(US & Canada) VIDEO | Data Is a Part of Everyone’s Job — PNC Financial Services CDO

Denise M Letcher, Chief Data Officer at PNC Financial Services, speaks with Dessa Glasser, Principal at FRG (Financial Risk Group), in a video interview about the importance of data literacy, promoting data culture, conducting firm-wide data programs, advice for data teams, and taking advantage of crises.

At the onset, Letcher states that data literacy is essential and that her team has established several data communities. These communities host events for communication, training, and peer networking, and they invite external speakers to help educate.

Further, the communities also conduct surveys to understand what community members want to learn and to make the communities destinations people will not want to miss.

Moving forward, Letcher demonstrates that when considering data culture on a firm-wide level, two distinct cultures exist between data creators and data users. To address this, creators need to better understand data entry and use while users need to understand what data is available to reduce redundant data entry.

Furthermore, some people may not understand that data is an asset and thus important to take care of. So, Letcher highlights how ‘data capture errors’ can affect the entire lifecycle and demonstrates how these errors can impact everyone.

In continuation, she discusses engaging the entire firm and her idea is that her team cannot be the only one trying to effect a culture change across the firm. Her team spent a year constructing data communities to use them as a solid platform to commence a greater movement for data culture.

Letcher strives to create these communities and demonstrate to everyone that data is part of everyone’s job. Additionally, she runs a week-long firm-wide event called “Database” which consists of panels, classes, and activities intended for all, not merely data specialists. She maintains that game-based learning is a well-received practice during this event.

Delving further, Letcher proclaims doing the "Data Dash Cap" based on a popular television show. Along with the week-long series of activities, her firm publishes monthly data articles. She acknowledges her small, yet powerful communications team which works with her and the communities to spearhead the project.

Thereafter, Letcher suggests that data teams need to remain agile with changing priorities to effectively respond to business needs, regardless of the state of the market. She also stresses the importance of demonstrating to employees the relevance of their work and how it improves the firm.

Furthermore, she suggests that clear communication and implementing humor can help keep teams motivated.

In conclusion, Letcher states that she meets with her team each month and calls out what they are doing to show they are contributing to the firm. She encourages them to enjoy their work and reminds them to make the most of crises by using them to expand their data foundation by getting baseline data, governance, data standards, and metadata in place.

CDO Magazine appreciates Denise M Letcher for sharing insights with our global community.