No talent, no transformation
No talent, no transformation
2: Meet the demand for data intelligence
From Renewables to Life Sciences, the impact of new technologies will be negligible if you lack access to the talent required to exploit their potential.
Making the right technology investments is not enough; businesses need to attract, develop and retain individuals who can harness innovative technology to boost business results. This combination of human and machine intelligence will dictate which roles (and which related skills) matter most in the future.
Moira Huggins, Head of Generation IT at EDF, believes adaptable talent is critical. “You can't recruit for what individuals know today, you recruit on the basis of how capable they are of learning, changing and developing relationships,” she says. “Those are things that make them a long-term employee.”
If companies cannot find the highly specialised skills that they need to deliver these high-profile projects, then they risk falling behind and becoming another company that failed to keep pace with digital transformation.”
Jilko Andringa, CEO, Brunel
If companies cannot find the highly specialised skills that they need to deliver these high-profile projects, then they risk falling behind and becoming another company that failed to keep pace with digital transformation.”
Jilko Andringa, CEO, Brunel
The skills deficit
Our research finds that, for many companies, talent shortages are a halt to digital transformation.
54% say that digital-transformation efforts are hampered by an inability to recruit new employees with the required skills
Foundational roles are in high demand
Companies need a variety of roles to fulfil their digital-transformation strategies, but there are three areas where competition is especially fierce: data, cloud and automation.
Regardless of sector, skills in data analysis and interpretation are essential because data is the lifeblood of digital transformation. It underpins decision-making and supplies the oxygen that makes analytics, automation and artificial intelligence a reality.
Respondents to our research tell us that the most important goals for their digital-transformation initiatives are:
1. Launching new products and services
2. Transforming customer experience
3. Increasing efficiency of operations
Roles cover the whole digital-transformation process and vary in their importance.
- Automation/robotics
- Cloud specialists
- Data architects
- Internet of things engineers
- Software developers
- Big data engineers
- Data analytics
- Electrical engineers
- Project managers
- Software engineers
- Automation/robotics
- Cloud specialists
- Data architects
- Internet of things engineers
- Software developers
- Big data engineers
- Data analytics
- Electrical engineers
- Project managers
- Software engineers
Notably, these include data roles that companies find it hardest to fill, and where they are also experiencing high levels of churn and salary inflation.
Why are these roles so crucial to meeting digital-transformation goals? To put it simply, it is not possible to launch new products and services without first gathering data regarding potential markets, customer preferences, availability of materials, and so on. Often, the most striking innovations come from combining disparate datasets and drawing fresh conclusions.
Customer experience, meanwhile, depends entirely on data. Anticipating customer needs and providing the right services or offers at the right time requires the collection and analysis of huge amounts of data. Data is the key to enabling a granular understanding of customer behaviour.
Moreover, data is essential when it comes to maintaining and streamlining operational efficiencies; data helps to identify problems, enables predictive maintenance, and highlights patterns that can lead to the more effective running of machinery or supply chains.
Given the importance of data roles in the digital-transformation process – and the current short supply of candidates to fill them – how can companies meet these needs, boost their array of talent, and retain their best people?
Prepare to adapt
The world of work has undergone permanent change, and many employees now favour flexible-working models. Organisations need to respond to these expectations.
In industrial sectors, processes will inevitably still require an on-site human presence in an oversight capacity; however, with the right tech in place, many roles could be carried out from remote locations.
Mining exploration and development company Integra Resources recognised this well before the pandemic. A digital tool called VRIFY, for instance, allows technical staff to recreate 3D geological models of drilling sites from their home workspaces.
For our technical staff, it allowed them to embrace a digital world and get a 360-degree view of the project. There were a few growing pains, but we adapted pretty quickly.”
Josh Serfass, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, Integra Resources
For our technical staff, it allowed them to embrace a digital world and get a 360-degree view of the project. There were a few growing pains, but we adapted pretty quickly.”
Josh Serfass, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations, Integra Resources
Embrace agile working
Skills gaps appear when employers are too rigid in their recruitment approaches or have a fixed view of the kind of people they need. Instead, they should adopt a more flexible approach and consider a mix of permanent employees and contingent workers. They should also consider partnering with a broader range of organisations, which can bring in expertise from adjacent industries and professions.
Digital strategy, from the ground up
Energy company EDF brought together different parts of its business – incorporating both technical and non-technical experts – to create its digital strategy, according to Moira Huggins, Head of Generation IT. However, as it migrates away from its old way of working, progress on the strategy will require data and analytics partners who can help deliver change programmes.
“The transformation from non-digital to where we want to be, will be a step change,” says Huggins. “It’s such a different way of working that people are having to move very quickly. It’s not just about technical skills but a change of mindset.”
To help embrace non-traditional working methods and new tools, EDF has several partner organisations it can lean on – including Microsoft, ATOS and Vodafone – to bring in technical skills or training for certain tasks, as required.
Create an ‘always-on’ learning culture
Skills shortages force companies to take a fresh approach to learning. Although recruitment is a key element of digital transformation, upskilling is equally important. This requires a strategic approach to learning that adopts new and innovative methods.
EDF, for instance, is adopting a more personalised model to upskill its workforce.
“Classroom-led learning doesn’t really cut it,” says Moira Huggins, Head of Generation IT, EDF. “You can’t just send someone on a digital training course. People need to consume things at their own pace and in their own way. It needs to be user-led and tailored to their personal development.” For Louisa Moreton, Partner at consultancy Finsbury Glover Hering, what companies need is an ‘always-on’ learning culture.
To achieve this, she says, companies should aim to break down silos so that people can move around the business more freely, allowing them to gain exposure to other functions and myriad cross-learning opportunities. This fluid, dynamic environment will feed into digital transformation.
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