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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
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Five leadership behaviours you should know
How to recognise leadership potential in your IT teamIf you’re looking for a leader for your IT team, you can of course advertise the position, start receiving applications and conduct a big assessment where you put candidates through their paces.This has clear benefits: leaders from the outside bring other methods with them, while the fresh wind from competitors is excellent for your company.Alternatively, however, you can focus on the resources you already have, namely your existing employees. Among them, you’ll often find a better option with fewer risks and less time required.But what makes a good leader? How can you recognise the leadership potential of an IT specialist? These are the questions we would like to address in this blog post.IT leadership: What does good leadership look like?Before you can recognise a good leader, you must first be clear about what good leadership is(from your perspective).It goes without saying that this is a debated matter. There are a variety of leadership styles for which different skills are needed. However, there’s one thing of which most experts are convinced: leadership isn’t about telling your employees what to do and simply enforcing it. Nor does it mean being the best in a field, the loudest or the most extroverted. Leadership is something completely different.Leadership is servingCompetent leadership means:Creating a space in which people can develop their skills, deploying them according to their respective strengths and weaknesses, and creating efficiency through the right use of personnel.Inspiring people to fully invest themselves in their role and go above and beyond every single day. Leading is all about filling people with enthusiasm.Listening to team members, supporting them and mediating when necessary.In a nutshell, leadership is about service, not a privileged title or position. If you want to lead, you must be willing to serve. That is not always pleasant. In fact, quite the opposite: leading means exposing yourself to discomfort, being vulnerable and constantly reaching out to others. As a leader, you serve as a role model; soft skills are therefore just as important as hard skills.However, true leadership skills are thin on the ground, which is what makes them so valuable.Five essential behaviours of a leaderSo, what personality traits should you look for when recruiting a leader from your IT team? It’s tempting to promote the person with the greatest expertise or the person that speaks the most in meetings.Although such people are usually capable employees, they may be completely unsuited to lead others. Instead of just IQ, leaders primarily need EQ. In other words, soft skills are what are needed most. Here are the five most important characteristics of a good IT leader:1. Successful self-leadershipThe golden role of leadership? Lead yourself first, then lead others. A good leader must demonstrate excellence in leadership in relation to themselves and their work, for example by:Practicing effective self-care, g. maintaining a healthy work-life balanceEstablishing routines for themselves that lead to successAlways keeping an overview of their tasksKnowing their limits and saying no when necessaryKnowing their values and living by them.2. IntegrityFor a good leader, their word is their bond. They stand up for what they believe in, even when the going gets tough. In doing so, they inspire those around them and foster loyalty and trust.3. Constructive handling of errorsMake mistakes, admit mistakes and learn from mistakes. This is the creative cycle in every business, especially in IT.Good leaders must therefore be able to handle mistakes and thereby establish a positive culture of making mistakes within their sphere of influence. This also includes the courage to deal with imperfections in an open, appreciative manner and give encouraging feedback.4. Willingness to take risks and the ability to trustTaking work off other people? Keeping a tight rein on anything and everything? These are not signs of a competent manager.Instead, a good leader aims to empower team members to compensate for possible deficits so that they themselves can perform the tasks assigned to them effectively. Good leadership also means providing support and training so that individual employees can develop within the team. This requires trust in employees and a willingness to accept the risks associated with delegation.5. Empathy and strong communication skillsLeaders are social workers. In other words, they are responsible for ensuring that the people within their team are satisfied, feel comfortable (with each other) and work together in a way that generates value.Leaders manage tasks; but above all, they manage people. That’s why they need qualities that will help them deal with people:Empathy to understand others and communication skills to get their message across appropriately.Agile leadership, i.e. applying methodologies that provide the team with clear, secure processes. The manager always maintains an overview and communicates this to their employees: where do we stand as a team and what are the goals we are working towards together?Situational leadership to manage employees in the team individually, promote their strengths, and respond to different needs. Although not every team member has the same skills, the team is still able to achieve the goal thanks to the help of the manager.Step-by-step guide to evaluating leadership skillsYou now know what makes an excellent leader. But how do you go about discovering this “treasure” in your IT team and shaping them to become a leader? Follow our step-by-step guide for HR professionals:Observe: Stay present in your team. And not just at the next team building event. In the office, in the kitchen and in the meeting room, employees are constantly showing you what they are made of. You simply need to pay attention to their behaviour. Talk to other managers about their team members as well.Narrow down the group of people: Over a few weeks, depending on the size of the team, two or more people will emerge whom you suspect have leadership potential.Challenge: Focus on these employees once again. You may want to give them a little more responsibility in consultation with their manager and see what happens.Develop: Once you’ve discovered a leadership talent, don’t throw them in at the deep end. Training and mentoring programmes help them to acquire the skills they lack and gradually grow into their new role.Excellent IT leaders are waiting for you at ExperisNot found what you were looking for? You may not always discover leadership skills within your own team. In this case, you can use Experis to draw on our pool of excellent IT leaders. Experis is your direct route to a new leader for your IT team – whether permanently or on an individual project basis. Just get in touch!
