Finding and recruiting the best technology talent in today's competitive digital world is tough. Skills are in short supply, and nearly every company in the tech sector today has openings that they desperately need to fill to prepare for transformation. In a noisy, over-saturated recruitment market, the key to success is working out how to make your brand stand out to the ideal candidates you want to hire.

While a specialist recruitment agency can find the right applicants for your business, it's up to you to make sure that the people you want to attract get the right impression of your brand when they start searching for information online. After all, these days every professional will research a brand before they decide whether to even attend the interview let alone work for them.

The key to success is presenting an employer brand, or reputation, that resonates with the right people. Linking your organisation to the right ideas, values, and characteristics can instantly make it easier to get that all-important "yes" from a potential hire.

Step 1: Analyse Your Current Reputation

Every business has a brand, regardless of whether you're aware of it or not. Your brand is the perception that customers, shareholders, and staff members have of your company, and it's up to you to shape it in a way that supports your end goal.

Before you can start making changes to the impression people have of your organisation, you'll need to know exactly what's being said about you. The good news is that it's generally quite easy to get an eye on the conversation. All you need to do is search for your name on social media channels, industry forums, and review websites, and calculate whether the general judgement is good, or bad.

If you look like a terrible place to work for because of poor testimonials and angry previous employees, then you'll struggle to attract the best talent before you've fixed these pre-existing problems.

Step 2: Be Transparent

When you work with a specialist recruitment group to list specs for a new position, you'll need to focus on making sure that each potential applicant has all the information they need to decide whether to work with you.

The best technology employers know that recruits want to feel confident and informed when applying for a new role or developing their career. That's why 77.3% of all professionals consider job/role descriptions to be one of the most important resources for an to inform them about an organisation.

Google elevates its employer brand by sharing details on its website about perks and benefits available for new hires while ensuring that every new position is posted with plenty of information about the specifics of the role.

Step 3: Turn Your Employees into Advocates

Everyone in the technology world, from DevOps professionals to Linux experts wants to know that they're working with a company that respects their needs, appreciates their skills, and offers an engaging career environment.

Today's professionals don't just want a fantastic salary; they want to know that they're going to have an incredible experience when they go to sit at their desk each day. If you're going to convince possible candidates that you can offer that next level position, the best place to start is by allowing your existing employees to share what they appreciate and value about working with you.

Staff advocates can enhance your employer brand by demonstrating their experiences through case studies, getting involved with social media, or even providing quotes that you can ask your recruitment agency to include in your future listings.

Step 4: Demonstrate a Strong Company Culture

Recruiting and retaining key members of a technology team in today's contract market is easier said than done. If you want your experts to stick around, then you need to create an environment that's too compelling and comfortable to leave.

Showcase the unique aspects of your company culture in everything you do. For instance, if you offer your IT infrastructure team opportunities to get involved with the latest tools in the technology market, list some of the software you have access to in your job specs. On the other hand, if your systems admin has the chance to work from home on specific projects, highlight your position on available remote working options.

The more you can show what makes your business unique, the more likely you are to set yourself apart from the other organisations in your space who are fighting for the same talent.

Today, there's more to finding and maintaining the perfect team than posting an excellent description and waiting for the applications to roll in. If you want to get ahead in the world of digital transformation, then you need to convince your candidates that yours is an opportunity not to be missed.

About Inspire People

We believe that technology has the power to change the world for the better and we love working with businesses whose technology or purpose has a positive impact. We help businesses that share our vision access the people, resources and strategic advice they need to achieve their digital transformation goals

Our service is designed to accelerate your digital growth. We created our offer in response to emerging challenges in an uncertain business landscape: a blend of Advisory, Talent and Project led services that will help you achieve your strategic aims and deliver more for your employees and customers. We’ll connect you to rare specialist talent, experts and insight to help you navigate your biggest challenges and remain competitive in a changed world.

Get in touch today to discover how working with us could help you innovate and grow.

