Big Data and mobile technology will test your staff skills strategy

Whatever job you do, and whatever sector you work in, it can always be difficult to find and keep good staff. Furthermore, once you've onboarded those staff members, there is the on-going challenge of maintaining their training and ensuring that they're able to be innovative and proactive in how they help you support the objectives of the business.

I recently read a survey conducted by recruitment company, Robert Half Technology (UK), which reported that 80% of CIOs say it is becoming increasingly difficult to find people with the right skills. In particular, companies are looking for skills that will help support so called "Big Data" projects where staff not only have to be able to do the very complex mathematics, but also work out how that can be used to support business outcomes. The area of Big Data (around which K2 Advisory will be conducting some research later in the year) is throwing up many challenges, not least understanding what the CIO role is in supporting these initiatives, what resources the IT Department will need to support increased use of analytics, and how the IT Department might need reshaping.

Another area highlighted by the survey as causing a skills 'strain' is mobile technology. Now for some organisations, skills in this area will be almost embryonic. But going forward, the UK will need organisations (including those in the public sector) to support the requirement for data on the move and in the palm of your hand.

I do take slight issue with one particular finding, however. The survey suggests that large companies are suffering the most when it comes to finding the right skills. Yes, it is probably true that the big firms will need to 'hoover up' a larger proportion of staff that fit the bill. However, in my experience of speaking to CIOs, the skills challenge is a serious issue for the mid-market too. Based on recent K2 Advisory research into mid-sized companies (our definition is companies with 200-500 employees), a third of CIOs say that their greatest staff challenge is finding staff with the right technology qualifications and experience. But they highlight another issue: and that is finding staff that they can actually afford to hire (see the chart).

A CIO I recently spoke to who works for a mid-sized company (in the marketing and communications industry) said: "Our Senior technology roles are the most fragile. We are very reliant on these, so if someone is underperforming or leaves, we're put in a very vulnerable position."

Mid-market companies are responsible for creating many, many jobs in the UK and their input to the economy is not insignificant - for example the CBI says that mid-sized firms (turnover of between £10m and £100m) represent 30% of the UK's manufacturing base and are responsible for creating. However, they have the potential to become more competitive, which would certainly help the UK extract itself from this particular economic quagmire. And technology has an important role to play. My view is that the Boards of Directors in these firms must ensure they not only have a forward-thinking IT investment strategy in place, but that sufficient funds are allocated to hiring and retaining senior staff who can help drive initiatives such as Big Data and mobile technology.

Contact me if you'd like to learn more about the mid-market research: Mid-market CIO: Recalibrating the role of IT
kate.hanaghan@k2advisory.com.