Preparing Your Technology Team for Digitalization

Despite the fact that 60% of organizations that participated in Randstad's Workplace 2025 study said it was critical for them to embrace digitalization, only 10% felt as if they had successfully done so. Why companies struggle with digital transformation and how they can overcome those challenges was the subject of a recent webinar hosted by Randstad Technologies president and chief client officer, Alisia Genzler.

While the need to lead a digital transformation at your company may not be apparent today, failing to do so could mean major losses in productivity and profitability in the future. For the 10% of businesses that considered themselves superior in leveraging digital tools, the results speak for themselves. The most digitally proficient companies reported their operations to be:

• 132% more effective in achieving business goals
• 176% more likely to increase revenues
• 192% more likely to see substantial ROI on investments

If your organization falls in the other 90%, you're not alone. Read on to hear what Genzler had to say about leading a successful digitalization initiative at your company—and how to get the right talent to make it a reality.

How to Attract Top Tech Talent

Genzler noted that one of the major roadblocks for businesses working toward a full-scale digitalization isn't the logistics of the transformation itself—it's finding the right talent to drive it. Randstad research uncovered that the most in-demand technical skills companies need are:

• agile coaches
• automation engineers
• business analysts
• cybersecurity professionals
• data scientists
• machine learning engineers
• robotics engineers

With more and more companies targeting the same talent, competition is skyrocketing, making it even harder to restock your workforce with the game-changing talent it needs to make a successful transition.

The challenges of finding the right people for the job aren't going to get any easier, so organizations must act quickly to find an edge. Offering a competitive salary along with traditional benefits like health insurance and a 401(k) are now a given and won't do much to set your business apart. For skilled talent with no shortage of suitors, Genzler pointed out that your benefits offering must include non-traditional perks like student debt reduction, onsite fitness centers, and even complimentary meals.

Get Creative to Avoid Talent Shortages

With so much competition, Genzler emphasized the need to look beyond your traditional talent pool in order to keep the talent well from running dry. Her first suggestion was to upskill existing staff. Find motivated members of your team eager to learn new technical skills, and train them on whatever capabilities are most important to your business.

For alternatives outside the organization, Genzler recommended targeting emerging talent along with embracing a more diverse swath of candidates. Emerging talent, like re-skilled workers and those coming from other industries, make up a largely untapped—but potentially lucrative—talent pool. Incorporating young professionals into your workforce before they catch the eye of competitors and training them along the way is a sound strategy for building your workforce for sustainable future growth.

To increase diversity and the amount of candidates your business attracts, Genzler stressed the need to target more women and former military personnel. While only 23% of all technical jobs in the United States are held by women, future projections paint a much more encouraging picture, with 32% of girls aged 13 to 17 and 66% of girls aged six to 12 reporting an interest in computing. Former military personnel with highly technical training looking to transition to the private sector can also bring along a plethora of in-demand skills. The barrier, according to Genzler, however, is one of language. Look to
military translation tools to help decode military jargon into language that can be easily understood by civilian hiring teams.

How to Get Started

To start building a more tech-forward workforce, Genzler closed by offering the following suggestions:

• Complete an IT assessment: Analyze your operations to identify what automated tools best fit your business needs, and engage a workforce partner to properly train staff.
• Leverage new talent pools: Consider agile talent as well as candidates from underrepresented groups like women, veterans, and emerging and re-skilled talent.
• Work with a workforce solutions partner: Get the skilled, digitally proficient resources you need to drive change.

Follow these guidelines, and you'll be well on your way to getting the people you need to build a robust, high-tech operation capable of competing in the future.

This article was originally published on Randstad.

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