Financial Services Workers “Overwhelmed by Data” and Missing Crucial Opportunities

Over a fifth of FS workers avoid using data to make decisions

TRUMBULL, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Financial service (FS) firms are missing crucial business opportunities because they are not using data effectively. Too many workers are overwhelmed by data because they lack the skills to understand it, warns Questionmark, the online assessment provider.

Firms are generating more data than ever before as a greater number of products, services and business processes are delivered digitally. This data can help workers understand their customers and make better decisions on managing their business processes, but it is not being used well.

Questionmark has developed the Questionmark Data Literacy by Cambridge Assessment test. Employers can use the test to measure the strength of data literacy skills across the workforce.

Too many financial services employers assume that their workers will automatically develop strong data skills because they deal with numbers every day, experts fear.¹

However, just 38% of people in FS are fully confident in their own data literacy. Less than a third (29%) felt prepared to manage the data requirements of their job when they started the role, according to research by data consultants Qlik and Accenture.² More than a fifth (21%) of the workforce report being overwhelmed by data and avoid using it altogether.³

Lars Pedersen, CEO of Questionmark said: “FS firms are sitting on a goldmine of untapped data. Utilizing it effectively can boost productivity and help them better meet the needs of customers. But if workers can’t understand the data it will continue to be an untapped resource.

“Employers must get a clear read of the strength of data literacy skills across the workforce. Where they identify gaps they can introduce training and support to strengthen skills.”

The Questionmark Data Literacy by Cambridge Assessment test enables employers to measure the data literacy skills across their organizations. The results show which team members can understand, apply, communicate with and evaluate data in their job role. It can identify training needs.

The assessment is aimed at anyone who might benefit from better understanding data. It covers:

• Understanding data and data visualizations
• Applying knowledge of data to understand its implications
• Evaluating the quality and appropriateness of data
• Communicating data appropriately and effectively

www.questionmark.com/platform-services/questionmark-data-literacy-by-cambridge-assessments

Notes to editors

About Questionmark

Questionmark unlocks performance through reliable and secure online assessments.

Questionmark provides a secure enterprise-grade assessment platform and professional services to leading organizations around the world, delivered with care and unequalled expertise. Its full-service online assessment tool and professional services help customers to improve their performance and meet their compliance requirements. Questionmark enables organizations to unlock their potential by delivering assessments which are valid, reliable, fair and defensible.

Questionmark offers secure powerful integration with other LMS, LRS and proctoring services making it easy to bring everything together in one place. Questionmark's cloud-based assessment management platform offers rapid deployment, scalability for high-volume test delivery, 24/7 support, and the peace-of-mind of secure, audited U.S., Australian and European-based data centers.

^1	https://www.itpro.co.uk/data-insights/business-intelligence-bi/359541/data-literacy-problem-financial-services
^2	https://thedataliteracyproject.org/posts/financial-services-must-put-people-first-in-their-data-strategy
^3	https://thedataliteracyproject.org/posts/financial-services-must-put-people-first-in-their-data-strategy