Business analysts help their company in a number of ways: They increase the leads and effectiveness of sales teams, improve hiring and onboarding in human resources and even streamline projects for IT. However, they’re still positioned in supporting roles on these teams. What about business analysts as executives? Do they have a place on the executive team? Can business analysts lead?

Business analysis is an incredibly flexible field. Here is the role your BA will play when working with leadership.

Executives Are Expected to be Comfortable With Data Analysis

More companies are requiring their executive team to understand data and analytics, and many are stepping up to the plate. Research has found that executives who don’t have a technical background are becoming better at using technology and digital tools to make decisions and collect insights. 

A 2018 survey by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association found that out of 5,000 enterprise technology professionals, 70 percent said their organization’s leaders were digitally literate and 82 percent were receptive to adopting emerging tech.

This data is significant when you compare it to previous years. In 2017, Jennifer Bresnick at HealthIT Analytics shared that year’s ISACA poll which found that only 53 percent of IT professionals thought their board members and executive teams had a firm grasp on data analytics — leaving 47 percent of executives to be considered big data illiterate.      

CEOs and other executives who are not comfortable with data analysis will likely have to improve their skills or risk their jobs. John Eades, CEO of leadership development company LearnLoft, lists continuing education as one of the top leadership trends for 2019. He explains that while technology will change (think blockchain and AI), the need to pivot and adapt will not.

By investing in teams who are eager to adopt business analysis practices — and by taking on a continuous learning lifestyle within the executive team — leaders can embrace whatever changes come along and will be better prepared for new technology and opportunities.

Executives Determine the Company’s Relationship with Data

Because so many company initiatives start at the top and work down the ranks, it is up to executives to learn business analysis and encourage employees to adopt analytically-minded practices.

Roman Stanek, founder and CEO of GoodData, says members of the C-Suite may need additional training on data use and the capabilities of the tools available to them. Then it is up to executives to invest in training for the rest of the employees and to make data part of the culture as a whole, rather than just a pet preference of the CEO.  

In an article for the Harvard Business Review, senior adviser at Deloitte Analytics Thomas H. Davenport, and Randy Bean, CEO at NewVantage Partners, shared their survey results on how executives in large corporations view data. There is a lot of excitement around data, but it isn’t necessarily being used. 

While 99 percent of respondents said their firms are trying to be more data-driven, only one-third reporting success in this objective. Changing to a data-focused culture is easier said than done, and most companies are experiencing transition pains, or finding that they are not able to transition at all.

A survey by the MIT Sloan School of Management highlights just how important executive buy-in is for creating a data-driven company. Out of 2,400 individuals surveyed, only 19 percent of company leaders say they always seek out data and analytics when making decisions, with 40 percent saying they often do so. This is despite 76 percent of respondents reporting they have access to data that is frequently or always useful. 

Executive leadership can take steps to show how seriously they take business analysis and data-driven thinking. Chris Mazzei, global vice chair at EY, served as the company’s first chief analytics officer. Creating that position sent a message to the rest of the company: Data and analytics are important enough to merit a seat at the table through a permanent executive role. 

With commitment to this way of thinking, business analytics will no longer be a side job for the IT department or a hobby for the operations team, but rather a focus within all levels of the organization.   

More Tools are Making Data Accessible to Non-Technical Leaders

Even if executives aren’t spending their days working with data analytics or don’t come from a business analysis background, they can still prioritize data and emphasize its value. 

“Data today is like oil in the 19th century: people know the resource has tremendous value, but they’re still searching for the best way to extract it,” writes Exago CEO Mike Brody. “That duty often falls on data analysts, but analytics and insights must be accessible in order for companies to really benefit.” 

Data needs to be a shared resource, something that everyone has access to, rather than top-secret information hoarded by the executive team. This starts by making data accessible for technical and non-technical minded employees, he adds.

