Since the turn of the millennium, organisations have tried all manner of tactics to attract and retain tech talent in order to stay fit for the future. Some took inspiration from Silicon Valley, where startups peppered workplaces with pool tables, pizza bars and popcorn machines – mimicking the university campuses their employees (usually including the founders) had only just left.
But, while an office playground might suit a young tech startup, most organisations are more level-headed about what it takes to keep tech talent up to date. Yes, a well-designed office environment and attractive perks such as flexible working, generous holidays and gym membership can all help when it comes to luring and retaining staff. But culture and benefits alone can’t ensure organisations maintain the right mix of tech skills they need to be successful.
In business today, technology is changing faster than ever. Graduates and school-leavers typically find some of their skills are already out of date by the time they start work. Within five years, much of what they learned will have been superseded. As a result, talented tech workers are increasingly seeking out (and sticking with) employers they know will keep their skills up to date. According to PwC’s Workforce of the Future report, 74% of workers are ready to learn new skills or retrain to remain employable.
Many organisations believe the best way to ensure employees have the right mix of tech skills is by investing in ongoing training programmes. But, given the myriad ways to structure and deliver such programmes, what’s the best way to go about it?
Bob Roark is vice-president of service delivery at NuAxis Innovations, a US-based managed IT service provider that counts several major US government departments among its customers. He advocates a mix of mandatory formal training, such as the globally recognised ITIL framework for end-to-end IT service delivery, augmented with tech courses that employees select for themselves (even where there’s no obvious benefit to the organisation).
“The common fear that allowing staff to learn new skills will encourage them to leave is self-defeating. Staff leave anyway. When you train people in things they want to learn, new opportunities emerge. And because we’re also training them in soft skills, such as business relationship building as part of their ITIL training, once they’ve learned about some new technology that interests them, they’ll often start evangelising about it within the company. That can become a new innovation, a new direction – eventually perhaps even a new division,” says Roark.
This, he points out, is how organisational IT first emerged: “Someone interested in computing went out and learned about it, then created new opportunities for the company and grew their own position. That’s what’s happening today with emerging technologies like artificial intelligence. Companies will adopt them eventually, as they pervade industry, but then they’ll have to hire people from outside at great cost. If we encourage employees to learn new technologies inside the organisation, we can continually retool and move into exciting new areas.”
But the formal ITIL training is a vital part of the mix, too, says Roark – not least because it gives the business a common language to understand IT processes and lays down best practice at every stage. That means staff learning new skills discover they are then empowered to put them into practice in the organisation, which increases the likelihood they’ll stay. “It’s a virtuous circle,” says Roark.
Mark Hudson, academia manager at best practice solutions specialist AXELOS, says: “Our studies show that around three-quarters of decision-makers and an even higher proportion of employees say formal staff training programmes facilitate more effective decision-making and problem-solving. That leads to improved productivity, higher efficiency and greater job-satisfaction levels.”
Essex county council also uses a mixed approach, which helps the organisation develop and retain talented tech staff, despite typically tight public-sector budgetary constraints. All new IT staff are put through ITIL training, then map out personal technical training goals with managers annually.
Louise John, business officer at the council, says: “A lot of people transfer internally or start at the bottom. ITIL really helps them to understand how IT and service management works. But we use a blended learning approach that, as well as formal classroom training, includes shadowing, online resources, e-learning, webinars and events. If anyone across the department wants to learn, we have the tools and time for them to do so.”
Retaining skilled tech staff needn’t be a struggle, she says: “We keep our talented people by developing them.”
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