Speak to our expert team on +44(0)20 7871 8550 or email  hello@inspirepeople.net

In today's competitive job market, digital skills are in short supply, but high demand. Whether you're looking for the talent that will help you to transform your organisation, or you just need a group of individuals that will keep your IT infrastructure running smoothly as you push to get ahead of the competition, it's worth remembering that brand success often comes down to one thing: people.

In a world where technology is continually changing, evolving, and fluctuating to meet the diverse needs of virtual nomads, it's up to the average tech company to make sure that they have the right candidates working together in the ideal environments to cultivate success. Anything less than a perfect structure means that you'll be left struggling to keep up with the other businesses in your market.

The question is, how do you effectively find, and unite the perfect professionals for digital success?

Step 1: Recruit IT Innovators

Being a leader in the technology space means being able to evaluate your staff both as a complete unit and as a collection of diverse individuals. If you want your business team to be successful, then you need each person within that group to possess a specific set of characteristics and skills conducive to delivering great results.

That doesn't mean that everyone in your office needs to be able to do the same things. For instance, you might need a DevOps expert, a Linux expert, and an IT transformation analyst to work seamlessly together. However, what it does mean is that the people you hire with the help of your specialist recruitment agency might share a collection of essential features, such as:

• A passion for the industry
• An understanding of agile working
• The ability to work both independently and as part of a collective
• An in-depth knowledge of your company goals

Step 2: Create Unanimous Goals

For any employee to accomplish incredible things, they need to be motivated towards a single idea of what "success" looks like for your organisation. If you don't have a clear vision laid out for your brand, then you run the risk that each of the recruits you hire will end up working towards their own goals, instead of the overarching goals of the company.

Keeping the path clear and obvious for your industry experts from day one helps to stop them from wandering off route or getting distracted. It might seem simple, but you'd be surprised how often lack of clarity can lead to performance issues.

Step 3: Work on Your Company Culture

How does your business give your hires the support and resources they need to thrive? There's more to developing a high-performing tech team than making sure you're attracting and recruiting the best talent; you also need to ensure that you're placing those professionals in an environment that's conducive to success.

If you bring a new DevOps professional into the group, then they'll need access to the latest technology to enhance and transform your development project. But it's not just software and hardware you need to think about when supporting your employees. Remember to put guidelines in place for how people can respond if they find themselves facing common obstacles.

Ideally, you'll want to give your tech professionals as much space as possible to respond creatively to challenges, but that doesn't have to mean leaving them entirely to their own devices.

Step 4: Challenge Your Employees

Technology experts are often individuals who know how to respond well to pressure. They thrive in challenging situations where they're given the opportunity to tap into the resources around them and respond to difficult circumstances. With that in mind, take steps to keep your team interested, and engaged.

Give your engineers a chance to play with your tech stack and explore new strategies, provide cloud experts with the freedom they need to test out new platforms that might be beneficial to your digital transformation plan, and make sure that your unit knows how to organise and manage itself efficiently, so they don't need a supervisor's help to take the lead on high-profile projects.

Remember, you'll need to build a certain level of trust among your hires before they can work together at their best, but allowing them to overcome challenges as a unit may help them to discover their strengths and weaknesses more organically while encouraging natural bonds among colleagues too.

Step 5: Actively Encourage Collaboration

Finally, some technology experts struggle to thrive in social situations, but the growth and evolution of the digital world mean that businesses can help their teams work seamlessly together in several different ways. Collaboration doesn't have to mean sitting in the same room each day; it might mean teaching your recruits how to use the latest intranet software and communication tools to connect.

Give your unit the freedom to work without constant supervision, but make sure they know how they can reach out to other people in their group whenever they need extra support, guidance, or even knowledge that expands beyond their expertise.

Eventually, simple communication will become a natural part of what makes your organisation work.

About Inspire People

We believe that technology has the power to change the world for the better and we love working with businesses whose technology or purpose has a positive impact. We help businesses that share our vision access the people, resources and strategic advice they need to achieve their digital transformation goals

Our service is designed to accelerate your digital growth. We created our offer in response to emerging challenges in an uncertain business landscape: a blend of Advisory, Talent and Project led services that will help you achieve your strategic aims and deliver more for your employees and customers. We’ll connect you to rare specialist talent, experts and insight to help you navigate your biggest challenges and remain competitive in a changed world.

