Data Literate Talent: A Case Study of Middle Managers in the Energy Sector

Introduction

In today's data-driven business environment, data literacy is a key competency for organizational success (Logan, 2018; Pothier & Condon, 2020). Within organizations, data is increasingly used to drive operational efficiency, optimize resources, and meet regulatory demands (Kiron, 2017). Middle managers bridge the gap between top management strategies and ground-level operations and thus play a pivotal role in translating data into action, facilitating informed decision-making and fostering innovation within the organization (Pererya & Sun, 2021). Corndel, a UK-based organization that helps others to grow skills and corporate capabilities, refer to “the frozen middle” issue. Corndel (2022) maintains that data leadership in middle management is essential to organizational success, but middle managers “face particular challenges in data leadership” stemming from both “deficiency in data literacy” and other barriers that can limit their ability to engage effectively with data. These barriers may include insufficient technical training, inadequate data infrastructure, and a lack of support (Calvard & Jeske, 2018). Moreover, differing departmental priorities and varied levels of exposure to data tools can exacerbate these challenges, leading to inconsistencies in data use across the organization (Ghasemaghaei, 2019).

“Thawing the frozen middle” (Corndel, 2022) necessitates understanding the challenges middle managers face in achieving data literacy and using those understandings to develop targeted interventions to support middle managers as data literate leaders in organizations.

With the aim of contributing to the development of data literacy interventions targeted to middle managers, the authors undertook a qualitative study to explore the data literacy challenges faced by middle managers in the Queensland energy sector.

Energy sector relies on vast amounts of data from smart grids, IoT sensors, predictive maintenance systems, and market analytics to optimize operations, reduce costs, and improve sustainability. Accurate data interpretation and application enable organizations to enhance energy production. However, despite the growing importance of data in the energy industry, the challenges faced by middle managers in achieving data literacy remain under-researched (Corndel, 2022).

Drawing on interviews with 15 middle managers from diverse departments, including operations, finance, human resources, and IT, this research contributes to existing knowledge of data literacy by documenting their experiences, perceptions, and challenges regarding data literacy and decision-making. The insights gained from analysis of the interview data provides a nuanced understanding of the factors that are influence influencing middle managers' ability to work with data effectively. More specifically, we provide insights into how middle managers’ data literacy affect data-driven practices in complex industries like energy and make recommendations for improving data literacy among middle managers in the Queensland energy sector.

Literature Review

This section reviews existing research on data literacy, with a focus on its organizational significance, common challenges, and the pivotal role of middle managers. It provides the context needed to interpret the findings of this study within the Queensland energy sector.