The Humanity Missing In Tech
If you’ve ever had an IT person say you’ve got a “picnic” or “ID ten T” error, then I’m afraid to say you’ve been insulted, possibly to your face. That’s not to say that the support person stating it was being mean spirited however the joke is nonetheless at the expense of the not-so-computer-savvy. ID10T spells idiot, and PICNIC stands for – Problem In Chair, Not In Computer.

It is true that tech has a bit of an image problem, so what can we do to move away from this image of the “Ivory Tower” of IT with its perceived superiority and towards inclusivity for a diverse, vibrant and attractive sector for people of all walks of life?

The humanity missing from tech is the soft skills that enable the interconnections of human beings; those with questions and those with answers and those with proposals and those with the budget. If we choose to hire purely based on hard skills, we risk employing someone who isn’t a team player or can’t communicate their ideas effectively.

There is often a large disconnect between recruitment teams and hiring managers. In my field, cyber security, it is a known oxymoron for entry-level candidates to be requested to have 5 years of experience, as hard IT skills and time “in the trenches” are deemed essential given the serious nature of the work. However, a true entry-level candidate, who may be lacking core technical skills, may have the skills and ability to learn and adapt quickly, and that is truly the key capability.

The world of tech is changing rapidly; time spent studying at courses or universities is commendable, however, the technology itself evolves at such a pace that it can often become obsolete by the time the studies are completed. A true soft skill that is needed to excel in tech is the ability to learn complex topics quickly, often while on the job. Companies don’t have the time or resources to send established members of staff on external training courses frequently, however, a company that does not keep up with new technology is soon left behind. Those of us who wish to succeed must be adept at learning. This is a skill that often isn’t searched for when hiring new employees.

Strong soft skills can even impact a business’s talent retention. LinkedIn reported that in companies that struggle with manager care, employees are nearly 50% more likely to apply for a new job. Today’s managers need supercharged soft skills to attract and retain talent. Hard technical skills are of course, where they are a necessity, vital. However, what I propose is that we are screening for these three skills instead of or in addition to any technical skills, and the ability to learn quickly. These soft skills, or “core skills” work in any discipline, any industry and are vital for business improvement: teamwork, communication, and empathy.

Teamwork
No man is an island and the same is true of an IT admin. No matter what your IT discipline or project delivery method is, be it waterfall or agile, everyone works in a team. In a 21st century business, there is no room for single points of failure and people withholding information for fear of their job security. Agile and the cloud means we are all more open and connected than ever before and so having a team player that is not just willing but proactive about sharing informative discussions, supporting team members, encouraging knowledge sharing and even informal mentoring is vital to ensuring that our teams, and the members within them, improve.

Communication
Communication is the key to all the other soft skills. Communication enables your teamwork. Staff need to be able to discuss a problem or something that went wrong (or right) with their colleague. It helps deliver key messages up the management stream to ensure that senior stakeholders understand the business reasons for projects or issues the company is facing.

IT communication cannot be all bits and bytes, ones and zeros. IT must understand it is a business department and it needs to align with business strategy. We must communicate IT needs in business terms and key communication skills encourage that, meaning that even without aligning to business strategy, you can still put your point across in a succinct way without pandering or demeaning anyone for not understanding the technical nitty gritty. Great communication can also reduce confusion over work priorities. This can help combat the burnout fatigue that we frequently see across highly productive IT teams.

Empathy
Empathy is the ability to put oneself in someone else’s shoes. This is vital in a myriad of roles within IT; while working on an IT help desk, empathy would allow you to see from the other person’s perspective and understand how frustrating it is that a seemingly pointless IT process is prohibiting you from doing something you want to do or making it significantly longer, adding more steps and taking more of your precious time to do your work.

A little bit of empathy for colleagues or customers can go a long way in resolving any personal issues that may arise from ongoing technical difficulties. We can ensure that the relationship between users and tech teams remains harmonious and is seen as an equal, cooperative partnership. This can be a benefit in the future if there were to be a potential disruption, or if the IT department were looking to make changes. End users understand there must be a good reason for any disruptions and that everything is being done to ensure service is back up and running again quickly. Ultimately, we’re establishing trust.

Empathy can also help project managers, product owners and system architects to better understand use cases and the needs of a business, or even the underlying wants of a salesperson pitching you a product. The ability to look outside of your own perspective not only helps grease the wheels of progress but also allows us, as individuals, to view our needs and wants from a different point of view, which can be very beneficial for self-improvement.

Soft Skill Shortage?
So how do we increase soft skills in IT? First of all, we need to look at not including hard skill requirements such as certifications in every job role. If it is a true requirement, then yes this is the correct use of specifications. However, this can rule out many candidates who may be a perfect fit for the job but haven’t had the opportunity, time, or privilege to pass such certifications. We should also look at targeting people who are transitioning from other industries that potentially use these soft skills in abundance, such as customer service, sales and the care sector. Rather than dismissing these people for the skills they don’t have, embrace them for the skills that they are bringing to the table. I firmly believe that given the opportunity anyone can learn any hard skill, but it’s incredibly difficult to teach someone how to be a team player or to be empathetic.

• The benefits of concentrating on soft skills in both the hiring process and within team development are numerous:
• Your staff will be happier as their needs are being met because they are communicating effectively.
• Inter-departmental relationships improved.
• Increasing diversity by removing barriers to entry.
• More profitable business by improving efficiency and output.
• Reducing staff turnover due to burnout.

Fay Sears is an Information Security professional passionate about increasing diversity in tech, reducing the cyber skills gap and breaking down barriers to inspire the next generation to move into the industry. She recently won the Cyber Security Award at the 2022 FDM everywoman in Technology Awards.