Doing More with Less - A Human (Resourcing) Dilemma

Data technology leaders and managers have become used to being asked to 'do more with less'. That was even before the coronavirus! As companies struggle now to survive this economic downturn, this rallying cry to the troops echo even louder.

Talent acquisition and talent retention are big issues for many organizations, and with the importance of technology growing, leader and managers could only hope for greater levels of investment. But this may not be possible, so they need to focus on boosting output.

LinkedIn research already found that only about a quarter of HR budgets rose to keep pace with additional recruitment. HR function within organizations are not able to keep up with hiring demands of the data technology leaders and managers due to this. This leaves the leaders and managers to do even more with less help from their internal HR partners.

So, how can leaders and managers get what they need given these challenges and how can they lean on their HR partners to help them?

Online networks – They or their HR team can leverage social media and professional networks to engage talent and advertise new opportunities. Social networks can provide a good avenue to reach a broader base of talent. This means though that they or the HR employees would need to be trained to make sure they are effective on those networks.

Collaboration - Managers and leaders can do cross-departmental collaboration to share skills and learn from each other's experiences. This learning could increase effectiveness. This could be done by HR or the managers themselves. It does take some time, which may not be adequately available, to execute.

Mobility – Their HR team should make sure all of their literature is easily accessible online and on mobile devices so there can be increased visibility for career structures and opportunities for progression. This reduces redundant work that would need to be done while also accomplishing the objective of keeping staff motivated.

Training - The right training should be offered. While onboarding guidance is important, ongoing professional development is critical and should be accompanied by high-quality training programs, either internally and externally. This would maximize success and help with retention.

Talent management - There needs to be a clear focus on this area. By enhancing the quality of internal staff, companies can significantly improve their workforce. This would reduce the need to constantly hire, thus putting less of a strain on the overworked leaders and managers who are already doing more with less.

Professionals who feel undervalued are unlikely to put in the extra effort required to get lean and innovative ideas off the ground. But if things are done correctly, then the budgets can be stretched and leaders and managers will be less strained with trying to do more despite being equipped with less. Data technology leaders and managers will need to work closely with their understaffed and underfunded HR teams to implement these smart solutions.