An Entrepreneur’s Guide To Bridging The Tech Talent Gap

Last updated on June 23rd, 2022 at 04:23 am

Information technology and business are becoming interwoven. I don’t think anybody can talk meaningfully about one without talking about the other.– Bill Gates

Information technology or IT has revolutionized the business world like nothing else. From ensuring utmost data security to streamlining business processes, it is helping out businesses in many ways. In fact, integrating IT solutions into business plans has made it feasible for employees to operate and perform tasks through their mobile devices.

However, amidst embracing, one major challenge acts as a top barrier for many enterprises. And that’s the IT talent shortage. According to industry professionals, the rising tech-talent gap is threatening more than 75% of organizations in New Zealand. The deficit of tech-skilled workers is expected to touch the 4.3 million mark by 2030.

That’s why it is crucial for organizations to find ways to bridge the tech-talent gap to embrace digital transformation and stay ahead in the competitive dynamic market. If ignored, it can stunt the organization’s growth and development. By conducting surveys, technical assessments, and performance reviews, entrepreneurs can find loopholes and determine the tech talent gap in their organizations.

However, the burning question is how can entrepreneurs bridge the tech-talent gap and maximize the effectiveness of their IT solutions? If you are also struggling with the same dilemma, here’s something that can help.

Read on to learn more about the best ways to bridge the tech talent gap in your organization and use IT solutions to your advantage.

• Shift your focus to reskilling initiatives

There are times when entrepreneurs spend their time and resources integrating efficient software and tools into the venture’s IT department. However, it might work against them if employees couldn’t utilize these tools to their fullest potdntial, widening the tech-talent gap.

That’s why one of the most sustainable and cost-effective ways to help bridge the tech talent gap is upskilling your workforce. It will further help employees improve their skill sets, allowing them to adjust to the latest tools and technologies. Contributing to the professional development of your employees is also a great way to build loyalty within your in-house team.

For this, you can encourage your employees to look for courses and training that can help them catch up on their technical skills. You can also organize internal training and reskilling programs to streamline the dramatic technological shift. Choose programs that include practical and theoretical knowledge of the latest technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and big data.

Tech giants such as Google and IBM offer online certifications courses for IT professionals to improve their knowledge on topics such as IT support, data analytics, and cloud computing. Such initiatives offer career pathways to in-demand jobs such as web developer, IT specialist, and many more, strengthening your in-house IT team.

• Diversify hiring practices

Another prominent reason why organizations are facing a tech talent shortage is that they hire the wrong people for wrong jobs. Employees are the backbone of the company, which can make or break the success factor.

Thus, in order to close the technical skills gap, it is crucial for employers to adopt reliable hiring practices.

Before you even start interviewing the potential candidates, it is important for your recruitment team to understand the necessary skills and qualifications you need to fill the vacancies. This means that you need to focus on hiring people who have enough theoretical knowledge about the latest innovations, software, hardware, networks, and databases.

Make sure they’re well-versed in diagnosing, troubleshooting, and resolving issues related to IT solutions. Additionally, they must also be able to perform necessary hardware/software installations and train their team to navigate them properly.

However, hiring the right IT professionals without having adequate industry knowledge can get complicated. That’s why you can consider outsourcing professionals to ease pressure in your in-house recruiting team.

Such professionals have online portals and sources where they post available IT jobs in New Zealand to attract potential candidates. The dynamic team of outsourcing specialists has local IT recruitment New Zealand experience, allowing you to associate with experienced tech talent.

So, add quality to your IT workforce by modifying your recruitment and hiring processes to fill vacancies with the right and well-qualified people.

• Ensure quality work-life balance

Sound work-life balance has certainly become more than just a buzzword in the business world, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. With imposed lockdown, employers had to shift to work from home culture to keep up with the business processes. But that dramatically affected the personal and professional lives of the human capital.

Due to a lack of available resources and tools, many employees faced problems while performing their everyday tasks. As a result, they had to keep working after their official hours, which eventually impacted their personal life. In fact, according to a survey, 56% of IT professionals switched their jobs due to poor work-life balance.

Being an entrepreneur, the duty of ensuring a sound work-life balance for your employees falls on your shoulders. This way, you’ll be able to offer maximum job satisfaction to your employees and retain quality talent. Not to mention, a work-life balance will also boost employee productivity and encourage them to perform better at work.

Thus, whether your employees are working from home or office, you need to make sure that the employees are working in a comfortable environment. Listen to their grievances and try to offer the best solutions to all their problems. You can also offer tech solutions such as attendance management software and efficient databases to streamline remote tasks for the employees. Additionally, adopting flexible working environments and shifts can help maintain a sound work-life balance, making a noticeable difference in the personal and professional lives of the employees.

In the end

While bridging the tech talent gap, you need to keep in mind that success will not prevail overnight. It is a major hurdle that requires strategic planning and investment.

But with the tips mentioned above, it would be easier to address the talent scarcity and alleviate pressure on your recruitment team. So, use them to your advantage and embrace the digital transformation by building a new paradigm for your IT department.