Wait a minute… You thought I was talking about data stewards deserving more money for what they do? That is not what I meant (but I am all for it). Data stewards are people that are held formally accountable for the actions they take and the relationship they have with data. Stewarding the data is part of their normal overall responsibility… although more money in their pocket is not often the first direct result. There are other raises that people receive by becoming data stewards.
There is a decent amount written about data stewards. I have done a lot of that writing. I have written about what it takes to be a data steward, guidelines for becoming a data steward, the fact that everybody is a data steward, and so on.
However, there is an aspect of becoming a data steward that I have never written about before. That is … What is in it for the Data Steward? What raise(s) will the data steward see from becoming a data steward?
To provide credit where credit is due, this article stemmed from a conversation I had with a client last week. My client is working on onboarding her data stewards. As part of the certification (actually more awareness and literacy) process, she wants to let them know what what’s in it for them (WIIFT– or WIIFM [me] from the steward perspective).
The act of onboarding data stewards is a common Data Governance Program activity. The following is a list of raises and benefits that can be gained by becoming a data steward:
- Raised Profile & Voice
- Raised Literacy & Awareness
- Raised Efficiency (Effectiveness)
- Raised Job Performance
- Raised Business Results
Let’s briefly walk through each of these benefits (raises) and consider that there are many advantages to becoming a data steward.
Raised Profile & Voice
Being recognized as a knowledgeable person about data in a specific domain, information system, or across business function or critical processes, is a positive and brings with it certain benefits. Having your profile raised through becoming active as a data steward assures that you will be “in the room where it happens” (to steal a line from Hamilton) and consulted when important discussions are taking place or decisions are being made. If you reject the opportunity to be a data steward, you may not have this opportunity.
Raised Literacy & Awareness
Accepting the recognition as a data steward often presents the opportunity to increase the levels of data literacy and data awareness. Stewardship communities can provide additional levels of education, training, and mentoring. Being able to tell “stories about data” and “stories with data” increases opportunities for people that accept and adopt the role of data steward.
Raised Efficiency (Effectiveness)
Data stewards who actively define, produce, and use data, are the “eyes and ears” and the hands-on people in the best position to inform the organization where there are inefficiencies and ineffectiveness caused by ungoverned data. Time spent wrangling data monopolizes business analysts, data analysts, and data scientists capacity to perform at a high-level. Time spent looking for data, requesting access to data, and then clearing hurdles to access the data limit all stewards ability to work efficiently and effectively. Becoming a data steward raises the individual’s ability to highlight deficiencies that are spread across the organization.
Raised Job Performance
Data stewards who 1) recognize that they are being held formally accountable for the data they define, produce, and use, 2) who take the appropriate steps to take care of the data per that accountability for their actions, and 3) who are evaluated in part based on how they satisfy that accountability, often out-perform their colleagues who do not meet these three criteria. Formal stewardship plays an instrumental role in the success of a data governance program. You can raise the performance of your program, and raise the job performance of your data stewards, through the formalization of accountability for data.
Raised Business Results
When stewardship is weak, people in the organization who define, produce, and use data as part of their daily job are doing so with one hand figuratively being tied behind their back. These people are taking actions daily with data without being fully aware, updated, instructed, rehearsed, and held accountable for their actions. The hand tying potentially weakens the organizations business results by leading to inconsistent definition, production, and usage of data. Engaging data stewards where and how they work results in reduced risk, improved business performance, and better decision making.
Conclusion
I apologize for having to restate this… but it is not necessary to raise how much you pay your data stewards. Of course, you certainly should raise the pay of people who are data stewards if they are performing exceptionally in their existing role and in their present position, and as data stewards. A data steward can be anybody or everybody in the organization who is held formally accountable for how they define, produce, and use data.
The real elevation for data stewards comes from their ability to raise their profile and voice, raise their literacy and awareness, raise their efficiency and effectiveness, raise their job performance, and raise business results. Everybody needs a raise. Raises lead to improved job satisfaction and retention of your best employees. Data stewards should get a raise. There is no doubt about it.