“Nontechnical people should be able to quickly build an interactive dashboard, apply permissions to select users, collaborate, and customize without the need for help from IT,” says the team at Phocas Business Intelligence Software. While we have more data than ever, the basics of analyzing it and combing insights from information are the same. An executive can be analytically-minded and find value without having a tech background.

The good news is that these non-technically minded employees can actually drive your data-driven culture forward. If even the technophobic workers (and technophobic executives) are embracing it, there’s no excuse for data to be used across the company.  “Obtaining the right technology and hiring smart talent can certainly help, but even then, tools and people won’t necessarily guarantee the transformation of a data-resistant culture,” explains Brent Dykes, senior director of data strategy at cloud-based, self-service BI platform Domo. 

You can’t buy data-driven decision making, but you can make it so appealing to your team members that they can’t help but use it. 

Business Analysis is a Process, Not a Deliverable

In the same way that data-driven thinking isn’t a tool that you can buy and install overnight, business analysis isn’t a one-time process or product. Executive leaders who want to implement analysis best practices need to fully incorporate their analysts within their teams and use them from the start of projects until the end.

“When experts talk about making analytics easy to understand, they often emphasize the end of the process, the sharing of final results with clients,” writes Meta S. Brown, author of “Data Mining for Dummies.” “They’re missing the point. Effective communication begins with listening.”

Brown explains that effective data analysts will listen to the problems facing management and ask probing questions with the goal of learning more about the challenges ahead. This allows them to provide data that is actually useful — data that executives are more likely to use. Analysts need to be at the table from the start of the discussion, not just when the executive team wants a few data points. 

“As a business manager or owner, it’s vital to have a firm grip on what your organisation’s data is telling you,” writes Mike Richardson, managing director at Maximizer Software. “As we all know, information does not necessarily equal intelligence! This is especially the case if that information is ‘siloed’ in disparate parts of your business.” 

Executives need to be able to take a high-level look at the data and make sure the information they are basing their decisions on is complete. Without this view, leaders can easily make the best decision possible based on the wrong information — which can hurt the company in the long run. Business analysts step in to make sure data is accurate and complete, allowing executives to make the best choices possible.   

More Business Analysts Are Advancing to the C-Suite

Data and analytics is increasingly valued in organizations to the point where many business analysts are stepping into the C-Suite and other executive roles from within the company.

David Egan, sales operations manager at LinkedIn, shared data from 12,000 CEOs at companies with more than 50 employees to see where they started and how they advanced within organizations. Analyst took the third-ranking spot as the most common first job of CEOs, following consultants and software engineers. Analysts beat out sales managers and project managers to round out the top five. 

Business analysts have to learn about the entire company and what makes it tick. They also work closely with executive teams, making them a natural recommendation during succession planning. It makes sense that many analysts step into executive roles with their vast knowledge and experience working with the C-Suite.

Derek Steer, cofounder and CEO at Mode Analytics, is a real-life example of this and explains how being an analyst helped him move forward in the CEO role. He cites the skillsets of listening, identifying problems and coming up with solutions as his main support tools through his career. “I absolutely expect to see more analysts become entrepreneurs in coming years, if for no other reason than that there are more analysts out there today than ever before,” he writes.

Hiring a business analyst as a chief analytics officer or even as a chief executive office sends a message about the future of your company. It is seen as a commitment to data and to keeping up with the fast-pace of digital change. 

“C-level leaders in analytics can help organisations give real insights swiftly enough to meet the shrinking window of opportunity,” writes Richa Bhatia at Analytics India Magazine. “This also indicates companies want to ramp up expansion fast and use analytics as a technological advantage to compete in the industry.”    

If you are interested in reading more about CEOs who have embraced data analytics (or who came from the world of business analysis), Timothy King at Solutions Review curated a list of 10 executives to follow and learn from. You can see how other leaders stepped into their roles and continue to use data. 

Do business analysts have a role on the executive team? Yes, as the CEO, CAO, and any other leader the company needs. While BAs often start by assisting managers with data-focused decision making, they often step into leadership roles because of their vast experience and reliable track record.