Get in touch today to discover how working with us could help you innovate and grow.

Speak to our expert team on +44(0)20 7871 8550 or email  hello@inspirepeople.net

The modern workplace is changing. Today's technology professionals expect more than an excellent salary and benefits package; they want a professional environment that's challenging, nurturing, and engaging.

As the technology world grows increasingly complicated, the demand for specialists in everything from coding to networking has increased. This means that tech experts have their pick of employment opportunities while growing businesses must implement strategies to attract, maintain, and motivate their staff.

The problem is, as the workforce takes on more Millennial employees, traditional methods of motivation might not be enough to keep your team productive and satisfied. In fact,only just over 32% of people feel engaged at work. Since your tech talent is the key to happy customers, innovative products, and new ideas, it's important to think about how you can keep these unique individuals happy.

1. Listen and Adapt

Every recruit you bring into your company has different ambitions and skills, particularly in this multi-generational era. To motivate diverse people, you'll need to start by listening to their hopes, goals, and aspirations.

While some of your team might want endless opportunities to explore new technology, others might want to develop particular skills to an advanced level.

It’s critical to have one-to-one meetings with your technology hires as part of the onboarding process. There, you can create a 1-3 year plan for growth, where you focus on giving each employee the resources they need to thrive.

2. Embrace New Technology

Your tech specialists chose their career because they love the industry. One of the easiest ways to motivate people with a passion for all-things IT is to make sure that you always embrace new opportunities to explore technology that's relevant to your business.

Consider asking your tech team to get together once every few months and make suggestions on which new software or hardware you might benefit from. Alternatively, you can send individual IT experts to conferences and networking events where they can try out the latest gizmo’s, software or applications.

Remember, once you've decided to embrace something new, you'll need to put training strategies in place to ensure everyone from your engineers to your sales groups knows how to use your resources to their advantage.

3. Provide Opportunities for Growth

All employees, no matter their skills, appreciate opportunities for expansion and promotion. However, since the technology sector is continually evolving, IT professionals can be drawn more to business development opportunities in other organisations chances than most.

Managers must work alongside their staff to find out exactly what they want to achieve in the future. While some recruits will prefer to focus on technical work than embracing a managerial position, others will want to build their soft skills alongside their digital talents.

Providing your team with plenty of chances to grow and excel in their preferred areas can go a long way to keeping them motivated. Remember, you can provide opportunities outside of the workplace too, by helping professionals to sign up for classes or courses that interest them.

4. Offer Plenty of Recognition

No matter what technology role you're hoping to fill, you can expect that your candidate will be looking for a workplace that offers plenty of respect and recognition. IT experts, particularly those from the Gen Y and Gen X generation crave praise and feedback for their work.

The good news is that there are plenty of ways for your company to celebrate success. Depending on the preferences of your new hire, you can publish a monthly newsletter where you give staff a quick shout out. On the other hand, you might design a culture where executives frequently interact with the team to give them comments on their work.

Take the time to find out what kind of recognition your people respond best to, then make sure you keep on top of it.

5. Create a Flexible Environment

Technology-focused professionals are some of the most passionate people you'll ever meet. While they give 100% at work, they also spend their free time brushing up on their knowledge and keeping up with the latest trends.

However, if you want these specialists to really thrive in their new role, then you need to give them the freedom to build and expand their skills. Sometimes, this means merely delivering chances for in-house training, while in other cases, it will mean putting flexible work schedules in place.

Tech employees know better than most how to make the most of remote working software and applications. If your staff can do the same job at home that they would do from your office, consider allowing them to choose their own workplace every now and again. This option for mobile working may both motivate your team, and encourage them to innovate more on behalf of your business too!

