How to Hire for Technology Jobs and Boost Productivity

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Agile Adoption via Contract and Outsourcing

In the digital age, advances in technology have not led to the advances in productivity we may have expected. In fact, a decrease in productivity improvements appears to have coincided with the fastest rate of technological change in history. Research shows that:

In 2019, productivity improved by 1.8%. Are we witnessing the start of a sustained period of improvement in productivity? And could the way you hire for technology jobs boost your organization’s productivity?

Companies Are Learning to Be Agile

Perhaps one of the drags on improvement in productivity is the pace of technological change. As advances rush in, ‘old’ technology quickly becomes defunct. Technology projects are put on hold or scrapped, and those that do survive fail to live up to original expectations of them.

By the time your new technology is embedded into the fabric of your organization, it is already too slow. You don’t gain the competitive edge you envisaged. So, you rinse and repeat. Your people must learn a whole new way or working – again. Thus, your productivity falls as waterfall projects usher in largescale change that is difficult to implement.

However, what we have witnessed recently is projects managed with greater agility. By prioritizing agility, organizations are more able to adapt project work as technology develops, incorporating the latest advances into their designs and allowing employees to engage and evolve with emerging technology.

Instead of largescale waterfall projects, projects are divided into smaller, more manageable milestones that are delivered to the business faster. This means that productivity is boosted as the project progresses, accumulating at a faster rate.

The rate of change is maintained more constantly and consistently, and employees become used to working in an environment in which their roles are shifting.

How Do You Hire for Agile?

Now we come to the problem faced by many organizations: working to smaller, more targeted projects means that you’ll need to tap into specializations at different times. You may need a software engineer for two or three months, and then have no need of them for several months.

Clearly, your hiring strategy for technology jobs to assist in an agile project environment must also evolve. Hiring several permanent staff can be cost-prohibitive.

The answer is to move to a contract framework, and developing an on-demand relationship with IT solution providers. Thus, you can scale up and back as your technology development requires – without the expense of permanent hire technology jobs. Such a solution enables you to maximize productivity both within your IT function and across your broader business.

Working Effectively with Outsourced Talent

When you are working with outsourced talent, your solution must be as effective from a business perspective as hiring permanent technology staff. Only then can the cost benefits be fully realized.

You should work with reputable IT solutions, and seek testimonials that authenticate their professionalism and commitment to their clients. This is especially true when considering offshore talent. Questions you’ll need answered include:

  • Do you see all contracts through to completion?
  • If emergencies arise, do you have a plan B?
  • How much lead in time is required to acquire resources into technology jobs?
  • How easily do engineers adapt to new workplace processes and cultures?

The last thing you should do is hire a standard approach. Your organization is unique, with unique challenges, and a unique culture.

For your agile approach to reap its full potential and provide a sustainable boost to your organization’s productivity via the adoption of advancing technology, it is critical that your engineering and IT solutions are tailored to your needs.

For the solution you need and to fill your technology jobs on demand, contact TotalTek today. You’ll find that our IT solutions are as agile as you need them to be, and provided by highly qualified, experienced, and talented professionals.