Yet another digital talent that is shunning you.

There’s nothing like a headline that says “Why Digital Talent Doesn’t Want To Work At Your Company” to get my attention.

It feels like the last 10 years working in various digital businesses has always involved the same challenge.. identifying, hiring and keeping top talent.

I don’t just mean senior talent either. It doesn’t matter whether you’re on the hunt for a red-hot grad, a mid-level goer with potential to burn, or a seasoned pro to lead the show. Getting these people into your business and then retaining them is something that we all struggle with. To be honest I don’t know if anyone does it well, particularly over a medium to long term.

What’s complicating the matter is that this is a global issue. I can see already amongst my offshore partners that certain skillsets are increasingly in demand and not available at the drop of a hat. I discussed this in a recent post too.

So this article by Fast Company gives some great tips on how to get digital talent into your company. I’ve said for years that you don’t give developers a job, you give them a project. And that you don’t give designers & creatives a project, you give them the chance to be famous. And rarely is the money a key consideration.

Of course this isn’t always possible. However compared to many of the old school attitudes to ‘giving’ someone a job (I mean come on, isn’t it the other way around.. don’t they give us their talents & hard work?!) it certainly helps to keep some of these tips in mind.

They include the following reasons why digital talent won’t want to work at your company:

  • If every element of their work will be pored over by multiple layers of bureaucracy
  • If mediocre is good enough
  • If your company is structured so it takes a lifetime to get to the top, and as such there are no digital experts in company-wide leadership positions

And so on. Check it out here, it’s well worth the read: http://www.fastcompany.com/1779120/embargo-1027-why-digital-talent-doesn-t-want-to-work-at-your-company