About Inspire People

We believe that technology has the power to change the world for the better and we love working with businesses whose technology or purpose has a positive impact. We help businesses that share our vision access the people, resources and strategic advice they need to achieve their digital transformation goals

Our service is designed to accelerate your digital growth. We created our offer in response to emerging challenges in an uncertain business landscape: a blend of Advisory, Talent and Project led services that will help you achieve your strategic aims and deliver more for your employees and customers. We’ll connect you to rare specialist talent, experts and insight to help you navigate your biggest challenges and remain competitive in a changed world.

Get in touch today to discover how working with us could help you innovate and grow.

Speak to our expert team on +44(0)20 7871 8550 or email  hello@inspirepeople.net

LinkedIn is the largest B2B (business to business) social network in the western world. Current data reveals that there are now over 500 million members across the globe.

Microsoft’s purchase of LinkedIn in 2016 will mean that this business platform continues to grow as the online business network of choice.

The amount of data and profiles currently uploaded on LinkedIn enables the platform to function as a search engine.

Are You Appearing On Google?

Did you know that a well-written LinkedIn profile is likely to be one of the first few links that appear when someone Google’s your name?

The question is if your LinkedIn profile can be found online like this; does it communicate what you want to a future employer?

There are some key points to know when working on your individual profile that is currently working when it comes to a compelling profile that gets first and second interviews that we share below.

Your Profile Picture

Though it might be fun to share a piece of code, cartoon character, or a portion of a DNA helix, it doesn't profile you as the professional your new company wants to hire; it’s backed up by LinkedIn’s own research data too.

Did you know that LinkedIn profiles with a photograph get 14 times more views and adding a profile picture makes you 36 times more likely to receive a message on LinkedIn?

There is no excuse for a poor picture with today’s smartphone technology either. A head and shoulders photograph in professional dress works well. Stay away from whacky selfies; keep those for Facebook and Snapchat.

Fill It Out In Full

Earlier I mentioned how certain profiles appear high up on the search rankings. The more you add to your profile the better this works. The upside is it signals to your future new employer that you have attention to detail too.

If you are open to an approach ensure that your mobile number is easily visible in more than one place on your profile.

Remember LinkedIn has the functionality to add videos, PowerPoints and articles. This will enable you to stand out from the crowd. If you have delivered certain projects or have a string of research papers to your name add these to your profile; because they will get read.

Your Summary Is Key

After Your Image, this is the next area that can make or break your chances of career advancement with a new company.

The summary is the most important part of any LinkedIn profile, as most specialist recruiters or hiring managers will not read any further unless you give them a convincing reason why they should

Firstly, given that many of your industry peers are equally qualified and experienced ensure that your summary demonstrates how you can solve your new company’s challenges; this different stance will make you stand out from the crowd who only list their latest qualifications or the fact they are a Linux Administrator or have DevOps expertise.

Your summary should concisely highlight your career achievements that you know will appeal to a future employer.

Finally, remember that many other candidates will have a similar educational and professional profile, so you need to find a way to stand out. LinkedIn allows you to create a powerful impression with an engaging summary, an excellent photo, and a visual LinkedIn profile featuring different multimedia examples of your work.

LinkedIn isn’t just for when you are job seeking. Because it’s a networking tool and a publishing platform, LinkedIn is the ideal way to build your connections, get involved, and stay up to date with events and developments in your industry.

In short, this professional networking platform is vital to your industry career from the first day and beyond.

About Inspire People

We believe that technology has the power to change the world for the better and we love working with businesses whose technology or purpose has a positive impact. We help businesses that share our vision access the people, resources and strategic advice they need to achieve their digital transformation goals

Our service is designed to accelerate your digital growth. We created our offer in response to emerging challenges in an uncertain business landscape: a blend of Advisory, Talent and Project led services that will help you achieve your strategic aims and deliver more for your employees and customers. We’ll connect you to rare specialist talent, experts and insight to help you navigate your biggest challenges and remain competitive in a changed world.

Get in touch today to discover how working with us could help you innovate and grow.

Speak to our expert team on +44(0)20 7871 8550 or email  hello@inspirepeople.net

We are delighted to be working with Genomics England, a wholy owned company of the Department of Health.

Genomics England was set up to deliver the 100,000 Genomes Project, which will sequence 100,000 whole genomes from NHS Patients.