Intelligent CIO APAC Issue 05 | Page 45

THE BEST TECHNICAL TALENT NEEDS TO LIVE IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF RAPID CUSTOMISATION AND VARIABILITY .
1 . Give them choices , change and challenge : The best technical talent needs to live in an environment of rapid customisation and variability – that ’ s the way they like it . No single solution is ever the same and you can ’ t do cookie cutter . That means your tech team needs to constantly be able to find unique solutions to unique problems . Give them puzzles , hard puzzles and they will thrive .
2 . Forget the flash : Focus on skills and substance , rather than superficial polish . No one likes the developer who speaks the loudest but doesn ’ t have anyone understanding them . You want to promote as spirit of humility in that we ’ re here to look after each other and our customers and stay committed to achieving the smartest answers – smart doesn ’ t mean shiny , it means real .
3 . Talk about humans not Human
Resources : Thinking of people as resources to be managed is counter-productive . Don ’ t have a rigid performance management framework . Don ’ t do mandatory breakfasts or culture-boosting posters . The traditional idea is building a beautiful office where you have employees who never want to leave from sunrise to , well , sunrise again . That ’ s old fashioned . Instead , work with a more flexible approach to geographic placement . When you attract the best , you trust and

THE BEST TECHNICAL TALENT NEEDS TO LIVE IN AN ENVIRONMENT OF RAPID CUSTOMISATION AND VARIABILITY .

you adapt . And when you ’ re thinking about building human , rather than transactional relationships , you start to get materially better outcomes .
4 . The best techs are looking for fast and different : No one graduates from an IT program and says I want to work for a big enterprise tech consultancy . The best tech talent is avoiding slow-moving enterprises and traditional IT vendors because it means a lack of interesting work . They ’ re not afraid of hard work , but they thrive when each day is different and things are fast-moving .
5 . Count on gravity : Ultimately , we get drawn to the people we ’ d like to work with . This is especially true of tech talent . Great tech talent flocks together . Being interviewed by an outstanding technical mind , implies a wealth of opportunity in development and ground-breaking work . It ’ s the learning environment that pulls exceptionally bright minds together to tackle challenges in AI , Machine Learning , cloud , IOT and more .
6 . Use real values not phoney corporate talk : Businesses talk a lot about values these days , but don ’ t even get us started on acronyms which sit on about us pages gathering cobwebs . For example , Kablamo lives open source , without any monetary gain . We actually built tech for techies that will never pay us a cent – we did this because the team believed in doing it . This clearly communicates to the high-end developer community about what we contribute , what we stand for and what world we ’ re trying to create . Basically , it expresses why we exist and how that has to do with much more than just the bottom line . The right ( read : best ) people get this .
7 . Let them roam free : Top tech talent is mobile and flexible . These girls and guys embrace different communication tools and channels in order to make things happen . They work from home , from
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