Tech is moving fast and while it may be tempting to simply upload a new job posting for each new need that arises, that’s not sustainable. Instead, companies must trust the talent they have internally and nurture these skills, adapting what employees already know to meet new needs and valuing the experience they have.
It might seem a bit confusing: after all, if you need an employee with skills in a specific artificial intelligence tool, shouldn’t you look to hire someone with that exact skill? Well, in principle, yes, this would be a solution. But let’s break down the process and exactly what hiring a new employee entails.
First, you’ll need to create a job posting and ask the finance department for approvals on an entirely new role and what salary you could offer; then you’d need to send that posting to HR so that they can post it on LinkedIn or other job boards. And maybe it would need to be run by the marketing team to ensure the wording on the ad fits the brand image and is correct, grammatically speaking.
After that, the HR department will be flooded with resumes, cover letters, and portfolios from both qualified and unqualified candidates; they'll need to dedicate significant time to choosing the best applications to conduct the initial phone interview.
Those that pass the first interview will then have to meet with you and your team, occupying your time as you narrow down the selection. You may also conduct tests or sample projects for applicants, which requires time organizing and reviewing said tasks. Once you decide on a candidate, you may think your job is done but spoiler alert: it’s not!
Once you decide to hire a candidate, you’ll need to get through all the bureaucratic red tape, reach an agreement on salary and benefits, and begin the onboarding process (not to mention possibly waiting 2-3 weeks for the new employee to leave their current role/relocate/prepare for the new job).
With the new employee finally starting, the onboarding process begins, which can be quite lengthy as they dive into both company and team basics, meeting their new team and colleagues. You can’t throw a new worker right into the mix of things and will slowly need to introduce them to the way you work, any tools the company uses, and review their work at first. All this doesn’t even mention the risks of conflicting personalities, the candidate not working out, or not finding the right candidate during the search process.
This is an incredibly long, expensive, and time-consuming process; if there was a way to avoid it altogether and simply rely on a trustworthy employee that’s already hired, works well with the team, and is familiar with all the tools your company uses, shouldn’t you stick with them? We think so.
As an employer focusing on reskilling or upskilling, your company will benefit from the following:
More efficient and productive employees: teaching your employees ways they can speed up their work through automation isn’t encouraging laziness or cutting corners; on the contrary, it actually increases efficiency and productivity, in addition to freeing up your employees’ time to focus on more pressing and urgent tasks that actually require the human mind.
Increased employee retention: your employees want to feel cherished and that what they’re doing matters; if you dedicate time and resources to making sure employees are growing and continuously learning, they’ll be more likely to stay at your company, saving valuable resources spent on the interviewing and hiring process.
Better time management: instead of worrying about posting job ads for every single new need that arises, you’ll be able to rely on your employees, which saves everyone time: the HR department, the onboarding team, and your entire team.
Better business reputation: happier employees mean they’ll speak well about their experience in their company and you’ll soon have interested and skilled candidates wanting to work with you, expanding your choices for future hires.
Better workplace satisfaction: employees want to feel happy at work and part of feeling happy is being given the chance to learn more and advance in their career; you’ll find that employees are happier and more dedicated when companies invest their time and resources in them.
Improving Technical Skills in the Workplace
As we briefly mentioned above, there are two main ways that employers invest in the education of their own employees and the overall success of the company: upskilling and reskilling.
Upskilling
You’ll probably be faced with employees who are quite skilled in their specific area, but maybe aren’t experienced with the most recent update of a specific tool or new technology in their area. Before you look elsewhere for a professional who does boast these skills, consider upskilling your employee, or providing on-the-job training to help them advance their careers and learn more, saving the time and resources that go into the job hunt.
You already know this employee is skilled and you’re happy with how they work on the team, so why risk finding someone new? In addition, showing you’re invested in this employee and their future will make them more likely to stick around for longer, improving your employee retention rates and overall brand reputation.
Reskilling
Sometimes upskilling isn’t an option; sometimes you’ll need someone in a completely separate role that has little overlap with what they currently do. Just like with upskilling, don’t run right to the LinkedIn job boards: consider the talent your company currently has. If you have a few data professionals whose jobs have become rather automated lately with the implementation of new technologies and are in need of an assistant designer to assist the UX/UI team, think about reskilling.
Reskilling consists of taking a current employee and revamping their skill set, adding an entirely new capability to their repertoire that may not have anything to do with what they’ve been doing in the past. This will require more resources and time than simply upskilling, but it saves valuable resources when it comes to finding a new and qualified candidate, in addition to increasing employee satisfaction.
Hiring Bootcamp Graduates: Why It’s a Good Idea
It goes without saying that upskilling and reskilling aren’t for everyone and there are many employees who won’t be willing to dedicate their efforts to learning a new skill, be it simply a new version of a technology they use or a completely new field and that’s totally fair. But in a field like tech where changes are happening rapidly and you never know when you’ll need a new expert, prioritizing flexible and driven candidates from the very beginning will help you later on.
Bootcamp graduates are the perfect example of the candidate you want to hire and this is why:
Bootcamp graduates are career changers: the vast majority of bootcamp graduates come from different backgrounds and have already made the choice to change careers and learn new skills; by definition, this shows they’re open to change and ready for the challenge of earning a new skill.
Bootcamp graduates are flexible: as career changers, bootcamp graduates have already proven that they’re open to new ways of learning, betting on a bootcamp to teach them what they need to know to reach success. The possibility of upskilling or reskilling on the job will simply be another advantage to them.
Bootcamp graduates are driven: changing your career at any point, or choosing a bootcamp, is a hard decision and bootcamp graduates have successfully weighed their options and chosen their field of tech–there’s no better group of people to show you they’re up for a challenge and ready to keep learning.
Bootcamp graduates are quick learners: bootcamps are intensive and short-term courses that move at an incredibly quick pace, preparing students to enter the workforce as quickly as possible. Reskilling and upskilling programs usually follow the same trajectory and with employees who have already proven success in such a challenge, your chances for success will be higher.
At Ironhack, we’re dedicated to preparing our students to enter the workforce quickly after graduation with the tools they need for success; we also work directly with companies to reskill or upskill employees as new business needs emerge. No matter what your need is, we’re sure our expertly designed curricula will meet your needs and you’ll be able to rely on your existing and skilled talent for new responsibilities.
Choose from our bootcamps in web development, UX/UI design, data analytics, and cybersecurity, in addition to personalized courses designed with your company in mind, and see how your existing tech talent can be transformed to solve emerging requirements.
Improving your in-house talent in a short time will save you valuable time, resources, and money, in addition to nurturing happier and more successful employees. The answer is clear: it’s crucial to invest in your own employees and create even more incredible tech professionals. So are you up for the challenge?
