Digital transformation is taking over and is key to business growth. If you’re about to embark on a digital transformation project – be it cloud migration, updating legacy systems, integrating AI, or locking down your cyber defences – you need the right people to guide these forward. Not sure where to start? Read on for our top tips on building world-class digital transformation teams.

1. Develop the scope & objectives of your digital transformation project

It’s important to establish the objectives of your transformation project from the outset. Which areas of your business will be affected, what are you hoping to achieve, and how will you measure success? Ensure your objectives are realistic, achievable and measurable, and determine the resources you’ll need in the way of people, tools and time, to bring this to life. As with any project, create a project plan, be clear of the project scope, and put numbers and outcomes to your objectives to track its success. Once you’ve got that down pat, you’ll want to start planning your strategy for sourcing the people who will go on the transformation journey with you. That means assessing your project plan to…

2. Identify the skills you need

What skills do you need in your team to successfully deliver on digital transformation? Maybe it’s offensive security and SOC skillsets for your cybersecurity project, or cloud infrastructure and data engineering competencies for your cloud migration project. Whatever it may be, determine what’s needed to bring your project to fruition, take stock of the skillsets of the people currently available to you, and determine where the gaps lie. It may be a matter of upskilling your current team members, or maybe you’ll need to start from scratch and recruit new talent. Observe where the gaps are and…

3. Determine who you need to hire

Once you’ve established the skills you need to successfully execute your digital transformation project, it’s time to bring the right people on board. For your cybersecurity project, you may have determined that you need to hire a SOC Manager with strong stakeholder management skills as well as technical knowledge in IDS (Intrusion Detection Systems) and SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) systems. Or maybe you’ve determined that you need an experienced Business Intelligence Architect and Data Modeller for your data management project. You’ll also want to consider the project length and how this will affect the type of talent you’re after. Is it a 12-month project that you only need contractors for, or something longer-term where you’ll require permanent employees who can lead the charge and continuously monitor and improve systems?

Uncover more about contract recruitment here and permanent hiring here to determine the type of talent that would best suit your project team.

Once you’ve determined the skills and people you need, it’s time to find them. But first, to really get ahead in the employment market, you’ll want to…

4. Develop a strong EVP and employer brand

You’re almost ready to embark on your search for top talent, but if you want to bring the best on board, it’s important to firstly have a strong EVP (Employee Value Proposition) and employer brand which makes jobseekers want to work with you. The key to developing a strong EVP is knowing what top candidates are searching for and delivering on it. According to a Talent survey of over 500 tech professionals, the opportunity for exciting and meaningful work matters most to 85% of jobseekers, alongside the opportunity for career progression and development, which is important to almost half (48%) of respondents when searching for work. Ensuring that you’re offering engaging work to your people, as well as opportunities for development with your company, is key if you want to attract – and retain – the best. Alongside this, flexibility is also essential. A Talent poll revealed that work flexibility even surpasses a competitive salary when it comes to what matters most to candidates when looking for a job – 35% noted flexibility as the most important, followed by 29% citing salary. Deliver on what your people want – and promote it! Developing a strong employer brand which showcases your EVP will help you to attract those top candidates. Once that’s established, you’ll be ready to…

5. Embark on your candidate search

Top talent for your digital transformation projects is out there, but isn’t always easy to find. To source professionals with the skillsets you’re after, consider posting your open positions on job boards, attending industry meet-ups, and asking for referrals. Sharing vacancies on your company’s career hub is also a great strategy to not only highlight open roles, but to also showcase your employer brand and demonstrate why top candidates should work with you. Running a transformation project is time consuming though, and hiring is no easy task. So, a quick and surefire way to bring top talent into your teams, allowing you the time back to focus on what you do best, is to…

6. Use a dedicated recruiter

From their industry connections through to their access to wide pools of top talent, a dedicated recruiter can do the heavy-lifting for you when it comes to hiring, helping you find the people you need at speed.

At Talent, we can help. Working with top tech talent since the birth of Javascript, we know a thing or two about recruitment. For over 25 years, we’ve placed thousands of professionals in tech, transformation and beyond, across almost every sector to the world’s leading companies. Whether it’s a business analyst, change manager, or software professional you’re after for your digital transformation team, we’ve got you sorted. Reach out today.