Some 62% of CIOs recognised in the annual celebration of the UK’s leading CIOs, CTOs, IT directors and digital executives told CIO UK that they were finding it difficult to recruit the talent they need to drive transformation.
Part of the challenge for a CIO/CTO/ITD in hiring talent is they are often hampered by their own internal process. Almost every organisation is currently looking to drive some form of transformation to try and keep up to speed with an ever increasing technology savvy customer base and a truly interconnected world. As a result, there is an ever decreasing talent pool and everyone is fighting for the best seat around the lake! Moreover, separating the wheat from the chaff can be a highly skilled and time consuming job.
Many organisations have legacy managed service providers (MSPs) in place. In reality, this requires a combined approach to target both active and passive job seekers. Furthermore, an outside the box strategic thought process is crucial to uncovering true transformation talent. I don’t believe that MSPs have the agility and experience to undertake this process.
When it comes to hiring talent to drive transformation there can be few more strategic roles and this can often mean the difference between success and failure and an ever decreasing market share.
These type of skills require a formal search methodology and a company and individual that truly understand what is required to deliver the transformation, especially with regard to soft skills, and perhaps more pertinently someone that has the ability to assess these criteria. Organisations continue to engage with some of the most prominent search firms in the market, who, with the best will in world have a thirty year network of IT leaders that haven’t adapted to the digital world.
As the role of the CIO, their leadership team and technology continues to develop into a more commercial and strategic position demanding a new breed of leadership talent; recruiters need to adapt to this demand as well. The reality is that most still view IT as an infrastructure operation and as a result they have completely the incorrect network to identify and attract the right talent for their clients.
