Desperately seeking...IT leaders who can communicate
Do you have the vision, tenacity and understanding to add value to your business? Are your non-IT colleagues receiving you loud and clear?
Picture the scenario. There is one job on offer and the employer is down to the last two experienced IT candidates. Candidate A has strong technical skills but falls a little short on interpersonal skills. Candidate B can influence and knows how to get key messages across but lacks the technical skills of A. The employer will almost always plump for B, according to new research from specialist IT recruiter, Hays.
The annual survey of over 120 of the UK’s most senior technology professionals, revealed employers struggle to find candidates who can apply IT strategy to the wider business and communicate IT issues to a non-IT audience. Whilst 48% of respondents agreed that a person with strong ‘people skills’ could get away with weaker ‘technical skills’, only 6% agreed that the opposite is true.
Global heads of IT and CIOs were asked to list the key skills and attributes they required from their middle and senior IT managers; strong business awareness, leadership and industry knowledge all featured high up the list of desirables. Worryingly 27% harbour concerns as to whether their existing IT departments have the right skill sets.
“You need a proven track record and be up to date with the direction of technology. But you need to think strategically, give clear direction and engage with people,” says James Lloyd-Townshend, Managing Director of Hays IT.
As to the sway in leading business transformation and driving business strategy, goals and objectives, the consensus is that the IT function is either fairly or very influential in this respect.
In recent years the use of external specialist recruiters such as Hays has been by far the most popular way of sourcing talent to fill senior IT roles (70%) followed by direct advertising (43%) and promoting from within (43%). One in four employers questioned were found to be currently recruiting and more than half will be looking to recruit IT staff within the next 6 months.
Salary demands remain the number one obstacle to placing the right candidate. However, the timelines of the recruitment cycle, the total reward offering and external competition are factors that can adversely affect a candidate’s decision. The hiring company’s brand has a negligible significance.
To find out more about senior IT jobs, please email HITSeniorAppointmentsTeam@hays.com.
www.hays.com/it
Notes to editors
Hays Information Technology is the UK's number one recruitment consultancy specialising in IT jobs, with a network of 22 offices across the UK.
Our focus within the IT industry allows us to offer our clients and candidates a highly specialised service across all vertical markets, skill sets and levels of seniority, through both permanent and contract recruitment.
About the survey
- Targeted senior professionals – Global Heads and Heads of IT, Directors, CIOs and CTOs
- Companies in a diverse range of public and private sectors across the UK
- Sample: 124
For further press information or a synopsis of the survey results please contact:
Natalie Venturini
Marketing Manager
Hays IT
Tel: 0207 222 8575
Email: natalie.venturini@hays.com
