In times of economic decline, businesses resort to muscle memory and do what they’ve done before. That often means budget cuts—and the deepest cuts commonly target technology investment and people.
However, this time things feel drastically different. More businesses see tech talent as a strategic investment they’ve worked hard for, and are wary of losing it.
New McKinsey & Company research discovered that 55 percent of 1,100 companies surveyed globally have found it challenging to hire key data and tech roles, such as data and software engineers, data architects, machine learning engineers, and data scientists. And a majority said it’s only getting harder, despite offering even more attractive compensation packages and flexible work models.
The real question for CEOs should not be how to Technology costs can be cut but how to Keep and inspire their top tech talent. Simply put: What can you do to make them happy?
Speaking to McKinsey, the tech investor Marc Andreessen said businesses should “find the smartest technologist in the company and make them CEO.”
That doesn’t mean CEOs that can’t code are out of a job—most business leaders have never been a data scientist or software engineer—but they need to learn to be real advocates and enablers of this finite group of the best technologists.
Happier tech talent will be drawn to companies where they are treated as entrepreneurs and not just order-takers, beyond the foosball tables and coffee shops of the 2000s.
IT departments no longer have to be concerned with managing vendor relationships and gathering requirements. They are now shifting away from an output-oriented culture and embracing outcomes as the key to success. A result-focused culture empowers tech talent and allows them to address real issues with quantifiable, high-impact results.
A business’s digital products can drive growth, and they are also able to deliver inclusive and sustainable growth. Projects have definite budgets and schedules that can be easily discarded when things become difficult. You can’t build a successful product in a project management environment; tech talent burdened with that bureaucracy who feel they don’t have a seat at the business table will soon head toward the exit.
If tech-talent happiness starts and ends with having a product culture, what if, in 2023, more CEOs were to think of themselves as chief product managers leading an outcome culture, in the same way that product managers think of themselves as “mini-CEOs”? The result would be a system that allows small teams to work together in a cross-functional environment. This will make it possible for brilliant, happy people from all walks of the organization. engineers and designers with a clear mission to work on knotty problems with measurable outcomes that matter to—but are not suffocated by—the business or its processes. This means that they should be able to focus on what is important.
Your tech talent is more valuable than ever. And a product culture is not just for tech companies; it’s also how more traditional companies start behaving like tech companies to compete. Almost all the big problems facing businesses today—whether it’s supply chain dislocation, stimulating customer demand, geopolitical tensions, or payment collection—will have technology-led answers. The best tech talent can be positioned correctly so that the most effective solutions are often found from the bottom up and not the top. It will often be an engineer—with knowledge of the latest technologies and what’s actually feasible—who finds the way forward.
This culture is essential if the business wants to retain employees, move quickly, make value and remain resilient in the face the many headwinds.
Technology talent needs clear goals and quick feedback loops in order to determine if they’re hitting their mark. In return, the best businesses in 2023 will make tech talent “happiness” a primary measure of success.
