How employers and employees can close talent gaps to avoid tech risk

The digital skills gap is derailing organisations’ transformation plans, leaving them at risk of disruption. In today’s technologically driven world, innovation often leads to competitive advantage; however as a result, organisations are facing a regularly overlooked consequence: increased risk.

The New Riskonomy, a recent study surveying 1,500 business leaders globally, identified the digital skills gap as a major concern for organisations, ranking third behind data management and cybersecurity and on par with the misuse of generative AI.

Despite the technological focus of the new Riskonomy, people remain central to organisational success and risk mitigation. While the digital skills gap is a top concern for organisations, it’s crucial to understand that depending on the approach, the digital skills can either decrease or increase the threat of other technology-associated risks throughout the business. Organisations must therefore carefully balance and align their overall business strategy with their skills-based talent strategy.

Digital skills centre stage

The New Riskonomy revealed that two-thirds of C-suite and GCs identified digital skills as important to their business strategy. However, technological advancement, including the explosion of generative AI across the workforce, has put digital skills centre stage. Organisations that don’t consistently consider and invest in digital skills within their overall business strategy are at risk of being left behind. But how do you successfully create a workforce with the right digital skills to support your business strategy and minimise risk? To protect your organisation from the growing external digital threats, and the closer-to-home risks which can come from a lack of digital literacy, it is no longer enough to simply know how to utilise new technologies. Workforces must also understand the potential limitations and risks of doing so.

The tech skills gap & the risk that follows

A lack of digital skills within an organisation can dramatically increase the risk across business operations. For example, an employee who lacks an awareness of the vast range of digital threats to which their business is exposed daily is less likely to understand how their behaviour can subject the organisation to a cyber-attack. Phishing is a standard example of this. Cybercriminals are exploiting AI to enable more mature phishing attempts, resulting in unknowing employees letting hackers infiltrate their organisation.

Cybersecurity threats are more likely to succeed when employees are not trained to understand basic security protocols and recognise sophisticated phishing attempts. Similarly, poor data management practices can lead to data breaches and loss of sensitive information. The skills gap extends to new technologies such as AI, where the misuse or misunderstanding of these tools can have serious repercussions.

Bridging the tech skills gap

Across sectors, the New Riskonomy found that C-suite leaders believe that, on average, a fifth of their workforce does not currently have the digital skills to support their business strategy. Leadership teams and HR professionals need to take a proactive approach to upskilling and reskilling their workforces. The first step is to identify crucial skills gaps with an eye toward skills that will drive the organisation’s business strategy.

This involves HR functions working closely with management and IT departments to identify the current skills gap and anticipate what future skills your organisation’s leaders will require five years from now. Beyond conducting skills gap analyses and strategic learning & development programs, HR must also think proactively about recruitment and retention to compete in the war for talent in a digital age. It is important to understand not just the company’s skills needs but also the qualities and experience they would like to foster and attract to the organisation as it drives forward.

Practical steps to address the tech talent gap to improve business security

1. Implement regular assessments of your organisation’s skillset requirements: Continuously assess the skills needed within your workforce to support your organisation’s overall growth and digital transformation plans. Don’t forget to also consider external factors, such as the rise of generative AI and the changing hybrid work environment in the assessment.  
2. Develop a comprehensive training program: As a result of the assessment, develop and support various training programmes aligned with the specific digital skills needed. These programmes should be continuous and evolve with the changing technological landscape.
3. Invest in talent: Allocate resources to training and attracting new talent that supports your long-term business goals. This might include partnering with educational institutions or offering individual training budgets to employees.
4. Monitor and adjust: Continuously monitor and adjust training budgets and programs based on feedback and metrics. This will ensure the programme is beneficial to the whole organisation, and aligned with new ventures and objectives.

Recognising and addressing the tech skills gap within the organisation will significantly boost the defence against technology-related risks. It won’t happen overnight, but implementing and identifying the specific skillset requirements is the first step in bridging the tech talent gap and minimising the associated risks. Investing in your workforce and promoting a culture of continuous learning is more crucial than ever in the evolving digital landscape.

By Michelle Roberts Gonzales, Partner at Hogan Lovells, Employment and Investigations