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Telecommunications companies need an effective talent strategy to remain sustainable and relevant

By PressNo Comments

By Evelyn Vanassche, Head of Recruitment at Teleresources

The telecommunications industry is rapidly evolving, and the skills gap this has created poses a significant challenge to businesses. The demand for highly skilled professionals continues to outpace the available talent pool, and yet without these skills, businesses will increasingly struggle to remain relevant and sustainable. Addressing this challenge is not only about hiring the right talent, which is in short supply but also about mapping out plans for training and upskilling future generations as well. Partnering with a specialist recruiter that has a deep understanding of the telecommunications market can be a crucial differentiator when it comes to navigating the skills gap and positioning for long-term growth in the rapidly evolving telecommunications industry.

The breakneck pace of change

One of the biggest challenges faced by the telecommunications industry is how fast technology has evolved and continues to evolve. To remain relevant, competitive, and sustainable, it is essential to be able to support traditional technologies while at the same time gearing up for future solutions. It has become imperative to have a talent strategy in place to not only address the current gap in skills but also to ensure that the right talent is in place to handle the future telecommunications landscape and enable South Africa to compete on a global scale.

The crux of this is the ability to understand where you are today, where you want to be tomorrow, and what skills are needed to bridge this gap. This in turn requires a broad and deep understanding of the business and the industry landscape to craft a map of skills and understand what exists in the market and what will need to be trained and upskilled internally. The reality, however, is that most businesses simply do not have the time or expertise in talent to achieve this, which is why the right talent partner is essential.

Retention is vital

One element of an effective talent strategy is the ability to attract the right skills, but that is only part of the picture, especially in a skills-scarce environment. It is equally important, once you have found the talent you need, to be able to retain it. The competition in the skills arena is massive; not only are companies competing for skills, but the skilled individuals themselves are vying for the best jobs.

The best candidates are looking for the best employers, which requires employers to have visibility and effectively market themselves to the talent pool. It also means that employers need to offer the best market-related salaries and have an environment that is robust and centred on retention and loyalty. This in turn requires the ability to provide talent with an environment that not only meets their financial expectations but also supports career growth and offers effective succession planning.

Specialist skills need specialist recruitment

Telecommunication companies need the right talent to enable them to perform today and, in the future, but talent attraction and retention are not typically core skills. This is why it pays to partner with a specialist recruiter with the expertise to identify and attract top talent, who can help them find and keep the skills they need to succeed. With their market knowledge and extensive networks, as well as their insight into trends and technology evolution, specialist recruiters are an invaluable ally.

In addition to being continuously on the pulse of this fast-changing industry, your recruitment partner should have a sustainable, tried-and-tested methodology for sourcing skills to meet supply and demand and ensuring candidates stay in the jobs in which they are placed. They can also assist in developing training and development programmes as part of a talent roadmap to upskill and cross-skill existing employees.

Taking a long-term view

When it comes to bridging the talent gap and ensuring you have a pipeline of skills for future relevance and growth, it is essential to take a long-term view. While it is true that training costs money, the reality is that it is also the most sustainable way to ensure the right skills are available. Training is an investment that should be part of strategic planning, incorporating talent transition and internal growth to expose people to new and evolving technologies and ensure their skillsets are up-to-date. Having this on top of a solid retention strategy is the key.

Understanding the market, understanding your skills gap, and embedding talent transition, upskilling, and growth into business are the keys to success. Engaging with talent agencies can help telecommunications businesses in all of these areas and can be hugely beneficial in ensuring organisations do not become obsolete without the ability to meet the pace of technological change. The cost of not having the right skills is a lot higher than the cost of partnering with the right people to help you find the talent you need.

About Teleresources:

Teleresources, a level 1 B-BBEE contributor and proud member of RecruitCo (Pty) Ltd, offers comprehensive recruitment and staffing solutions tailored to meet various business needs. With nearly three decades of experience, Teleresources specialises in identifying, attracting, and placing top talent within the telecommunications sector. Our recruitment process, deeply embedded in our DNA, ensures the acquisition, retention, and productivity of exceptional candidates, driving success for both clients and candidates alike.

As part of the RecruitCo group, Teleresources benefits from the extensive resources and expertise of its parent company, which covers permanent recruitment, outsourcing, blue-collar TES, executive searches, and more. Along with Teleresources, RecruitCo is also a proud holding company of Fempower, Accotech, People First, ONLY the Best, and OpenSource Intelligent Solutions. RecruitCo is a wholly owned subsidiary of Workforce Holdings Limited, a trusted provider of employment, training, healthcare, wellness, financial, and lifestyle services. Workforce Holdings Limited is a JSE AltX listed company.

