Businesses do what they have done before during economic downturns. Technology investment and people are often the targets of the deepest budget cuts.
Things are very different this time around. Tech talent is seen as a hard-won strategic investment by businesses.
55 percent of companies found it difficult to hire key data and tech roles, including data and software engineers, data architects, machine learning engineers, and data scientists. Even more attractive compensation packages and flexible work models aren't enough to make it easier.
How to cut tech costs shouldn't be the real question for CEOs. Do you know how to make them happy?
The tech investor told McKinsey that businesses should find the smartest technologist in the company and make them CEO.
Most business leaders have never been a data scientist or software engineer, but they need to learn to be real advocates for the best technologists.
Happy tech talent will gravitate to cultures where CEOs give them an active role in the business and treat them as innovative, not order-takers.
IT departments are no longer focused on managing vendors. They are moving away from an output focused culture to one where outcomes are the language of success Businesses empower their tech talent to solve real problems with measurable, high- impact outcomes, rather than dictate what they should build top-down.
Digital products drive a business forward and deliver sustainable and inclusive growth; projects have fixed budgets and timelines and are quick to dispose of when the going gets tough. Tech talent who feel like they don't have a seat at the business table will soon head toward the exit, because they can't build a successful product in a project management environment.
In the same way that product managers think of themselves as mini-CEOs, more CEOs would think of themselves as chief product managers leading an outcome culture. The model would empower small teams of brilliant engineers and designers with a clear mission to work on problems with measurable outcomes that matter but are not suffocated by the business. They should be allowed to focus on their craft.
It's important to retain and make your tech talent successful. Traditional companies are starting to behave like tech companies to compete. The biggest problems facing businesses today will have technology-led answers. The best solutions come from the bottom up, not the top down. An engineer will find the way forward with knowledge of the latest technologies and what is feasible.
If businesses want to not just retain talent, but move fast, create value, and be resilient in the face of challenges, they need a culture that is strong.
Tech talent expects clear targets and quick feedback loops. Tech talent will be a primary measure of success in the years to come.
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