It used to be that the primary concern for MSPs was getting end users to understand (or even recognize) what IT outsourcing was. Awareness and acceptance of managed services as a business concept has now reached a level where it is not only accepted, but it is a driving force behind our global economy. Spending on managed services is also increasing. So, things look pretty rosy for MSPs right now, right? Not so fast.
There is one issue facing MSPs on a global level and there aren’t any clear solutions on the horizon. This new challenge is IT talent, or the lack thereof.
At a recent MSPAlliance networking dinner, the entire table seemed preoccupied with the issue of how difficult it was to find good talent. This was not the typical complaint of how hard it is to find people with good work ethics. This was something different. The MSPs at this table were genuinely concerned about where and how they were going to find new talent to help their businesses grow. And, in case you were wondering, these were the MSP business owners.
So, what can MSPs do to identify, attract, and retain the best IT talent possible? Here are a few ideas.
- Hire for Growth – When you find good people, hire them. I’m not sure who said that but it’s good advice, especially in a profession where talent is hard to find. MSPs, in particular, need to take advantage of finding people and bringing them on board, not when it’s advantageous to them, but when they become available.
- Develop Internal Training Practices – You can’t always get the perfect employee, but there are ways you can make them close to perfect. Good MSPs have training and education policies to help groom their employees into better employees. Taking your existing talent and making them better through technical certification, educational incentives, and other programs, can help to mold your employees into managed services experts!
- Mentoring Programs – The original idea of the Network Operation Center was to keep your core technical staff in a physically enclosed space where they could work, interact, and learn as a team. Learning from one another is a very important way to maintain great customer service. Try developing an internal corporate mentoring program where your senior technical staff can help groom younger or less experienced employees.
- Structured Service Delivery Procedures – It may seem odd that having good policies and procedures would have a beneficial impact on retaining good talent, but it does. Your technical talent cannot thrive when they are constantly chasing down problems. Putting out fires may be fun in the short term, but longer term, your employees will start to look elsewhere if your service delivery is too chaotic.
- Identify reputable sources for new talent – it’s not enough to just go to your local university job fair; you should also be cultivating new sources of employees, from local colleges, former military, to work placement programs. Whatever the source, having a few lined up will help ensure you never run out of good talent.
MSPs thrive on good talent. People are what make managed service providers what they are. After all, “services” is the middle name of every MSP.