Softcat hired too many people “in our own image” in the early days of its graduate and apprenticeship programmes.
That was the response of its Chief People Officer Rebecca Monk when asked about what lessons the reseller learned early on in its efforts to bring fresh talent into the industry.
Speaking during a recent Oxygen Influencers podcast (view full podcast here), Monk opened up on Softcat’s famous ‘grow-your-own’ culture, revealing that around half the employees it takes on each year are early-careers people.
Monk was appearing alongside fellow Oxygen Influencer Yvonne Matzk to share tips on best practice on attracting and developing industry talent.
“You end up with a lack of diversity”
LSE-listed Softcat – which last month unveiled a 19% year on year hike in first-half sales – now employs over 2,600 staff and is known throughout the industry for bringing fresh talent into its business.
Around half the employees Softcat hires each year are early-career people, making it a “huge part of the culture”, Monk said.
But when asked about whether Softcat had made any mistakes on graduate and apprentice hiring in the past, Monk acknowledged that the reseller had initially been too narrow in its search efforts.
“One of the things we battled with in the early days is hiring a lot of people in our own image,” she said.
“The traditional people we would hire were from similar universities and similar backgrounds – or maybe people whose families worked in the industry who already knew about the IT channel industry.
“You end up with a lack of diversity.
“So what we’ve tried to do more recently is more outreach to local schools that are maybe more disadvantaged schools, or that have a high proportion of ethnic minorities, so we are bringing in a different type of people.”
Matzk, meanwhile, opened up on efforts by her free mentoring network, The Channel Community, to cultivate more opportunities in the channel for people from lower socio-economic groups.
Only 9% of people who work in tech or the tech channel are from lower socio-economic backgrounds, suggesting the industry is “in some areas still elitist”, she said.
“There’s definitely some work for us to do there to mirror the UK as a whole,” Monk said of Softcat’s efforts here.
Searching “high and low for skills that exist in only a few people”
Softcat is also embracing more senior-level apprenticeships in a bid to close the skills gap in more niche, technical areas of its business, Monk revealed.
“I think where we’ve got the skills shortages is in the more technical areas, or areas where we’re looking for people who are fully fledged, trained people,” she said.
“You end up searching high and low for these skills that exist in only a few people, anywhere in the country, and you think, ‘actually, why don’t we bring them in from scratch and train them up ourselves.
“For instance, we’ve just started some more senior-level apprenticeships that will encourage different types of people into the company.
“Yes, then it becomes our job to try and retain them, because we need to make sure they then don’t get poached by our competitors and we need to make them stick and want to stay a longer time at Softcat.
“But grow-your-own for me the best way to solve the skill shortage – by a mile.”
Matzk and Monk were two of this year’s Oxygen Influencers, which IT Channel Oxygen compiled in partnership with Nebula Global Services (see more here).
View full podcast here.
