Digital business has been in Australia for nearly three decades now. There are plenty of experienced people who’ve been doing it that long.
Plus a whole lot more who've been doing it for not quite so long.
Every month in my city, Perth, I go to more than a dozen local events that are chock full of digital talent: marketers, developers, entrepreneurs, digital business owners, digital creatives, product developers, business developers, social media experts and more.
These are smart people who’ve started and ran very successful online businesses, or run many digital marketing campaigns for their employers.
Plus several of my friends and peers have lectured at local universities for many years on online marketing, turning out some very sharp young professionals.
And I’m sure it’s the same in every city in Australia.
I just don’t buy the shortage of digital talent in Australia, not after this many decades.
If You Pay Peanuts...
The problem, as always, is that many businesses are unwilling to pay for the talent they need.
This report from Adweek proves it.
http://www.adweek.com/the-definitive-guide-to-digital-transformation/
Some 90% of companies complained about a lack of digital talent, yet only 46% were investing in it. Even worse, only 4% aligned any training with their digital strategy.
And there are numerous other reports out at the moment all echoing the same thing.
You can see this unwillingness to invest in most of the job ads for digital talent, they want all the skills in a junior person with only two or three years experience.
This tells us several things about businesses' attitudes towards digital:
- They don’t want to pay much for it
- They don’t value it
- They don’t take digital seriously
- It’s not central to their overall business model
- They have no idea what’s going on
People with talent aren’t even going to bother looking at these jobs, let alone apply.
They will either start their own business or go and work for a company that pays them what they are worth.
Digital Leaders Have 90% of the Talent They Need
A recent report from Forrester “Predictions 2018: A Year of Reckoning”, supports this.
These professionals want to work for firms further along in their digital transformation effort and with more ambitious strategies.
... digital leaders have 90% of the talent they need, while self-described digital laggards have only 19% of the talent they need.
The result of this is a widening digital divide between companies that have embraced digital transformation and those that are dragging their feet.
It’s digital predator vs digital prey according to Forrester.
Two Digital Survival Tips
1: Double the salary and you’ll get the talent.
2: Get serious about your company’s digital transformation before it's too late.
If you’re not prepared to do this then you just aren’t serous about digital business.
But please, no more whinging about a lack of digital talent.
