Leaders and stakeholders of large companies must be able to answer a crucial question regarding digital transformation, the talent gap, and the future of their organization: who’s going to be here to sustain the business for the next ten years? In any situation, the answer reveals the company’s preparedness to execute long-term projects and adapt to change.
It’s no secret that the millennial workforce has a high aptitude for digital technology while embracing innovation. They also happen to be the next group in line to lead, but are they ready? Better yet, are current leaders confident in handing over the reigns? Meanwhile, the answer to this question provides insight into the talent management challenges that organizations must navigate today.
The Digital Transformation Talent Gap
As the transformation of business activities around technology and social issues accelerates, we can predict some of the challenges that organizations must face. Specifically, business leaders and IT departments are on different pages in terms of how they communicate on the common problems they are tasked with solving.
When analyzing the use of digital technology to conduct business, a focus on the available features of new advancements or benchmarking the competition is rarely an adequate driver for transformation.
At its core, a transformation strategy outlines the impact that the entire business ecosystem can have on perceived customer value. The strategy is carried out over time by employees who are engaged through a strong culture that permeates every layer of the company.
Unfortunately, a commitment to a complete cultural shift might not be accepted by everyone within the organization, resulting in talent disengagement and eventually, a talent gap. In fact, Deloitte recently reported that 87% of executives rate culture and engagement as their biggest HR challenge.
Transformation Within The Modern Workforce
Within many companies, there’s a division among old and new employees in technology roles. The line divides positions that require advanced, modern digital skills from those that don’t. And according to Salesforce research, just 24% of organizations have a defined IT staff learning and development strategy.
Today, developers need a business acumen to be successful, which is why over 90% of business leaders ask their teams to hire for soft skills. Additonally, the speed of innovation requires development teams to adopt programming languages faster than ever before.
As a result, we are witnessing an increased dependance on the millennial workforce — those who can hit the ground running with new ideas and a strong understanding of digital technology as it relates to innovation and business.
However, the hybrid IT/business acumen isn’t enough to execute complex digital business change alone; strategic and experinced leadership is required from beginning to end. The millennial technology professional wants to do the work, but they need the leadership in place to transform a vision into a viable product.
The Millennial Mindset on Work
The modern workforce cares deeply about how they work, which we refer to as the Millennial Mindset. Millennials expect flexibility, autonomy, purpose, and leadership development opportunities, to name a few. To current leaders, this is a big request. And to be fair, it’s wildly different from the past, when work/life balance or alternative ways of working wasn’t even a whisper.
The stereotype states that loyalty is lacking from the millennial workforce, which may explain why business leaders are skeptical of making drastic cultural changes within their organizations. Old and new is at a standoff, but both parties must adapt.
In reality, a company-wide cultural shift offers more reward than risk. An overwhelming number of participants in Deloitte’s annual employment survey expressed the immediate benefits of a culture based on flexibility and trust. From greater productivity to increased levels of trust, health and even happiness, both old and new employees benefit from these improvements.
How well leaders merge their workforce groups determines the success of digital transformation projects. The culture is either conducive to collaboration and speed or not. Transformation projects involve many moving parts, yet the need for the right talent remains constant.
Building a Vision For Digital Teams
1. Use alternative modes for recruiting digital AND traditional talent — traditional talent, discovered through digital platforms, will likely have the acumen and mindset needed for the modern culture.
2. Identify talent development gaps within the company and build digital acumen around those topics. NOTE: Look at the job descriptions of your closest competition and identify if you have those roles within your own organization. This will uncover obvious talent gaps.
3. Adopt a structured framework to identify priority areas where digital initiatives can be tested.
From what we have learned so far, closing the digital transformation talent gap requires multiple lines of action from every level of employee. The entire organization needs to commit to a change that opens the door to innovative thought and collaboration.
Moving forward, leaders must act beyond the scope of their role; as integrators & architects, progressively building a transformation plan that applies to their organization.
Talent is at the core of everything we do. When the decision is made to build a plan around your own digital transformation, we can introduce you to the right people for the right roles.
*Main image by Anders Jildén