Skills: understanding the role data plays as a critical skill

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The importance of data to inform decision making and demonstrate impact to funders has resulted in the biggest jump in this year’s survey. Half (50%) of NFP CEOs say data analysis/analytics is the skill employees need most in the next 12 months to prepare for the impact of technology on their role, up from 17% last year.

There are two main drivers behind the increasing importance of data analysis/analytics and data processing for NFPs: funders are demanding more outcome measures; and resource constraints are forcing them to be more selective about investment choices and more targeted in service delivery.

NFP CEOs are developing an awareness that digital technologies will play a more prominent role in service delivery and funding, although it is hard to distinguish how much of this is fueled by the pandemic and what constitutes the ‘new normal’. The need for digital upskilling of employees continues to inch up in the context of COVID-19 with 79% of NFP leaders saying it has become a higher priority, up from 77% last year. 

Overall, 82% of NFP CEOs say they have provided employees with skills and training in the last 12 months to help them adjust to the impact of new technology, up from 78% last year. Interestingly, training in new software and programs is the upskilling employees need most after data analysis/analytics to prepare for the impact of technology on their role with 33% of NFP CEOs identifying this.

Those organisations that recognise digital skills as critical are embedding it into their continuous learning programs rather than treating it as something to set and forget. They also recognise that digital upskilling needs to be personalised to specific jobs and roles - it needs to be more nuanced.

The survey shows smaller organisations are at a distinct disadvantage, they are significantly less likely to have provided staff with training in the last 12 months due to resource constraints.

NFPs are becoming more aware that they face increasing exposure to cybersecurity risks and obligations around data privacy, however this did not translate as a skill that NFP CEOs identified as required in the next 12 months. Yet the digital world is placing new licensing, certification and risk requirements upon the sector. A future focussed, digitally enabled NFP needs to embed cybersecurity in their ways of working to build trust in society and avoid operational impacts due to cyber incidents. Additionally, in order to make Australia’s ecosystem secure and ensure that Australians are secure online, everyone has a role to play. NFP’s looking to embark on their digital transformation journey can focus on implementing good cyber hygiene practices such as Essential Eight recommended by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) and embed cybersecurity in their digital upskilling journey. These measures, if understood and implemented adequately, can help avoid, or reduce the impact of, the most common cyber security incidents.

The number of NFPs making progress establishing upskilling programs that blend soft, technical and digital skills rose 6% to 66%. It is important this number continues to increase as organisations won’t extract the full power of employee’s technical proficiency (i.e data analysis/analytics, cyber, digital marketing, etc) without the communication and collaboration skills to unlock that know-how. Without the complement of soft skills, organisations will struggle to capitalise on efforts made to digitise their operations.

With 39% of NFP leaders saying disruption to day-to-day activities is impeding upskilling the role of boards to be that strategic forward thinker has never been more critical. One of the most pressing questions they should be asking is, if we are not acknowledging these critical skills as a training need, why not?

Given resource constraints are likely to continue in the future there is also a need for NFPs to step back and consider how to prioritise this or think about it differently so that they can start to attend to it, otherwise the burden will just keep mounting.