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Five straight-forward tips for talent attraction
Winning the war for talent – but peacefullyThe war for talent has been raging since 1997, when a McKinsey analyst first used the martial term to characterise the mounting competition for qualified young talent. Since then, recruiting suitable employees has become a survival factor in many industries. We need only mention the struggle many companies face in finding digital transformation and IT specialists.As a result, HR departments are no longer focused on simply publishing job ads; they are also now developing comprehensive talent attraction strategies. This blog post provides guidance on how to ensure the performance and growth of your organisation using these strategies.The causes of the war for talentHow did the war for talent come about? Here are some of the reasons in summary form:Due to demographic shifts, there’s a shortage of labour in European countries, in the USA and even in populous countries such as China and India.Global economic growth and the development of the knowledge society are based on the activities of highly qualified professionals. Organisations today are in global competition for them.In addition, younger generations place high expectations on their employers. According to statistics, Gen Z members are not only interested in job security; they also want greater flexibility. It’s vital for them to have a work-life balance, mobility, flat hierarchies and the assurance of being able to contribute. These needs are particularly common in the IT industry, where agile working has long been established.IT-savvy companies can do little about points one and two, which is why the talent search must focus on responding to point three.Five readily achievable talent attraction measures1. Your company is a brand. Cultivate it.Does your company need system administrators, database programmers, graphic designers, SEO copywriters, social media marketing professionals or something similar? If so, the wording and design of your job ad should be adapted to your target group and stand out from those of your competitors. In addition, mention financial and non-financial perks in the job ad. You can find out more about the benefits of this in tip five of this blog post.What do you think potential candidates do once they’ve looked at a job advertisement? That’s right, they go to Google. Use this stage of the candidate journey to your benefit by presenting your organisation as an attractive brand, regardless of the specific recruitment campaign.Since IT professionals use industry-specific platforms and communities, companies should be active here as well as on LinkedIn. This way, they can inform themselves about IT trends and news, gain know-how and simultaneously expand their network. In forums, you can address talent directly or receive recommendations. Workshops and events such as hackathons as well as cooperation with universities, associations and non-commercial organisations also generate excellent contact opportunities.Another option is to keep a company blog (like this one). Regularly updated blog posts signal that your organisation thinks in a contemporary manner, is committed to issues beyond its core business and is not afraid to share information. A blog comes across as approachable when employees from different departments report on their personal experiences.You can also assume that sought-after IT professionals are scouring social media for your company. Turn the tables and become active yourself. Use the popular platforms and career networks to present yourself to professionals. You should even consider appearing on TikTok. Does your board turn up its nose at this? Well, rise above it, and let success speak for itself!2. Think outside the box by thinking inside the box when recruiting talentNo one can promote your company better than the employees who are already there. This is why you should start a referral programme. Through private and professional networks, you encounter talent that you would never have reached otherwise. You can also assume that the candidates will suit your company – after all, no one puts their reputation on the line by making unsuitable suggestions. A referral programme is particularly motivating when combined with rewards, such as additional holidays or salary bonuses for successful hires.However, it could be that you don’t need to recruit externally at all. You might have the IT talent you are looking for right under your nose – because they are already working in the company and just need to be further qualified. Conduct some tests so that you can spot capable employees and find out which of them can be trained. This will cost a little, but the added value is huge: you make savings on your recruitment budget while promoted employees thank you with greater loyalty and increased motivation.3. The secret of successful communication: Listening and feedbackThe first point of personal contact with IT talent is your visiting card. Be well prepared; confusion and misunderstandings are a no-go that reflect badly on your company. Discuss all matters in a transparent