Before we start, I know many organizations use the title “Analyst” for their entry-level positions across the board. I distinguish the positions I’m referring to as being 1) tasked with giving novel insights to a business or function and 2) given the license to plan and create teams to follow through.
It goes without saying that top-tier analysts are smart, and analysts with technical qualifications can be exceptionally difficult to find (read: expensive) in a given industry or business group. The good news is that you shouldn’t feel constrained by whichever industry you’re in. But let’s hit pause and answer a critical question before we delve into specifics: What the hell is an analyst?
Let me answer in the negative: If we clear up what an analyst is not, it’ll shed some light on the people and personalities that are drawn to the role:
It goes without saying that top-tier analysts are smart, and analysts with technical qualifications can be exceptionally difficult to find (read: expensive) in a given industry or business group. The good news is that you shouldn’t feel constrained by whichever industry you’re in. But let’s hit pause and answer a critical question before we delve into specifics: What the hell is an analyst?
Let me answer in the negative: If we clear up what an analyst is not, it’ll shed some light on the people and personalities that are drawn to the role:
Analyst is not an entry-level role
If your analysis group supports others, it would be a gaping organizational flaw to have your analysts trying to be promoted elsewhere from day one.
Why it matters:
You want your analysts to be specialists and collaborators. Establishing credibility with the rest of the organization is key. Setting it up as a junior role sabotages this from the get-go. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hire younger professionals for the role; it just means your analytical professionals should have a career track parallel to the hierarchy of the groups they support.
Why it matters:
You want your analysts to be specialists and collaborators. Establishing credibility with the rest of the organization is key. Setting it up as a junior role sabotages this from the get-go. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hire younger professionals for the role; it just means your analytical professionals should have a career track parallel to the hierarchy of the groups they support.
Analysis is not Reporting
You’ve gone out to the market and found some technically and mathematically skilled folks, and you’ve gotten a couple of them set up on your data systems. Right now, they are charting out the projects they'll tackle in the coming months….but you have a review in two weeks, and the P&L slides need to be refreshed. You were never comfortable with the assumptions used in the past, but you don’t know how to revise the report yourself. Fortunately, these new guys could probably knock out some slides for you in no time!
Why You Should Avoid the Temptation:
A good analyst took the job because he thought he would be solving important, challenging problems. While delivering 11 iterations of 4 slides to someone because a higher-up can’t articulate what he needs is quite challenging, it is not important work. The first thought someone has in a new role should not be "I've been lied to." Besides, having a monthly report that is external to organic workflow (one the analyst does because he’s the only guy who knows SQL) interrupts other projects, sapping bandwidth and creating a permanent block of hours each month in which your analyst is performing far less valuable work.
Why You Should Avoid the Temptation:
A good analyst took the job because he thought he would be solving important, challenging problems. While delivering 11 iterations of 4 slides to someone because a higher-up can’t articulate what he needs is quite challenging, it is not important work. The first thought someone has in a new role should not be "I've been lied to." Besides, having a monthly report that is external to organic workflow (one the analyst does because he’s the only guy who knows SQL) interrupts other projects, sapping bandwidth and creating a permanent block of hours each month in which your analyst is performing far less valuable work.
Analyst is not a catch-all function
When analysts support groups, and a new task comes down the pipeline that doesn’t fall cleanly into anyone’s role, there is pressure (especially when an analysis function is new and the analysts are relatively young) to have it fall onto the analysts’ desks if it has any possible relation to analysis.
How to avoid it:
Your analysts are better with Excel than anyone else in the group, and they are probably better at summarizing data as well. These skills are dangerous to bring into many office environments because so many administrative functions also can benefit from these proficiencies, but those tasks have relatively low value to the organization. A rule of thumb is that an analyst is only the correct person to assign a task to when it fits in with the other projects he is working on. As a director or business owner, it’s important to realize when you have run out of appropriate people to delegate a task to and either 1) Ask how your unit would accomplish the task before the analysis group was brought in, or 2) If possible, do it yourself.
How to avoid it:
Your analysts are better with Excel than anyone else in the group, and they are probably better at summarizing data as well. These skills are dangerous to bring into many office environments because so many administrative functions also can benefit from these proficiencies, but those tasks have relatively low value to the organization. A rule of thumb is that an analyst is only the correct person to assign a task to when it fits in with the other projects he is working on. As a director or business owner, it’s important to realize when you have run out of appropriate people to delegate a task to and either 1) Ask how your unit would accomplish the task before the analysis group was brought in, or 2) If possible, do it yourself.
Wrap Up
Analysts are smart, competitive, technically capable, and grounded in business reality. While they may have PhD’s, they are not confusing their work with their dissertation, and they are able to act without perfect information. And - this is something to be especially aware of - they have a career plan, and you need to engage them about it. These people have highly transferrable, desirable skills. If you aren’t communicating how your business will let them grow, they are unlikely to stick around.
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