But, IT leaders think non-tech skills are increasingly important too:

How are you overcoming the IT skills shortage?As businesses look to embrace new technologies and ways of working, the pressure is on for IT departments to deliver tech transformation. But with skills shortages abundant, how can teams do this?

Our report, Tomorrow’s Tech Teams implies that the skills needed for future IT teams are very different to today. To achieve success, a bigger investment and new approach to training, development and recruitment is required.

IT leaders believe building and sustaining a successful IT team lies in training and development:

Yet IT workers feel they aren’t receiving the support they need:

34% think lack of training is blocking tech transformation

15% say my company has no training in place

48% feel their training programme is reactive

And, 62% expect to see an increase in people from non-tech backgrounds enter the IT team

over the next two years

Project management92%

Leadership and decision-making

93%

Understanding of business objectives

95%

People management79%

97% believe in a culture that supports continuous learning

94% believe that a training strategy

should be responsive to emerging tech trends

90% of IT leaders believe that IT workers’ ability to learn new technology skills is as important as existing knowledge...

90%

How to build and nurture teams to up-skill and achieve IT transformation

1. Understand and share the company strategy

As a first step, make sure that you fully understand the company strategy and vision and know how

this relates to you and your team. This should be communicated with the whole IT department and

any new recruits, so they know what the main goals and priorities are for the short- and long-term

and can align their activities to help achieve them. In this discussion, it’s important to highlight why

this matters to employees, giving them the responsibility and opportunity to directly contribute to

change. The aim is to get buy-in from everyone.

2. Integrate HR and IT to align with business goals and emerging tech

It’s critical for IT and HR departments to collaborate and work together. They must be aware of each

other’s needs and have an understanding of where departments are today, and where they must be

in future in order to achieve wider business goals. In a disruptive tech environment that is constantly

evolving, regular communication between the teams is needed to pinpoint skills and training

requirements that will support the latest developments.

3. Encourage a ‘growth’ mindset among employees and look for this in new recruits

We all know IT teams need to innovate. To do this, IT workers need to develop a curious ‘growth’

mindset that takes them out of their comfort zone, where they challenge existing systems and

processes and think of ways to improve them. This isn’t just about skills, it’s about changing

behaviour. Designated training sessions will help employees identify their own way of thinking and

embrace the ‘growth’ mindset. Practical tasks that align with business challenges can then be

carried out, so they apply this new thought process to their role. Think of ways you can test for this

mindset in interviews too, so you recruit individuals that will complement the team.

4. Take a multi-channel approach to training

The fast paced tech industry means employees and new recruits must have the capability to keep up

with the latest developments and learn new skills - whether it’s a new programming language, open

source software or cloud service. It’s therefore vital to take a multi-channel approach and provide

easy-to-access training and tools to enable employees to quickly learn on the job. This can be done

via short videos, webinars or getting them to participate in online communities and forums where

both colleagues and IT industry peers can share knowledge and best practice. However, make sure

that you can support standard classroom-style training and face-to-face tuition too.

5. Create a continuous dialogue between managers and workers

Arrange weekly meetings between managers and workers where individuals can talk openly about

their main priorities, challenges and goals, but also discuss relevant industry news and developments

that the business should address. Show them that you value their opinion. During these sessions,

you should be looking to identify development opportunities, uncovering who they can learn from,

who could mentor them and which networks and events they can join in order to enhance certain

skills. Most importantly, remember to close the loop by acknowledging how their contribution or idea

has made an impact to the organisation afterwards. This will encourage them to keep on giving!

About the researchExperis spoke to 1,000 IT workers and 200 senior IT managers in charge of hiring in the UK. Respondents worked in a variety of sectors including tech, manufacturing, finance, education, retail and the public sector.

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Lack of training and development can have a significant impact:

Reduced competitive advantage43%

Lower quality customer experience43%

Reduced morale46%

Reduced business growth41%

Reduced productivity43%

Increased stress53%

Employees

Business