I read an article recently which suggested attracting and retaining IT talent was one of the lesser issues for IT in 2024. I must at this stage caveat that for most CIOs, IT leaders and people teams, the list of priorities they deal with is complexed and vast, however, I was still surprised to see it firmly at the bottom of the list.
We continue to see uncertainty in the tech labour market where redundancies and layoffs are ever present, vacancy volumes continue to be low yet high volumes of talented IT professionals are very open to new opportunities. Therefore, could you be closer than you think to this being a problem for your organisation particularly for your leadership and management teams?
PwC recently released their latest global workforce hopes and fears survey which had some positive and concerning considerations which CIOs and IT leaders are no doubt thinking about. For example, 28% of the workers surveyed suggested they are looking to switch employer in the next 12 months. Earlier this year, LinkedIn was even bolder suggesting the number of people looking to switch roles was 75% of UK professionals. So now more than ever anyone who is leading teams must not lose sight on retention and development before attracting new talent.
This of course is a question which is not only for an IT leader to answer. Chief People Officers, Chief Operating Officers, CFOs and CEOs all have a key part to play in ensuring the talent that exists is being responsibly nurtured within their business alongside the commercial strategies set out. From leading large teams in my previous career, I have asked myself the following questions many times and encourage anyone reading this to do the same.
Do you spend enough time focusing on talent management and retention? Are you thinking about the skills gaps you have and how you will need new recruitment and retention strategies in the future?
How much upskilling or reskilling takes place in your organisation? Do you need be more aspirational and give people more opportunity to stretch into roles or retrain rather than hire talent in?
How do you and your leaders engage regularly with teams, share expertise, opportunities and business aspirations?
Does your business have policies in place which evolve with the needs of your workforce? Equally are they attractive to the external market?
Do you spend time contingency planning should you quickly need to grow or be on the receiving end of unexpected attrition/change?
When I work with businesses to hire senior talent the first question I ask is what talent do you have internally? This then leads to a variety of discussions before we take the brief because I need to understand the whole picture. Leading people isn’t a short game and the answer isn’t always to hire in because leaders should be developing their people, and inspiring growth.
Knowing who your talent is and retaining them always brings success, advocacy and better commercial results for the business. Hiring in could be the right answer but do we invest enough time to really know our people, it’s likely the real talent was already within sight.
These are some of my views but what do you think? Do the leaders you hire into your teams have the same view or does retention and attraction really sit low down in your issues list?
I work with business leaders to ensure you have the right talent advice that is beneficial in the long term, ensuring you get expert consultation on all the options so you can attract and retain the best talent for your business.
If you would like to discuss more or share your own challenges and priorities when it comes to attracting and retaining the best talent get in contact with me directly and let’s see how I can help you succeed.
Mark
07900557982
Sources:
PwC Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey
CIO.com – The 10 biggest issues IT faces today
LinkedIn Jobs on the Rise 2024