HRHeadStart #28: The Race for Tech Talent; Problem with "Best Practices"; Asking Questions

The Talent Agenda

Organizations of all shapes and sizes across industries are trying to win the market for tech talent. It is hard to succeed in the digital world and drive digital transformation without the ability to access this talent pool. The backdrop, of course, is that the shortfall for tech talent is already acute. According to McKinsey’s analysis, there are 7 key areas of talent paucity:

Further, in a new article, they describe 10 ideas which are crucial for finding, growing and keeping tech talent. Some key takeaways I liked:

• Companies might be underestimating their skills gaps because typical talent analysis stops at a role level (i.e. how many people with a certain background/experience we need) rather than going into what skills the people actually have.

• It is critical to get the Employee Value Proposition right and bring it to life. The mindset should be that top talent is interviewing you, not the other way around.

• Companies should identify core and non-core job roles, so that there is a coherent model for buying/building talent and partnering with third-parties.

• Ensure that there are managerial and non-managerial career tracks for tech talent i.e. stop turning great engineers into bad managers.

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Working Better

We have to admit - we love "best practices". They are perhaps the easiest way to sell an idea and convince stakeholders that what you are proposing makes sense. It might work for you, your boss, your boss' boss and so on, but it may not still work for the organization and its employees. At best, best practices are crutches on the path to mediocrity. After all, if everyone follows the best practice, we all become average and bland! So, if you aspire to shine as a HR professional, shoot for "best fit" and not best practice. It is all about what will work best in your organization's unique context.

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A Productive Workout

A workout is a great way to create mindspace for processing and learning new ideas. And it primes you for creative thinking. For your next walk, run or workout session, I highly recommend this podcast featuring Naval Ravikant (Founder and Chairman of AngelList - one of the world’s largest startup communities). This is about 2 hours long, so you might want to space it out. But it’s a fascinating dialogue on a wide range of topics like how to read effectively, build better habits, manage relationships, make effective decisions and get the most out of life. Grab the links: Apple Podcasts, Spotify.

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Tiny Thought

If you ask a question, you may appear incompetent or novice for a minute. If you don’t ask, you would remain so all your life.