What size fits you? Data Leadership & Organisation Size

When it comes to deciding our next career move, many of us will want to know more about the data and analytics organisation size of any company we’re considering. This week we aired our latest content as part of our ongoing Food for Data series, where Richard Clayton, Head of Data Science & Systems for Pilgrim’s Food was interviewed by our very own Natalia.

Within this interview, Richard talks at length about the positives and challenges of the size of the organisation, and how it can directly impact the data team. For Richard, the foundation of the conversation rested upon three elements: speed, budget, and resources.

In a smaller organisation, you’re able to work at an incredible speed that for many larger organisations would simply be incomprehensible. There are often fewer committees and political structures within smaller start-ups allowing for decisions to be acted upon in a timelier manner. Many smaller organisations adopt the fail-fast method, because of their ability to move in an agile way. Some may argue this is more conducive to an innovative environment. I’ve met several data leaders who have a background in big organisations and who find the start-up environment a breath of fresh air from what can feel like an uphill battle to implement the strategy in a timeframe that is helpful to the business goals.

Although the smaller organisations may have the speed, very few have the budget available that a larger corp has access to. This means if you are in a smaller you generally need to be more creative with the budget you have, whereas, with a larger purse available to you, the task becomes whittling down which exciting new innovative technology and far-reaching plan you’d like to implement. That’s not me saying that the larger organisations have it better, necessarily. Lots of money spent in stupid places doesn’t make for a better situation. Those same executives who found the speed of execution a pleasant change of pace, are often the same people who tell me this is one of the biggest challenges to working in a smaller org. If you’ve become accustomed to slick advanced tech stacks, it can be a crash back to reality when you’re piecing together something that is less sophisticated but more budget-friendly.

There has been a lot of talk about generalist vs specialism in the talent space. Having sat on the sidelines of this conversation for a while, my observation is that there is a place for both in the world of data, but that the environment probably will dictate a large amount of the success of each. Within a smaller organisation, you find more generalists, where one data professional may be doing what is traditionally regarded as engineering, analysis, and strategy. Whereas in the larger org, you’ll find bigger teams, solely dedicated to each specialism. Debating the pros and cons of each of these approaches could be its own blog! However, I do think it’s important to consider what your team and resources are made up of, before considering a data leadership role, as it’s going to massively dictate what is possible with your data strategy. Perhaps there isn’t a perfect data and analytics organisation size.

Richard also makes a comment within the interview that very often, no matter the size of an organisation very often they’re asking the same questions, it’s just how you act/answer them is different. He draws on the example of data governance. DG is a concern for every organisation, but how you approach the strategy will differ massively.

Which org size have you found to be the right fit for you?

Catherine works passionately to provide senior executives with the hottest content and insights in the areas of Digital, Data, Analytics, Information, Business Development & Innovation. She hosts and moderates large events as well as directs, produces, and hosts industry-leading podcasts.

She is an award-winning event prof with a wealth of experience directing and designing Conferences, Bespoke Roundtables, Online events, and more! Catherine is especially passionate about diversity, inclusion, and accessibility work – and is an active ally and advocate for female and BAME leaders. Read more.