Industries that work with large volumes of data need the skills to use it effectively. Learn how international construction enterprise Laing O’Rourke builds capability from inside its workforce.
The challenge
On average, construction employees spend 29% of their time working with data unproductively, according to the Multiverse Skills Intelligence Report. It’s a growing challenge, particularly in a space like construction – where daily workflows are so closely tied to complex, business-critical datasets.
To store, use, and analyse data more effectively, construction companies are taking steps to build their data maturity.
Laing O’Rourke is one example. Since 2021, the team has worked with Multiverse to improve data skills and create data champions across the organization. At Big Data LDN 2024, we heard how learners have created new efficiencies through data upskilling programs.
Our panel included Pedro Rente Lourenço(opens new window), Group Head of Data and Analytics at Laing O’Rourke, in conversation with Louisa Dunwiddie(opens new window), Enterprise Account Director at Multiverse. We discussed how Laing O’Rourke has enhanced workforce capability and powered a data revolution within its business, laying the foundation for a valuable data strategy.
The upskilling opportunity for construction transformation
The construction industry deals with complex data, from geospatial and survey information to cost estimations and financials. As the scale of projects and data estate grew at Laing O’Rourke, decision-makers realised that data skills were needed outside of a ring-fenced IT department. If not, critical skills gaps could slow productivity.
As Pedro told us, “Data governance cannot be confined to a data team – it needs to spread out across our projects, because every project is almost like its own business.” Multiple teams across Laing O’Rourke stood to benefit from data upskilling programs.
The Data Academy at Laing O’Rourke
Laing O’Rourke partnered with Multiverse in 2021 to establish their Data Academy. They used the Apprenticeship Levy to fund employee upskilling in data and AI, at no extra commercial cost.
Initially, 87 employees enrolled in courses to improve data skills across the company – transforming how they handle and gain insights from data.
Today, Laing O’Rourke has had nearly 300 members of staff enrol on the program, driving transformation within the firm.
The results: The impact of the Data Academy
Pedro reflects that initially, Laing O’Rourke simply wanted to see whether the program would “stick”.
They saw fast success, and now, staff from teams across engineering, quantity surveying, HR and more have learned how to use data more productively.
“It’s created more and more demand, because when staff see the value, they see there is a clear return on investment.”
The Data Academy has shifted Laing O’Rourke’s operating model – bringing data capabilities out of the IT team and closer to other employees who use it every day. It has two main advantages:
1. Measurable efficiencies for dashboard product owners
Employees with newfound data skills have driven new levels of productivity for Laing O’Rourke. Pedro told us how data-literate teams can now generate dashboards, develop systems for automation, and reduce silos across the organization.
The program has also helped staff make sense of data and explore new opportunities with technologies like AI. Pedro highlighted how they can “look beyond chatbots” to applications such as risk management and data-driven sustainability initiatives.
But while anecdotal evidence tells a compelling story, Laing O’Rourke’s transformation journey needs to be informed by data. Tools to measure the success of change help the team validate the value of upskilling through a standardised return on investment analysis.
“We are continuously analysing ROI in a standardised way, so when people are going through the cohort and developing new solutions, we can see how much it cost and how much time it saved them,” Pedro explained.
The figures are then validated with line and functional managers to support the business case for upskilling. Ultimately, Laing O’Rourke has found that if more people in the business have data skills, more value can be unlocked.
2. Organizational culture change
To drive the success for the program, Laing O’Rourke selected members of staff who worked with a lot of data to participate. These were the stakeholders who could influence the most change and increase wider data literacy across the organization.
They found that once staff were aware of the importance of data quality, they would try to design new ways of working that led to process change. “That’s where we really see increased capabilities,” Pedro reflected, “when staff ask “why is this important? what can I actually do with this?”
This mindset change spread down from leaders, and out through individual branches of the business.
“There’s a butterfly effect when you’re reducing silos and breaking down barriers. When employees can save themselves five hours a week, they can enable their team to each save five hours a week. That’s where we see the culture change and the real transformation.”
Data skills are critical for modern organizations
Since recognising the lack of data maturity in the business, the team at Laing O’Rourke has successfully developed data capabilities and driven business growth.
Embedding data skills throughout the workforce is critical for staying competitive as industries accelerate their transformation efforts.
As Pedro put it, “you can bring as many great technologies in as you want, but if you don’t bring people’s knowledge up and give them skills to work with that data, you’re not going to get the benefit.”
Watch the full session(opens new window) with Pedro Rente Lourenço and Louisa Dunwiddie at Big Data LDN 2024.
