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Certain skills provide the opportunity to change your focus, by either narrowing or broadening your growth trajectory. You can use them to become a specialist in one field (narrow) or expand by bridging into a new career direction (broad). Data Analytics is one of those skills.
I once worked with a highly competent Accounting Officer. She was responsible for managing the data capturing outputs of a team of Accounts Payable Clerks and Bookkeepers. After a period of internal restructuring, she was assigned an additional reporting role that required spreadsheet data analysis skills. Most financial departments make use of existing reporting spreadsheet templates and reporting simply requires exporting monthly data from the financial accounting system to update the reporting templates.
Within a few months of making this transition, I noticed an increased level of confidence in my colleague. She was also increasingly drawn into senior management discussions around the performance of projects she was reporting on. This had the effect of elevating the management team’s perception of her ability and value to the organisation.
The basic spreadsheet skills required to perform this level of financial data analysis includes formatting, graphs, pivot tables, and formulas such as lookups. All skills that you can easily pick up in a couple of hours on YouTube. Literally taking her from being seen as a proverbial Bean Counter, to a Trusted Business Partner – someone who can provide data driven decision support and other actionable business insights.
What are some of the key bridging skills that can make a significant difference in your field? Please share in the comments.
You can also find out more about making career pivots by changing your focus here: Career Accelerator Course.
I agree, good example of adding value!