Supercharging telecommunications talent – specialised recruitment’s key role in uncovering industry skills

By PressNo Comments

By Evelyn Vanassche, Head of Recruitment at Teleresources

The telecommunications space evolves rapidly, and the skills for this industry are in global demand. This can make it a challenge for telecommunications companies to not only identify but also attract the right talent. To keep pace, internal upskilling is critical, but this in turn can only be achieved with the right people in place. Hiring the best candidates, who match the skills required for the industry, are then also able to pass their knowledge on down through your organisation, has become essential for telecommunications companies that do not wish to be left behind. To do this, you need the right recruitment partner – a specialist with the understanding and experience of the client market, the candidate market and the economic climate, to map, attract and land the best talent.

Constant and rapid evolution

The telecommunications space is a highly niche market – it is incredibly specialised and also critical to so many elements of modern life, frequently forming the backbone of a business. For example, cloud-based productivity solutions require network connectivity and access to fibre, while mobile phones are integral for both business and personal reasons. In this fast-paced environment, becoming a global player means you need to have the skills across various platforms, from 5G to satellite and beyond, to meet your message to market. In an industry that is all about speed and efficiency, the better the skills you can identify and hire, the more competitive you are.

However, this is often easier said than done, particularly for organisations that maintain their hiring processes in-house. The reality is that, while excellent candidates want to work for the best companies, they will not necessarily knock on their doors. Finding the best candidates is far more intricate than putting out a job specification and then sifting through CVs. When skills are highly specialised and much in demand, it is necessary to actively recruit the right people for the job, while aligning with the market and their expectations in terms of salary, benefits and so on.

A specialist partner

In-house human resources talent managers may not have the knowledge of the market dynamic, market related salaries and retention policies they need to find and attract the skills required. Talent is not just about budget, but about long-term benefit and a broader understanding of the needs within the business, from meeting current requirements to catering for future growth.

Partnering with a specialist in telecommunications recruitment means working with a company that is actively working to find the exact skills you need, with the platforms and strategies in place to attract the talent, along with the expertise to ensure appropriate placements. Recruitment specialists have spent years developing the methodologies, networks, platforms, and knowledge they need, and have the history and understanding of where the telecommunications industry has come from. They are also constantly growing their knowledge base and developing as the industry changes, to keep pace with rapid evolution. This is instrumental in identifying relevant candidates.

Internal mentorship and training down

In the final quarter of 2023, Statista reported South Africa’s unemployment rate at a striking 32.1%, placing it among the highest worldwide. Despite this alarming statistic, businesses are facing a significant hurdle: the shortage of individuals with the required technical expertise, especially in the specialised field of telecommunications. The 2021 ICT JCSE-IITPSA Skills Survey shed light on this issue, revealing nearly 10,000 vacant positions within South Africa’s ICT sector. This indicates a substantial lack of technical skills to fulfil business needs. Adding to the complexity, the 2022 report highlighted a growing trend among South African companies turning to overseas recruitment to bridge this skills gap. This highlights the need for internal mentorship and training down.

Our President acknowledges the skills gap we face in the telecommunications sector, but the introduction of the so-called ‘digital nomad’ visa is not the solution. What we are realising here is the lack of training and mentoring, and this comes down to hiring the best candidates. We do not need overseas skills to teach local talent, but we do need to promote and encourage the concepts of mentorship and training down.

It is imperative to understands the broader narrative and how one job speaks to another, where the positions fit and align. This means you can hire the candidates and empower them to pass these skills on while they grow their own skill sets as technology evolves. Understanding the bigger picture is key.

Expect excellence

The culture of your recruitment agency plays a pivotal role – mediocre recruiters will source mediocre candidates, while those that strive for excellence will deliver. A forward-looking view is vital – telecommunications is a global industry that is constantly shifting, and if you are not innovative, fast, and agile enough you will fall by the wayside. Supporting this agility and innovation comes down to the people you hire.  And partnering with a recruitment partner that understand the industry, skills and speed at which development is accelerated, will have a far-reaching impact on telecommunication companies.

About Teleresources:

Teleresources, a level 1 B-BBEE contributor and proud member of RecruitCo (Pty) Ltd, offers comprehensive recruitment and staffing solutions tailored to meet various business needs. With nearly three decades of experience, Teleresources specialises in identifying, attracting, and placing top talent within the telecommunications sector. Our recruitment process, deeply embedded in our DNA, ensures the acquisition, retention, and productivity of exceptional candidates, driving success for both clients and candidates alike.

As part of the RecruitCo group, Teleresources benefits from the extensive resources and expertise of its parent company, which covers permanent recruitment, outsourcing, blue-collar TES, executive searches, and more. Along with Teleresources, RecruitCo is also a proud holding company of Fempower, Accotech, People First, ONLY the Best, and OpenSource Intelligent Solutions. RecruitCo is a wholly owned subsidiary of Workforce Holdings Limited, a trusted provider of employment, training, healthcare, wellness, financial, and lifestyle services. Workforce Holdings Limited is a JSE AltX listed company.