1. Bringing a function or capability in-house
2. Succession planning for legacy skills
3. Supporting diverse hiring practices
4. Bringing an offshore operation onshore
5. Decluttering your IT talent strategy
6. Supporting organizational growth
7. Specialized skill development – adapting to emerging technologies
8. Supporting HR with talent development programs
9. Reducing dependency on just-in-time hiring

When a company lacks the expertise to create a certain new application, infrastructure, or function, it often enlists the help of an outside entity or resource. Once the development activity is complete, the organization may want to bring the function or capability in-house. A cost-based or strategic decision will require new, cost-effective support talent that will grow with the company. Regardless of the underlying driver, RTD is a viable talent acquisition approach that is cost-effective and timely.

This affordable model enables businesses to source trained talent in an abbreviated time frame to support their new IT requirements. It is, however, essential to note that bringing in emerging talent requires a transition and knowledge transfer plan. If the tech team has experienced managers with the technical expertise, the new hires can start delivering on the projects under their guidance. In the absence of experienced technical expertise, the team would need to first hire experienced line managers for close guidance and mentorship until the new talent is capable of taking over the function.

An effective RTD model provides a candidate success team to run in parallel with line managers’ ongoing support on the job. To ensure continuous development and advancement, the RTD provider’s success team should consult with the company’s line managers on a regular basis.

In technology teams, the preservation of invaluable legacy skills, competencies, and institutional knowledge is pivotal for organizational success. Recognizing this, businesses prioritize the retention of such assets through meticulous succession planning.

However, despite careful preparation, the simultaneous departure of key skill-holders and their support staff presents a formidable challenge. This scenario risks a sudden depletion of essential talent, skill, and knowledge, leaving the organization vulnerable.

The Recruit, Train, Deploy (RTD) approach offers a strategic solution to this issue. In addition to filling primary skill positions with trained internal talent, organizations can partner with RTD providers to equip new contract staff with requisite skills. This proactive measure serves as a buffer in the event of unforeseen departures, providing a crucial window of opportunity to manage transitions smoothly. Furthermore, the option to transition RTD talent into permanent roles ensures a seamless integration of essential skills into the organizational framework.

Diversity hiring helps an organization increase staff satisfaction, productivity, and retention. In fact, McKinsey reports that, “Diverse companies enjoy 2.5 times higher cash flow per employee, have 19% higher revenues, and have better anticipation/coping/adaptation skills.

“Slightly more than 85% of employers reported having formal diversity recruiting goals,” according to NACE’s 2022 Recruiting Benchmarks Report. However, there can be challenges in meeting these goals.
 
Most IT organizations typically hire their early career talent from a handful of colleges and universities in their area of operation, limiting their talent and diversity pool, especially in regions with fewer minorities. This can pose issues in meeting diversity goals when attempting to source talent to address particular technical skills needs.
 
RTD firms typically use omnichannel talent sourcing methods to find diverse talent with high-demand skill sets, presenting a viable alternative to university and other traditional hiring methods. This approach also frees internal HR/recruiting teams to focus on other initiatives.

While there are some clear cost advantages to using offshore talent for software development, many organizations are shifting to the onshore or nearshore approach for reasons that can offset any cost savings—they want to align their IT team with similar cultures and time zones. These two factors alone can significantly impact the productivity and cohesion of a distributed team, thereby mitigating any cost-saving advantages.
 
In fact, Bloomberg reports that “80% of companies in North America are actively considering nearshore.”
 
Historically, IT leadership has turned to affordable junior talent as a bridge during such a transition. The problem with this strategy is that it typically brings on largely untrained talent, which can increase risk and decrease efficiency.

The RTD model is an excellent alternative in these scenarios. Temporary developers are pre-trained for up to 12 weeks on the skills needed before joining a team. This training has no upfront cost, and line managers can even help develop the curriculum. One of the most significant benefits of the RTD model is that a business has 12 weeks to calibrate a mutual fit, significantly de-risking the hiring process.

Employing the RTD model while migrating from offshore to onshore/nearshore does require some knowledge transfer from the offshore team or some expertise onshore before infusing RTD talent. Therefore, the involvement of offshore team or onshore experts in curriculum development and training is required.

Large IT teams may struggle with managing myriad sources of talent acquisition – e.g.., multiple temporary agencies, consulting companies, recruiting firms, etc. A failing strategy can lead to inefficiencies, ineffective internal talent development, and retention struggles. The HR and leadership teams may unintentionally neglect existing internal talent to focus on the bevy of temporary talent – often leaving internal staff dissatisfied. This can lead to turnover and critical knowledge/intellectual property loss. IT leaders are always looking for efficiencies.

Tech teams that employ the RTD model often see a 90% retention and conversion-to-permanent rate, which is higher than any other early-talent development approach. A primary reason for this is the streamlined nature of RTD. If planned strategically, HR and IT leadership teams can minimize reliance on multiple temporary staffing and consulting firms by partnering with an RTD provider. Organizations will benefit from a more streamlined operation with a clear plan to cultivate internal talent.

As companies grow, they require investment in technology talent to support the growth In 2024, 66% of companies are increasing their IT budgets, and 59% plan to increase the size of their IT staff (Spiceworks, 2024 State of IT Report). The money is there, but is the strategy?.
 
Sourcing the necessary skills and finding early-career talent that can make an immediate impact is harder said than done. This is where many companies struggle. Organizations can set themselves up for a prosperous future with cultivated talent that advances their competitive advantage when executed correctly. However, recruitment and training can be overwhelming and an unwelcome challenge to many businesses.
 
The RTD model can help. Whether a business needs help achieving its yearly project goals or meeting its multi-year technology roadmap, RTD can supplement experienced hiring with trained junior talent that can hit the ground running productively from day one. The line managers can often participate in the training curriculum to ensure the talent has the skills required at onboarding.

RTD firms tend to focus on hard technical skills and much-needed soft skills such as communication, teamwork, adaptability, problem-solving, critical thinking, and even leadership traits. This combination helps to ensure temporary talent’s productivity and ongoing contribution to an IT team.

IT leadership constantly tries to innovate and keep up with the latest trends and technology releases.
 
Take AI-augmented software engineering, for example. Technology organizations across the globe are looking for ways to integrate AI strategies into their development efforts.
 
Gartner Group states, “By 2027, half of all enterprise software engineers should be using generative AI tools to help with the development, testing, and operation of software.”
 
If an organization doesn’t have this expertise in-house, what can they do?
 
The RTD model can fill in these gaps in a collective team skillset. Line managers can work closely with the RTD provider to cultivate temporary talent to bring these new skills into an organization. This on-demand approach shortens the recruiting curve, speeds access to unique skill sets, and provides immediate access to emerging trends before it is too late.

According to the World Economic Forum, 2023, “76% of companies are investing in emerging technologies.”