The difficulty in find ICT talent is one of the main challenges facing companies today. The underlying problem is not the lack of qualified professionals (since, as we can see, more and more people are being trained in new technologies), but rather that companies are unable to find the right method to find what they really need.
In this article, as we did in another article on innovation in recruitment, We would like to explain our experience with the difficulty of finding expert professionals in Digital Transformation and show the keys to improve the selection processes. Do you want to know more, keep reading!
68% of companies are unable to find IoT experts
According to Canonical's latest study, 68% of companies have difficulty finding and hiring professionals with experience in the Internet of Things sector. In other words, 7 out of 10 companies want to incorporate IoT experts in their teams to address Digital Transformation but do not know where to find them or how to get them interested in their project. Of this 68%, 35% believe that it is especially complicated to find experts with knowledge in Big Data and analytics. In addition to Big Data and Analytics, companies also consider it essential for an expert IoT professional to have knowledge in software development, electronics, cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence.
The difficulties in finding skilled IoT professionals is just a symptom of a much more serious problem. The shortage of IT talent is, according to the latest Appirio report, a challenge shared by 90% of companies. In fact, according to the report, the HR department of some companies devotes a third of its resources to recruiting and retaining IT professionals in the company.
It is not surprising that the main corporate concern is to retain IT workers once they have joined the company, since, according to experts, 25% of IT talent leaves the company every year. And this fact is much more significant than it seems, because it has numerous consequences. Without going any further, 25% of projects are abandoned because of the limitations of the IT department, mainly due to the rate of abandonment of professionals. The projects that do end up being completed are delivered with an average delay of about 5 months, which leads to a loss of the company's bottom line. The reason? Difficulties in recruiting and retaining IT professionals.
How to find and retain the talent that companies need?
Although most companies understand the need to incorporate experts in new technologies, in practice they do not undertake real measures to improve the IT department. Without going any further, only 1 in 10 companies has talent attraction strategies in place. At Zemsania we believe that, in order to attract and retain talent, it is not only necessary to incorporate professionals who lead the Digital Transformation, but also that all departments of the company are aligned to design and implement a good recruitment strategy 2.0.
To begin with, Human Resources Departments would have to lay a good methodological foundation, which would help streamline the recruitment process. Some of the most important points when it comes to finding IT professionals are the following:
- Define what kind of IT profile we need. In this sense, we not only have to think about the present moment, but also about what we will need in the future. One of the main difficulties is to know exactly the name of the vacancy we need: DevOps Manager, IoT Architect, Data Scientists... Depending on the qualities that the professional must have, we can search for the exact name of the profile we want.
- Specify what experience and knowledge the candidate should have. As we said in the previous point, there are an infinite number of IT profiles and, in some cases, many of them share very similar functions and characteristics. In this case, we must take into account the competencies that the candidate must have and the years of experience required. Experience is especially important in a selection process, as it will help us to delimit not only the type of professional and the functions he/she will perform, but also where we can look for him/her. For example, while we might find a junior profile in a university job board, a senior profile can only be found by a thorough search in various specialized databases.
- Use the resources offered by social networks. Linkedin is an excellent source for finding all types of IT professionals, not only because it offers the possibility of posting job offers, but also because it is the largest professional network in the world. When we talk about «professional network» we mean that its importance lies in the fact that, in addition to posting a resume, users can contact and interact with their professional colleagues, which gives them great visibility. This visibility is precisely what expert recruiters will use to find the talent that best suits the company's needs.
- Seek advice from specialized companies. Not all HR departments have the time and resources to carry out a thorough IT selection process. As we said, the process is lengthy and may not always be agile if the design and implementation of recruitment strategies is not clear. To solve these issues, at Zemsania we provide our clients with the best resources to identify the best IT talent in a fast and professional way. If you want to know more about our methodology, Please do not hesitate to contact us.
Once we have found the talent, the most complicated issue remains: knowing how to retain it.. As we said, one of the main concerns of companies is to understand what the needs of IT professionals are and to make them feel comfortable in the company. In this case, some of the most important points to retain technological talent in companies are:
- Pay attention to the specific interests of this type of professionals.. Only by listening and taking into account the needs of the people who make up the IT department can we design the necessary strategies to make them feel fulfilled in their work. In this way, we can create a good working environment and retain talent in our company.
- Provide the IT department with good resources. In order for professionals to successfully carry out their projects, it is necessary for the IT department to have all the necessary resources, not only in terms of the latest technologies, but also the existence of good synergies with the rest of the company's departments.
- Provide flexibility to professionals, both in terms of time and place of work.. According to experts, one of the things a technology expert values most today is flexibility in their work. Given the many resources available today, it is natural that many people prefer telecommuting to face-to-face work, especially those who are used to working with technology.
In short, the main challenge for companies is that they need to start looking more closely at what IT professionals are really interested in. In this way, not only will they be able to find the talent they need more easily and quickly, but they will also be able to bring improvements to the day-to-day lives of workers in order to retain them in the company.