IT needs a strategic talent pipeline
RedAcademy October 29, 2024 News desk
Technology is infused into every facet of our lives, from the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep. It is found in our devices, homes, and cars and underpins the services we need and use every day. Every business in almost every sector understands that the rate of digital transformation is increasing exponentially, which, in turn, puts pressure on them to remain competitive, explains Jessica Hawkey, MD of academy.
We are starting to see a shift in how IT is viewed generally. The status quo has been that some companies provide a range of IT services to businesses that focus on their core business. This makes sense. However, think about banking and retail, specifically. IT, especially software development, has become a key differentiating factor and is foundational to their evolving businesses and the services they can offer to demanding customers.
Digital strategy must be at the forefront of an organisation’s planning in this highly competitive landscape. Rather than be seen as a support function, it needs to be integral to a business’s strategy, with the right people, producing talent and outcomes at the correct cost and quality.
The alternative, which is currently a genuine pain felt by businesses, is that if IT is outsourced at an arm’s length, there is often a loss in long-term planning and strategic capabilities. This is in addition to navigating different organizational cultures, time zones, and languages. Of course, one of the biggest worries is losing valuable business IP.
South African corporates have somewhat overcome these challenges by setting up offshore development centres. However, one shouldn’t be shy to ask: What is their long-term plan as a good corporate citizen to bring this capability back to South Africa? We all have a vested interest in this country, and being part of the solution is precisely what the country needs and what the same businesses’ future customers desperately need.
We support the government’s view that young people without experience still need to find employment. However, young people are turned away from businesses that can’t provide the expertise they need to become fully-fledged software developers. Many companies believe that the only way they can be part of the solution is by burdening their already finely stretched teams with training and onboarding young people. It’s precisely because of this that we came up with a model that ensures this is all handled by the academy. Not businesses themselves, giving businesses peace of mind that they’re getting talent already proven in their live environment without burdening their resources.
redpanda Software has hired academy graduates from its 2023 and 2024 intakes. Human Capital Director at red panda Software Insaaf Daniels said: “This initiative has not only bolstered our team with fresh talent but has also resulted in high talent retention and significant cost savings of over R800,000 in recruitment fees.”
Niel Coetzee, Head of Engineering at redPanda Software, emphasises the company’s success in retaining junior talent by providing experiential training in their live environment. This approach has proven effective, with multiple cohorts of junior candidates successfully transitioning into valuable long-term employees.
“With the culture and way of working already entrenched as they join us, we have found that they quickly get in step with the delivery team. Additionally, from a technology perspective, we have seen that having candidates familiar with the chosen tech stack and way of working allows the onboarding process to be streamlined significantly,” says Coetzee.
The point is, none of this is philosophical. There are practical steps businesses can take to effectively nurture their own local talent that addresses their needs without having to slow down or compromise in any way.
The concept that underpins redAcademy demonstrates the efficacy of building role-ready candidates. This is how it works:
- A business carves out time to assess its needs and roles (jobs) in the future
- The discovery phase only takes a few hours, which results in the development of customised training material to develop role-ready candidates specifically for each organisation
- After six months of highly focused theory, the team begins live development training in the business’s environment, overseen by the academy’s experts, adding no extra burden on already stretched software teams
- Because they are trained in a live environment, the candidates are known to businesses before being onboarded as team members
- A comprehensive quality assurance phase ensures that candidates presented are, in fact, ready to hit the ground running, and that they are aligned with the business’s culture and expectations
- An experienced team interviews candidates who have been trained and gained experience in a business’s live environments to ensure a culture fit.
Of course, many businesses outsource projects offshore. Still, with the country’s best interest at heart, they can start small by shifting projects to local software development partners or their in-house teams.
Suppose businesses across sectors are shifting how they see IT and software from a support element to something critical to their strategic roadmap. In that case, they must ensure a solid and reliable skills pipeline. Building your talent, tailored methodically over a year to your own business’s unique needs, without being burdened with actually doing the training, presents a compelling opportunity to grow South Africa’s talent pool.