What it Takes to Attract Data Scientists

Florian Douetteau

CEO and co-founder of Dataiku

Florian Douetteau is CEO and co-founder of Dataiku. Graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, this data scientist has held several management positions in companies such as Criteo or IsCool Entertainment, before embarking on the Dataiku adventure in 2013 (collaborative data science platform).

Nowadays, employers are ready to invest considerable sums for the comfort of their employees … and even more for their data scientists. Especially when they realize that these hard-pressed resources leave their jobs so easily. In recent years, we have seen companies make significant investments, sometimes fanciful to retain them, without ever really succeeding. What makes a data scientist stay?

Data scientists are curious by nature and have chosen this area to make the difference and leave their mark. If they just have fun with data projects at the lab stage without ever witnessing their real impacts, you will be told that they will not be long satisfied with their work.

However, many companies are reluctant to make productivity-enhancing investments for their data team because they underestimate the linked ROI.

Let’s take a look at this investment question and consider some of the advantages (and not the least) of which various companies, including those attracting the best talents in the sector, have:

Free meals: starting on the basis that a year has 200 working days (a low number, even for countries offering only a few days off) and that one-day meals represent 10 € this amounts to € 2,000 per year per person.

Offices ideally located: offices cost an average of € 8,000 per employee per year (a figure that varies significantly from one country to another). Add 50% to this ideal location, offices and an attractive neighborhood, that makes you 4 000 € more per employee and per year.

Sophisticated chair / ergonomic design: add at least € 2,000 per employee to provide this type of device (the life of which is about five years).

And yet, this talent leaves the company all the same (despite an investment estimated between 6,000 to 8,000 € per employee and per year). What kind of investments would be more effective? And, most importantly, how can your company invest wisely?

Now let’s try a foray into the mind of a data scientist. To be quite honest, it’s been a while since I’m no longer a data scientist (by the way, it was not the title we were given at the time), but I think I can still find me enough in this position to bring you some light:

Data scientists are stimulated by knowledge, especially the learning of a new language or technique, so we should invest in courses / workshops, seminars and training. Do you have your own Data Science Training Academy within your company? If not, why not?

Data scientists are stimulated by efficiency, in other words, they do not like doing the same thing twice and want to avoid it. What can you put in place to save them repetitive tasks? Invest in a repository of tools, methodologies, disciplines and knowledge.

Data scientists are stimulated by concentration. It is important for them to work without being interrupted and to deepen various topics. If your team of data scientists are actually only an interface to the data, they will quickly be frustrated not to advance in their work.

In my opinion, any investment made in the productivity of your data team, such as tools facilitating collaboration (especially those that perform most of the work of data preparation, simplifying the task of data scientists), is the best strategy to ensure the loyalty of your team.

These tools have an impact at the company level but also at the HR level. Indeed, those who want to get a head start and retain their best talents will take the time, by the end of 2018, to calculate the productivity ROI of their data team. That said, if you really want to encourage your best data scientists to stay, there’s no need to choose between free meals and the right tools. Why not offer both?