The big challenge for IT companies

Every industry has its own challenges. With employees who often run into the same obstacles. Obstacles that hinder them in their development and in their happiness at work. We take a closer look at a different industry each time and investigate how Buddy helps to meet challenges and promote the mental health of employees with professional coaching.

The big challenge for IT companies

Just about every industry has to deal with shortages in the labor market. But the IT industry takes the cake: developments are moving at lightning speed, the pool of young talent is thin, competition is fierce and turnover is high.

This is the reason that Buddy is requested by IT organizations: how do you ensure that your employees can develop further within your organization, so that you can attract and retain young talent?

First obstacle: you are young and you don’t know yourself yet

The digital world is becoming increasingly complex. The systems you work with today may be different next year. IT companies often employ relatively young staff. It is not uncommon for them to have just left school and this is their first job. Even if you are at the beginning of your career, because developments are going so fast, career coaching is very important right from the start: where is someone’s development path within the organization? It is important to keep your IT skills up to date, but do you already know what other talents you have and can use?

Second obstacle: the work-life balance is getting out of balance

The bar is set high in the IT world, while the staff is sometimes still inexperienced. Young IT consultants are often very good at solving complex technical issues, but find it difficult to find balance. Their manager is often under great pressure to achieve quick results and relies on hired staff for this. When you’re just starting out, it’s not easy to go against your manager. IT professionals who are just starting out and are still young often suffer from fear of failure and are afraid of being sent away or getting a bad review. Consequence? Overtime is the norm and the pressure to perform is extremely high.

Third obstacle: soft skills are often underdeveloped

Those who are good at developing software are not automatically good at developing professional relationships. In the IT world, there are an above-average number of introverts who, especially at the beginning of their careers, often find it difficult to set boundaries or ask critical questions. In addition, the IT professionals who now enter the industry as juniors have often fallen behind in developing their soft skills during corona time. And because working from home is often the norm, it often becomes even more difficult to develop skills in human contact.

This is how Buddy increases employee lifetime value

In short, there are plenty of obstacles. How can Buddy help overcome them? In individual sessions, our coaches help IT staff with their professional and personal development . By talking and giving concrete assignments, they learn to sharpen their soft skills. This helps them to cope more easily with a demanding environment and to grow faster. By creating a so-called growt mindset, you learn to better deal with and respond to future changes.

With career coaching we investigate hidden talents and interests. What do you turn on and we are possible future career paths? In this way you learn where to focus your attention and you learn to take control of your own development. And to better balance your work-life balance and become more resilient, Buddy helps you to better recognize stress signals and accept that it is okay to sometimes go off the rails

And that only has positive consequences

Companies are often afraid to offer career coaching, because who knows, someone might discover talents that he or she wants to use elsewhere. Research shows that it actually helps to bind people to you. By offering a coaching program, you show a high degree of commitment to their development. And if employees find the place in the organization where they can do their best, this reduces the workload and prevents absenteeism. Just as a good work-life balance does not lead to employees who want to work less. They actually become more productive, happier and more loyal.

Something for your organization? Feel free to contact us.