Tech training – Hear from Fujitsu, techUK and Client Server why training matters in tech

As markets reopen, tech hiring is increasing and competition for the best talent is becoming intense. CWJobs’ Tackling Tech Training report finds that 72% of businesses upped their tech tools, training and talent investment in 2020 with an overall average increase of £1.48 million.

Tech training can be used as a key tool in recruitment strategies and help businesses address common industry issues to future-proof their tech teams. Our report finds that only 27% of IT decision makers are satisfied with their workers’ abilities to use the various technologies they invested in last year. And just 9% of companies have trained relevant staff to use all the technologies they invested in, which has resulted in a knowledge gap amongst employees.

Upgrading tech training not only helps expand the talent pipeline, but also improve employee retention and satisfaction. With this year’s Learning at Work week’s theme being ‘Made For Learning’, tech training is relevant now more than ever and should be part of a life-long journey.

Our recent webinar ‘Future-proofing Tech Hiring: Why Training Matters’ saw panel host Dominic Harvey, Director at CWJobs, joined by Nimmi Patel, Policy Manger at tech UK, Beth Rowlands, Head of Talent and Skills and Fujitsu, and Nick Boulton, Director at Client Server.

Our panel shared their reflections on how tech training can be used as a key tool in recruitment strategies and help businesses address common industry issues:

The importance of tech training

Reflecting on why tech training is particularly important in the current climate, Beth shared a statistic from Gartner that confirms the number of tech skills required for a job has been increasing 10% year-on-year. She shared that 33% of the skills that were included in job postings in 2017 are now likely to be out of date in 2021.

If you don’t train within your organisation, you’re going to have a workforce that won’t be able to deliver for your customers.

Considering these statistics, Nick added:

The key for me, having spoken to clients about this, is making sure that training is relevant to what employees are doing and making sure it’s not just a tick box exercise for a certain certification. It’s more about working closely with the heads of department, HR and making sure their workforce is fit for purpose.

Thinking about tech training from an employer’s perspective, Dom added: ‘There’s the additional element of training being a huge draw. It has the potential to put a company ahead of others by highlighting the fact that they have a strong training package and can demonstrate a commitment to upskilling teams for the future.’’

How the industry is tackling tech training

Despite awareness of the need for training in the industry, it’s clear that companies need to do more to tackle the issue and to future-proof their talent pipeline.

Nimmi said:

I think a lot of tech companies have been focusing on recovery, which has involved looking at their staff and their talent concerns and focusing on trying to close skills gaps. I was shocked when I read the statistic that only 9% of businesses are trained in the tech they’ve already purchased. It’s a large commitment and we need to do more. Companies need to overcome the challenge of how cost can affect us, and I think we can do that by instilling a culture of lifelong learning.

Agreeing with this sentiment, Nick shared his experience of why some tech training initiatives don’t work to the advantage of employers or staff.

I think we’ve lost the connection where IT heads work with their staff. Are employers buying equipment because it’s what they want, or because it’s what the staff need to do their job. Training is a two-way street. You can’t prescribe an experienced technologist a load of training if they don’t feel like it’ll benefit their career.

That’s why paired programming, continual learning and paired integration works so well. It’s very much a collaborative training process. I think a lot of that has been lost in lockdown. There’s also a lot of training that doesn’t come under the guise of training because it happens day-to-day in the office.

Brief moments around a whiteboard or fixing a bug in code is all part of the learning process and I think we’ve lost that over the last year. Because of this, training has come to the fore because there’s now a gap. I think sometimes it’s an interaction issue rather than a training issue.

Expanding on the idea of the need for human interaction, Beth added: ‘The isolation of individuals has been the main issue. The key now, is making sure that training is in the flow of work, so that if feels like it’s part of the job. It’s not necessarily a thing that you go and do.

It needs to feel like a natural thing, whether it’s paired programming, or something where you come together as a community to solve a problem – it shouldn’t necessarily feel like training, it’s just something you do in your job. This is something we have to enable within the leadership and management structures of our organisations.’’

The training challenges and opportunities that businesses are facing

Discussing more specifically the challenges that the industry is facing, Dom said:

Employers need to highlight the importance of motivating employees and communicating what they can gain from training. They need to think creatively about how to structure it and really ensure that employees feel enabled to take time out and complete their training properly. It’s got to mean something and have a value.

Providing some insight into how employers can ensure that the value of training is communicated, Nick said, ‘Training has to be a really engaged process where employees are getting involved. I think the danger lies with prescribed training, where people have to read follow-up material, because none of that will stick with them moving forward. The challenge is how to engage people remotely and how to get them involved. When training is employee-led you’ll get a much higher engagement rate. Follow-up action is important.’’

Speaking about the opportunities that lie ahead for tech training, Beth said:

How we think about training from a professional perspective has been revolutionised. I think the days where people will sit on a train for two hours to listen to a PowerPoint presentation are gone. We’ve learnt so much about what is possible. We’ve learnt so much about the science behind how people learn and the psychology around doing remote delivery.

For me, it’s about giving people safe spaces to practice. There’s a lot of cool stuff in tech training now, like sandpit environments in digital learning platforms, where you can practice and fail in a safe place without doing any damage and immediately learning from it.

Nimmi went on to speak about the importance of tailoring training to the needs of organisations and individuals. She said, ‘‘techUK members have tried to engage employees more. It’s hard to convince people to take time out to complete training. It’s all about the transparency and seeing that other people are in the same space.

For some organisations, this could mean blocking out half a day to do a specific type of training. For others, it’s all about modular learning, where employees do a course online at their own pace. It really does depend on the teams and the culture and the environment.’’

Tips for incorporating tech training into the hiring process

In summarising the key takeaways from the webinar, Dom offered some tips for companies on how to build a tech training programme that’s fit for purpose and how to integrate it into the recruitment process.

He said, ‘It’s important that companies regularly rethink their recruitment process and make sure it omits bias and encourages and motivates others. They should aim to incorporate training opportunities into job ads to attract a more diverse range of talent that could potentially be a huge asset to a company.

Training needs to be tailored to the skills required in the company and to the individuals that need them. By continuously reviewing where skills gaps are, companies will have a better idea of how to fill them, whether that be with a bootcamp, or a module programme. It’s also important not to overlook the importance of soft skills as they’re becoming increasingly sought-after in the tech industry.’’

Watch the webinar

Tackling Tech Training insights

Delve into the training trends, challenges, and ambitions of the UK’s tech workforce and get actionable insights to help businesses train up the technology skill sets they need whether it is through hiring, upskilling or reskilling talent.