
Your third important consideration is who your analyst will report to.
This decision can impact the flow of information within the organization and the integration of analytics into strategic decision-making.
If you are making your first analytic hire, chances are they’ll report to you, or another member of leadership directly.
However, there are two important elements to confirm about your analyst’s supervisor before setting the structure in stone:
- They understand your strategic objectives and the value of data-driven decision-making
- They are willing to share analytic resources with others in the organization
Ultimately, you want to give your first analyst hire the opportunity to have maximum impact on the organization.
Make sure your analyst is reporting to a leader who can leverage their talents, while protecting them from overwhelm, is critical.
Keep in mind, this is your first analytic hire. Your initial reporting structure will change, especially as the analytics team grows.
Your goal at this point is to get analytics started on the right foot, and set up for future success.
Industry Knowledge vs. Analytical Skills
Your fourth important consideration when making your first analytic hire is whether you need someone with deep industry knowledge.
Your knee-jerk response might be, “Yes! Of Course!” However, there are some important reasons why you might simply want someone with good analytic skills instead.
Candidates with deep industry knowledge are going to come at a premium. They have worked to develop specific skills and knowledge and will command a higher cost.
Furthermore, candidates with industry knowledge may also come with stronger opinions about how the work “should” be done.
You might have your own specialized approaches and frameworks for your business. Hiring an analyst who is not an industry insider will allow you to teach them your perspective and processes.
A candidate from outside your industry might also bring a fresh perspective to the problems you face. They may also be more willing to learn, and adapt, in a new industry.
There is no right or wrong approach to this decision, only trade-offs. Be prepared to invest time in teaching analysts from outside the industry about the data and domain expertise for your industry.
Depending on the industry, this could be easy or quite challenging. The trade-off, however, is developing an employee who will be strongly aligned with your organizational strategy and approach.
Preparing for Analytic Evolution
If you’re making your first analytics hire, then you’re at the beginning of a journey that will take some time to complete. Think about the growth of your analytics team in stages.
You need to start by standing up a team: creating something from nothing. That’s where you are now.
Eventually you will need to expand the team to handle larger workloads, and then more diverse use cases.
While you might start with entry-level analysts, or a full-blown data scientist, eventually you need to consider the structure of a multi-person analytics team. A leader, managers, and analysts.
Determine what levels of expertise will be needed, and how each role will contribute to your analytics strategy.
One way you can approach this is to start by hiring entry- to mid-level staff with a broad spectrum of skills. You can fill in more specialized or experienced staff as the team grows.
If you do hire analytic leadership first, make sure they are willing to put in the work at the start. As the team grows, you can then give them more authority to build a team around them.
Regardless, just make sure that you are giving thought to how you will scale the team to match your business needs.
Conclusion
Deciding to build an analytics team is a big step, and I’m excited just thinking about it for you.
Your first analytic hire really is an important decision and sets the tone for the future evolution of the team.
If you aren’t sure what you’ll need exactly, then I recommend you reach out to someone with expertise in your business network.
At F1 Analytics, I have nearly 20 years of experience in hiring and developing analysts across multiple industries. I have developed staff ranging from entry-level specialists to director-level team leads and tenured university faculty.
If you need assistance in making those first few analytic hires, I’d be happy to talk about your goals and help you make the best decision. You can find out more by clicking here: https://www.f1analytics.com/analyst-hiring-consultant/
If you haven’t read our article on critical decisions when starting an analytics team, Click Here to read it.
Also, be sure to check out our step-by-step articles on building an analytics team in your organization. Read Part 1 Here. Read Part 2 Here.
