1. Bringing BUSINESS TALENT Onboard ALL ANALYTICS ACADEMY
November 10, 2015
Ezmeralda Khalil
Steve Mills
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton

2. ABOUT US EZMERALDA KHALIL STEVEN MILLS
Author of Tips for Building a Data Science Capability – Some Hard-Won Best Practices and (Surprising) Lessons Learned
Led development of Booz Allen’s Data Science Talent Management Model, Competency Framework, and DScVR (Booz Allen’s Data Science Capability Building Assessment)
B.S. Mechanical Engineering
M.S. Engineering Management
STEVEN MILLS
Author of The Field Guide to Data Science
Helped design Booz Allen’s Explore Data Science and Tech Tank Data Science training programs
Leads Booz Allen’s Data Science for Social Good agenda, including the Data Science Bowl
B.S. Wildlife & Fisheries Management
M.S. Operations Research & Forest Management
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton

3. TALENT ACQUISITION & DEVELOPMENT
WHAT we will
COVER TODAY
TALENT ACQUISITION & DEVELOPMENT
HOW YOU KEEP THEM
WHO YOU NEED
HOW YOU TRAIN THEM
HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS
WHERE YOU FIND THEM
SOURCE: BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton

4. OUR DATA SCIENCE COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK Clusters Competencies
WHO YOU NEED |
WHERE YOU FIND THEM |
HOW YOU TRAIN THEM |
HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW YOU KEEP THEM
BOOZ ALLEN’S DATA SCIENCE COMPETENCY FRAMEWORK
Clusters
Competencies
Technical: “Knows How and What to Do”
Statistical Modeling; Research Design; Data Mining and Integration; Data Visualization; Computer Science; Database Science; Machine Learning; Programming and Scripting; Information Assurance; Mathematics; Operations Research
Data Science & Analytics Consulting: “Can Do in Client and Customer Environment”
Domain Expertise; Business Acumen; Program Management; Resource Allocation; Collaboration and Teamwork; Data Science & Analytics Consulting; Ethics and Integrity; Communications
Cognitive: “Able to Do or Learn to Do”
Critical Thinking: Problem Solving; Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
Personality: “Willing or Motivated to Do”
Perseverance; Innovation and Creativity; Resilience and Hardiness; Inquisitiveness; Adaptability/Flexibility; Ambiguity; Tolerance; Detail Orientation; Self-Confidence; Work Ethic
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton

5. DATA SCIENCE VENN DIAGRAM
BUSINESS is a
DOMAIN
WHO YOU NEED |
WHERE YOU FIND THEM |
HOW YOU TRAIN THEM |
HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW YOU KEEP THEM
DATA SCIENCE VENN DIAGRAM
DOMAIN EXPERTISE
Provides understanding of the reality in which a problem space exists
MATHEMATICS
Provides the theoretical structure in which Data Science & Analytics problems are examined
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Provides the environment in which data products are created
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton
SOURCE: BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON

6. HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
BUSINESS EXPERTISE
is NECESSARY
WHO YOU NEED |
WHERE YOU FIND THEM |
HOW YOU TRAIN THEM |
HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW YOU KEEP THEM
Business expertise is critical to identifying the RIGHT analytic question that the science & analytics team should address
Once a prototype problem has been identified, business expertise is needed to develop analytic goals that are tied to business objectives
Ensuring analytic solutions account for operational realties of the business also requires deep understanding of business operations
Articulating results in a way that is meaningful to business leaders necessitates someone that can translate analytic output into business relevant terms
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton

7. INTERNALLY and EXTERNALLY
LOOKING FOR STAFF
INTERNALLY and EXTERNALLY
WHO YOU NEED |
WHERE YOU FIND THEM |
HOW YOU TRAIN THEM |
HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW YOU KEEP THEM
TIPS FOR FINDING BUSINESS TALENT
Internal
External
Focus primarily on mid-level staff with technical and business experience
Use formal interviews to screen for business acumen and basic understanding of analytics
Technical skills assessments can be used, but remember these may not be experts!
Personality-based assessments are a valuable tool for internal staff
Focus on college recruiting, particularly business schools
Target students pursuing business degrees with a technical component or secondary MBAs
Be open to a wide range of technical degrees and backgrounds
Make sure they can describe their past experience in business terms
THINGS WE LOOK FOR IN BOTH:
Perseverance
Innovation & Creativity
Resilience & Hardiness
Inquisitiveness
Adaptability / Flexibility
Ambiguity
Tolerance
Detail Orientation
Self-Confidence
Work Ethic
Critical Thinking
Problem Solving
Inductive and Deductive Reasoning 7
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton

8. UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS
BUILD
UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS
WHO YOU NEED |
WHERE YOU FIND THEM |
HOW YOU TRAIN THEM |
HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW YOU KEEP THEM
Panels – Participation on university sponsored panels focused on the increasing importance of data science, analytics, and big data for businesses
Talks – Give colloquium presentations on topics including the emergence of ubiquitous analytics in business and the future of analytics and data science
Conferences - Attend conferences that naturally bring together business and analytics thought leaders (e.g., INFORMS Business Analytics)
Course Participation – Guest lecturer in emerging MBA, business, and public policy programs that are including data science and analytics components
Special Events – Hosting hack-a-thons, data science competitions, and tutorial sessions to encourage students to learn data science and analytics 8
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton

9. HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
TRAINING
and DEVELOPMENT
WHO YOU NEED |
WHERE YOU FIND THEM |
HOW YOU TRAIN THEM |
HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW YOU KEEP THEM
FORMAL TRAINING
COMMUNITY EXPOSURE
Online courses (e.g., Coursera, Explore Data Science)
Comprehensive training programs
Graduate programs / certifications
Speaking and attending Conferences
Meetup groups
Webinars
Professional societies
INFORMAL EXPOSURE
TOOLS & TECHNOLOGIES
External competitions & tutorials (e.g., Kaggle)
Hack-a-thons
Community of practice / interest
Mentoring
Job rotations
Reduce barrier to entry (democratize analytics)
Support natural language questions
Focus on visualizations to support interpretation of analytic insights 9
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton

10. CROSS TRAINING through APPRENTICESHIP IS KEY
WHO YOU NEED |
WHERE YOU FIND THEM |
HOW YOU TRAIN THEM |
HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW YOU KEEP THEM
TEAM MEMBERS WITH DIVERSE SKILLSETS
(e.g., domain expertise, computer science, mathematics)
INTEGRATED DATA SCIENCE AND ANALYTICS TEAM 10
SOURCE: BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton

11. HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW to APPLY
BUSINESS EXPERTISE
WHO YOU NEED |
WHERE YOU FIND THEM |
HOW YOU TRAIN THEM |
HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW YOU KEEP THEM
SETTING THE STAGE FOR A DATA SCIENCE ENDEAVOUR
Identify a pipeline of high value use cases and prototype problems
Establish goals that will be actionable and meet business objectives
Ensure the planned analytic solutions account for operational realities
Build support for the prototype within the business 11
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton

12. HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW to APPLY
BUSINESS EXPERTISE
WHO YOU NEED |
WHERE YOU FIND THEM |
HOW YOU TRAIN THEM |
HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW YOU KEEP THEM
STAGES OF A DATA SCIENCE ENDEAVOR
High
DEGREE OF EFFORT
DATA SCIENCE ACTIVITIES
Low 1 2 3 4
ACQUIRE
PREPARE
ANALYZE
ACT
Identifies likely data sources
Build support among data providers
Identify early adopters in business units
Ameliorate concerns of business unit leaders
Provide data context
Provide business context
Identify valuable data elements
Provide insights into business constraints
Interpret outputs of feature engineering
Ensure analysis produces actionable output
Eliminate/explain counterintuitive associations
Influence data visualizations to resonate with business leaders
Brief analysis results
Create recommendations business leaders can act upon
Identify early adopters within business units
Develop mechanisms to operationalize results (people, process, and technology) 12
SOURCE: BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton

13. HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW to
KEEP THEM
WHO YOU NEED |
WHERE YOU FIND THEM |
HOW YOU TRAIN THEM |
HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW YOU KEEP THEM
Foster a feeling of community
Bimonthly data science tech talks attended virtually across geographies
Sponsor internal hack-a-thon events for teams
Stand-up a community of practice or community of interest
Generate excitement around data science and analytics
Crowdsource analytic challenges and solutions and hold Shark Tank-like events
Support and encourage learning
Tuition reimbursement for degree and non degree courses, professional certifications, vendor training
Sponsorship to attend conferences as speakers and non speakers
Challenge the staff
Deploy data science teams on hard problems that have impact
Data science teams get bored fast if not challenged
Encourage job and/or assignment rotation
Ensure you have the right incentive and rewards structure
Consider bonuses, awards, recognition mechanisms 13
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton

14. ANALYTICS-DRIVEN CULTURE
ENABLE an
ANALYTICS-DRIVEN CULTURE
WHO YOU NEED |
WHERE YOU FIND THEM |
HOW YOU TRAIN THEM |
HOW YOU APPLY THEIR SKILLS |
HOW YOU KEEP THEM
It Can Be the Enemy of Collaboration
RECALIBRATE YOUR TOLERANCE FOR FAILURE
Failure is the Price of Discovery
BE INCLUSIVE
Everyone Needs to Feel Conversant
ANALYTICS- DRIVEN CULTURE
FLATTEN YOUR HIERARCHY
PROVIDE A WAY INTO THE CLUB
Data Science is About More Than Data Scientists
MEASURE & REWARD THE “MEANS” AS WELL AS THE “END”
It Reinforces Behavior that will Deliver Results
DEMOCRATIZE ANALYTICS
Storytellers Learn by Doing 14
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton
SOURCE: BOOZ ALLEN HAMILTON

15. THE CONCLUSION Business is a Domain!
There are many ways to identify and train the right business talent
Success of Data Science and Analytic efforts is dependent on integration of business expertise
An analytics-driven culture is needed to retain talent and derive maximum value from data science and analytic endeavors 15
© Copyright 2015 Booz Allen Hamilton