It’s getting harder and harder to find high-calibre IT candidates with the right skill set. A survey conducted by Indeed showed that 86% of businesses find it hard to find good technical talent.
In addition, 83% of those surveyed said that the shortage of tech talent has negatively impacted their businesses by creating: lost revenues, slower software creation, decreased employee satisfaction, and increased staff burnout rate.
Loss of Revenues
Because of the increased difficulty of finding good tech talent, potential revenues are lost.
For instance, some projects may require a significant amount of manpower, alongside a specific set of skills, to complete. If you aren’t able to hire the ideal talent, you may not be able to pursue these opportunities, or you may be unable to complete projects successfully.
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These failures mean not only more money being left on the table but also reduced opportunity to pursue alternative paths that may have resulted in success.
Additionally, the current difficulties created by the tech talent war will, in the long run, make it harder to find talented people, resulting in long-term drops in production quality.
This is because high-calibre staff will want to work for employers that already have many other top candidates, as they’ll feel challenged by their peers.
In this situation, you’ll either see your existing talent leave to find a more challenging environment or applicants may not consider you in the first place.
Slower Delivery of IT Solutions
Another consequence of the increased difficulty of finding top-quality IT staff is the reduced pace of creating IT products.
Depending on your focus, this may not be a crippling issue. If your business relies on IT as a supplemental resource to enhance its primary functions, then while negatively impactful, it won’t cripple your ability to succeed.
On the other hand, if you’re an IT-focused business, this can be hugely damaging as you’ll suffer from a reduced pace of production of your primary revenue sources.
Decreased Employee Satisfaction
Working with a team that lacks the necessary skills can be incredibly frustrating for everyone.
It means projects are difficult to complete and issues that pop up throughout development go either unsolved or are haphazardly fixed.
Eventually, as technology issues continue to stack up, employees’ productivity will be impacted if they don’t have access to the timely IT support they need to resolve them.
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Increased Burnout Rate
Teams that are understaffed have less flexibility and more demands. As a result, burnout occurs and you risk losing your existing staff. This further reduces your ability to handle IT issues and pursue projects.
How to Address the IT Talent Shortage:
How can these issues be avoided? There are four ways your business can directly address the IT talent shortage.
Contact IT Experts
Getting the right tech staff is difficult. You need people with very specific skill sets and experience. Not every HR person or Manager has the expertise to find you the employees you need.
However, if you partner with an IT recruiting expert you know they’ll have the knowledge base and skill set to navigate the market and find you high-calibre candidates that are the right fit for your organization.
If you’re just looking for someone to take part in a project or shorter-term engagement, you can enlist in IT staff augmentation services. You can find someone with the exact skills you need and then hire them for the appropriate amount of time.
Understand the Market
The reality is that the bulk of tech job seekers are millennials. They tend to prefer working for companies that show innovative tendencies, a clear career path forward, and offer real benefits such as schedule flexibility, work-from-home policies, and a good work-life balance.
In fact, fully 75% of millennials want to work from home or other locations, but only 43% of them are allowed to do so.
Don’t try to disguise poor benefit packages. Instead, consider how you can improve your offered benefits for the millennial market. Examine your brand and your recruiting platforms to communicate millennial-friendly values and a focus on innovation.
When it comes to attracting senior IT talent, don’t pigeonhole yourself by writing overly specific and restrictive job descriptions.
If you need a very specific skill set and experience level you must accept that it may be extremely difficult or even impossible to find in your market. Set the bar a bit lower and interview hybrid roles or people who may be able to grow into the role that you want to fill.
By that same token, student co-op programs are a great opportunity for your business to get exposure to a new generation of candidates.
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Partner with local universities and colleges to set up an educational program where students can learn from your business, contribute back, and apply after they’ve graduated.
Increase Engagement
Creating an engaging candidate experience program is the number one thing you can do to differentiate yourself from other businesses during the hiring process.
Skilled and valuable candidates often have interviews lined up with many organizations. This means it is crucial that you respond to every candidate, quickly and consistently, generally making the whole experience as engaging as possible.
Even if they end up not being the right fit, based on their experience they may recommend you to another candidate they know who fits the bill.
Making the process engaging for candidates doesn’t end after the papers are signed and they are brought onboard.
More and more workplaces in the IT space are suffering from talent moving onto greener pastures. Exacerbated by the shortage of high-calibre IT professionals, this issue is becoming incredibly common.
The best way you can help incentivize people to stay is to keep allowing them to develop professionally and don’t let employees grow bored.
Embrace Diversity
Recently, there’s been an industry-wide push towards a more diverse workforce. Implementing pro-diversity policies can attract people who want to work in an inclusive environment and you can, therefore, attract a wider talent pool.
Not only does it make it easier to find high-quality staff, but it also gives you the benefit that having a range of diverse perspectives can offer to the workplace.
Don’t turn staff shortage into a panic situation. Get professional help on How to Address the IT Talent Shortage.
If you’re concerned about your ability to attract high-quality IT staff, Resolute has you covered. We provide our clients with IT staff recruiting and augmentation services that will give your business the expertise you need to grow.
We’ll make sure that your staff has the skills needed to align with your vision and goals. Contact us to learn more about how our IT staffing services can empower your business to succeed.
