Data people, how do you judge whether the company is "reusing" you or "exploiting" you?

In the data-driven era, data talents are highly sought after, but how to judge the value of data researchers in the workplace? This is a question worth pondering.

“I might have been PUA!”

Recently, many companies have been determining last year's performance. After seeing the results, many people suddenly realized that they were used by their leaders! Today we are going to talk about this very heavy topic, but it is very important to your own development:

How to recognize whether you are being used or reused.

First of all, data work is a high-risk area for PUA. Because in ordinary physical work, if you ask A to move 20 bags of cement and ask B to move only 10 bags, A will definitely be dissatisfied! So there is no PUA, everyone is paid by piecework, and you get paid for your work. But data work is different, it has very vague elements such as "technical growth", "business insight" and "commercial value" in it, and it is impossible to pay by piecework, so there is a lot of room for PUA.

1. Method 1: Endless data collection

Typical performance: 2,000 lines of SQL per day, data is fetched every day, but there are no analysis topics or projects.

PUA rhetoric: "This is to exercise your abilities. If you can't even get the numbers, you can't do anything else."

• Degree of concealment: Low, very useful for newcomers who foolishly think that the more SQL they write, the better the performance.
• Degree of harm: High. They often give you a fatal blow when evaluating your performance: "Do you have business insights?" "Do you have output suggestions?" "Do you create value?" "Look, you have nothing, how can I give you performance!"

A leader who really wants to reuse you will never ask you to run numbers like crazy and then complain about your lack of business output! Those who can do this are most likely those who have no leadership skills and have not counted the work undertaken by the data department, and just throw it to their subordinates.

A good data department leader will establish a demand management table as shown below, which can not only count the working hours of employees in his department, but also show the workload of the data department to the superiors and strive for more resources (as shown below)

If you suspect this is the case, you can

• Record every need you receive
• Count the number of requirements and working hours
• Actively apply to leaders: take on more analytical/project-based tasks
• When working overtime more than other colleagues in the group, show the demand record and request to share the work
• During quarterly performance communication, take the initiative to mention: we need to add more people and we need to get better performance!

If your leader agrees and promises to add more people/give high performance, then he has a conscience, he is valued at you, and you are worth following.

If he continues to say, "You have to produce more valuable things..." then you will definitely be regarded as a human SQL machine.

2. Method 2: Let you figure it out yourself

Typical performance: When you encounter a difficult problem, let you think for yourself, such as:

• Need to make a predictive model → Learn "Machine Learning" by yourself
• Need competitor data → Learn "Python Crawler" by yourself
• Need industry reports → Search online

PUA rhetoric: "This is to exercise your abilities. You need to master a comprehensive skill stack to make progress."

• Degree of concealment: Medium. It is lethal to many people because these things can really be searched on the Internet.
• Degree of harm: High. When evaluating project results, they often backfire on you: "Look, the quality of your work is not high, how can it be considered good?" "You still need to work harder. Forget about getting an A for performance this quarter. I gave it to someone else!"

A leader who really wants to reuse you will never ask you to think before you start working, and then complain about your poor performance after you finish the work. Data does not fall from the sky. High-precision models require a strong data infrastructure, and high-quality external data is sold at a high price in the market. A good leader must be cost-conscious when doing things. When his boss or peer business makes a request to him, he should discuss the cost with the other party, so as to obtain more resources for the data department (as shown in the figure below).

If you suspect this is the case, you can:

• Consult external agencies for their quotes
• Consult with peers to determine the difficulty of the project
• When reporting to the leader, explain the market price and your own difficulty clearly
• Tip leader: I can do it, but the timing/accuracy will be a problem

After suffering losses, many students know to ask in advance. In my Knowledge Planet, students often come to me for one-on-one tutoring, just to find out: "Is there any pitfall in this requirement?" It is always better to avoid pitfalls in advance than to take the blame afterwards.

If your leader agrees and says, "It's okay, just do it," and bravely says, "Without the investment of resources, the quality will definitely be worse" when there are business complaints, then he has a conscience and is reusing you, and you are worth following.

If he continues to say: "Look, you are not doing well, you need to think more, and I can't give you an A in performance this quarter"... you know!

3. Utilization method 3: Let you take the blame

Typical behavior: When faced with a tough report, you are left to do it on your own.

PUA rhetoric: "This is to exercise your abilities, you have to take on the project alone."

• Degree of concealment: High. Many students are eager to be responsible for projects independently. When they hear the word "independent responsibility", they immediately get excited!
• Degree of harm: High. When you are questioned, you often turn the tables and say, "I didn't check it well. I'll check it again when I come back." Then when evaluating your performance, you say, "I'm sorry, it's not that I don't want to give you performance, but the boss doesn't like it. I worked so hard to get it for you!"

This routine is generally less common with junior and mid-level employees, but more common with experienced employees. It is especially common with people who have switched to other companies and hold senior positions. This method is also very covert because the person does look innocent.

But if you look back, you will find a strange phenomenon:

• Every time the boss is not satisfied/the business is very resistant/there are problems with disagreements, it is you who are responsible;
• Your boss always says nice things to you, but your performance is always not good enough.
• There is a person in your group who seems quiet but always performs very well.

Congratulations! You are considered an expert in taking risks. But it is hard to resist in this situation. When they recruited you, they gave you a "senior" title, probably because they wanted you to take risks. And they also look aggrieved and speak for you. At this time, you can only accept the reality: "This leader will never promote me" and wait for a new job-hopping opportunity.

Author: Down-to-earth Teacher Chen; WeChat public account: Down-to-earth Teacher Chen