Retaining talented IT and digital talent is imperative. The vice president and managing director of tech giant EMC, Ross Fraser, lists the seven challenges businesses face in retaining and recruiting talented staff, and how they can solve them

Digital transformation is occurring rapidly at organisations of all sizes. But this change can only happen with the right technology and skills resources. According to analyst firm Empirica, there will reportedly be 750,000 unfilled digital vacancies in Europe by 2020. And what’s interesting to note is that the British Chamber of Commerce’s recent workforce survey found that when hiring, two-thirds of businesses believe tech knowledge is key –  yet, alarmingly, a quarter of these firms report digital skills shortages. 

The impact of this shortfall will rise as IT becomes more central to innovation and organisations evolve to meet the needs of an up-and-coming Information Generation. Businesses should be doing everything they possibly can to hang on to their staff, yet, according to our new The Great Skills Exodus report, a shocking 71% of IT professionals across industries have looked for a new role in the past 12 months, citing lack of opportunity, insufficient pay, and unwillingness to change among their reasons for looking elsewhere. Worse still, managers say they don’t feel empowered to effect any change. 

There are a number of challenges business leaders and the IT industry as a whole need to tackle in order to ensure organisations have the talent to meet tomorrow's digital challenges and help businesses digitally transform to keep up with competition. 

Challenge 1: The skills shortage is severe

The 750k shortfall forecast is staggering but, at that level, it's hard to imagine. It’s important to take time hiring the most suitable people rather than recruiting the wrong people. Having 'warm bodies' to do the work isn't enough. For the strategic IT function of tomorrow, people who share the values, aspirations and ambitions of the organisation are key to its success. 

Challenge 2: Our graduates are not market ready

The UK is perceived to be leading the world in terms of the National Computing Curriculum and IT education in schools generally. However, graduates still aren't arriving on the market business-ready and need rapid on-boarding to make them effective in the business. It’s important for employers to work closely with the education industry, to help identify the skills needed and where the talent gaps lie, to help education be attuned to the industry’s needs. 

Challenge 3: Managers aren't empowered

Employee retention is vital; it can take six to nine months to make someone truly valuable to an organisation, so if they leave after two years then you have had 15 to 18 months of useful time out of them.  And yet somehow, while managers completely understand their employees' reasons for leaving, they are unable to negotiate the changes necessary to encourage them to stay. Organisations need to start opening the channels of communication between employers and employees, so that they can offer the most appropriate training programmes and career opportunities for their staff. 

Challenge 4: Money (alone) can't buy you talent

 While the pay package is an important reason to join or leave a job, it's not the top reason to stay - reputation is. Similarly, opportunities for career progression and physical location are also high on the list. Businesses must ensure they offer the most compelling career opportunities in order to retain the best staff, or risk losing as many as three-quarters of their IT team in the coming months – something which would have a hugely detrimental impact on any organisation. 

Challenge 5: RecognITion

IT is widely perceived to be critical to organisational transformation efforts but nearly one in four IT decision makers said the senior team didn't understand the contribution IT was making to the business and that was a reason they considered leaving. Technology is at the heart of business transformation and the IT team is ideally placed to help any organisation navigate new opportunities and threats in the market. Business leaders and IT need to close the gap, with IT brought into the wider business discussion. This will enable both the business and IT to align their strategy and ensure success. 

Challenge 6: Develop your talent

IT is a fast-changing field, whether you're in security or app development. People who want to work in IT are often given a thrill by those changes and want the opportunity to stretch their potential in different directions. Shockingly the report highlighted that more than two-thirds of IT staff only receive formal training twice a year. There is the need for continuous investment in the development of IT staff. With 78% of IT workers feeling the growth and success of their organisation is fundamentally reliant on themselves or their team, it’s important for businesses to nurture this digital talent in order to compete in a highly competitive market.  

Challenge 7: Fighting the battle, losing the war

Organisations are too busy fighting to transform. Given that 80% of IT resources go to 'keeping the lights on', some fundamental transformation needs to happen to enable IT to elevate from a tactical, reactive cost-centre, into a strategic, organisational function. With only one in five stating that their organisation has a focus on innovation to a great extent, businesses need to start taking digital transformation more seriously. 

Organisations across the UK of all sizes are focused on tackling the opportunities and threats in their markets, brought on by new technologies. With a vast number of organisations searching for skilled IT staff, the vacancies for them to move to are plentiful. As a result, it's essential that businesses review their options and the opportunities they can offer their teams, now. In addition, the industry must come together to tackle these challenges on the following three fronts.  

First, by rethinking IT - moving it away from a tactical organisational function and turning it into a core part of the business's operational strategy. This will give IT a seat at the board table and a role in steering discussions around overall business strategy.  

Second, rebuilding IT - this will automate and modernise the infrastructure to current cloud standards, freeing enough resources to contribute to broader strategic and innovation-focused initiatives.  

And finally, rebranding IT - changing the perception of IT to attract new talent into the industry, offering the right kind of development and learning programmes, apprenticeships and graduate schemes to bring people in and through the function.  

Addressing these challenges - and more - is key to the future of Britain's digital economy and the success of historic British businesses undergoing modernisation and digital transformation.