3 Ways to Stay Ahead During IT Staff Shortages
IT staff shortages are often temporary or seasonal. Sometimes, a company gets a chance to work on a huge project – except they can’t, because they do not have the workforce needed for it. As employing specialists on a long-term only to cover for a short-term project is not a viable option, the remaining possibilities are fewer.
We all know how difficult it is to grow a business and the difficulties one faces when winning a great project that requires extra workforce. The problem is that temporary hires cannot be depended upon for a project like this. If you are taking on a big project to show that your company is capable of delivering big projects, you cannot risk it by hiring people who are not committed to the job. You don’t send in a new player in the biggest match of the season.
What to do in this situation? Here are 3 ways you can deal with IT staff shortages.
1) Create clear career paths for IT staff
IT staff is hard to retain. A big reason is that, in many companies, there isn’t a clear career path for them. People need to know that they have a future in the company and that there is potential for growth. If IT isn’t the focus of your company and the staff is likely to be stuck in the same position for a long time, they will jump ship. Communicate with the staff and let them know how they can be promoted and what positions might be opening up soon.
2) Establish a trusted outsourcing partner
A lot of people scoff at outsourcing, and claim that outsourcing results in bad coding and development. If you go out to the cheapest company available, you will definitely face the same issue. What you need is a trusted partner. You need a company that you can depend on when needed. You can easily outsource the work that is too much for your workforce. This is a great move because it removes any limitations there might be on your projects. You can take a project no matter how big it is because you know that the extra work will be handled by your trusted outsourcing partner.
3) Automate routine tasks
Automation is the future. A great way to ensure that your IT staff can get as much work done as possible is to automate as many of the tasks as possible. You won’t be able to automate everything, but you will be surprised at how much you can. This might sound depressing, but machine learning and automation are doing more work than ever before.
Conclusion
IT staff shortages can be a real pain. The above 3 strategies will help you keep a handle on all the work when you’re facing a shortage.