manner, such as how long an interview is likely to take, how many stages your recruitment process involves, and whether any aptitude tests are planned.Keep applicants informed of their status without being asked and answer questions promptly. Appropriate feedback also includes explaining to someone why they are not suitable at this time. In return, you can underline your commitment by making alternative proposals.Applicants get a rather negative impression if they have to answer the same questions in different recruitment interviews, e.g. because team leaders and HR are not in communication. This ultimately shows a lack of sales skills.In the end, you should keep in mind that it’s not only the candidate’s responsibility to convince you of their abilities; the company must also make an active effort to win over applicants.4. Recruitment processes reveal as much about companies as they do about candidatesThe selection process must be short and clear. If the loops are too long, qualified candidates will be the first to say goodbye. To speed up the process, video interviews are now a good and commonly used option.IT specialists love technical debates and like to consider the pros and cons of various software and hardware. You need to take this into account in the selection process. Non-committal questions like “Where do you see yourself in five years?” or conversations about hobbies and their last holiday seem a little out of place. Stick to what you know about the applicant from their CV and discuss how their qualifications will contribute to the success of your company.Outline some challenges facing one of your projects and ask the candidate to comment. This will achieve two things: they’ll feel like you are taking them seriously and you’ll get an impression of how confident and technically skilled they are.5. Don’t think of benefits as a fruit basketPerks shouldn’t be the primary focus of any application processes. Cleverly placed, however, they can tip the balance in your favour. To do so, your perks need to stand out compared to those offered by your competitors. Free snacks, coffee, fitness subscriptions and table football will at best bring a sympathetic smile.Rather, you should offer structural benefits: a flexible working model, working remotely and from a distance (IT professionals in particular like to work abroad), a company car, a company pension scheme as well as supplementary health insurance and, above all, regular further training. Of course, you can keep your fruit basket as well.Conclusion: The war for talent in the IT sector doesn’t end with recruitmentYou’ll not succeed in the war for talent if you just implement these tips in isolation. This is because retaining talent is at least as important as attracting it. You can enjoy better talent retention with strong employer branding, a referral programme, transparent communication, a streamlined application process and structural benefits.Experis supports you on this path as an expert in IT talent attraction and retention.Get in touch
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ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey – Q2 2023
UK employers report a buoyant labour market with the Net Employment Outlook rising to +21%, up two percentage-points since last quarter and down ten percentage-points on Q2 2022.In the context of record low unemployment and a historically tight labour market, employers continue to struggle to attract skilled talent, and in demand workers can’t find employers that fit their pay and skills needs. ManpowerGroup is advising employers revisit their essential skills requirements and consider what can be learnt on the job.The ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey is based on responses from 2,020 UK employers and asks if they intend to hire additional workers, maintain current headcount, or reduce the size of their workforce in the coming quarter (April to June 2023). It is the most comprehensive, forward-looking employment survey of its kind and is used as a key economic indicator by both the Bank of England and UK Government.“Our survey continues to show strong hiring intentions despite the economic climate, but hiring intentions are not translating into filled vacancies.” said Chris Gray, Director at ManpowerGroup UK.“There is a mismatch between what workers want and what employers are offering. Employers across the country are still keen to take on new talent, and workers want to take on higher paying roles with greater development opportunities. However, they aren’t seeing these jobs advertised. Job descriptions are going unread because they aren’t offering the skills growth workers want. Employers need to be clear about the progression opportunities and the training they are providing.”Approximately ten million people in the UK currently do not have a job, with 1.2m of those being unemployed and the remaining 8.9 million classed as economically inactive. “It’s time to bring these workers into the fold,” continues Gray.ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook SurveyReportManpowerGroup Employment Outlook SurveyInfographic
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