Re-tool, Re-plan & Re-think!

Millions are leaving their current technology jobs in the wake of an ongoing and unprecedented health crisis. Pundits have estimated that the trend is widespread, likely to persist and, will only get stronger in the coming months and years. Companies and technology teams are suddenly finding themselves competing in a Formula 1 race with a rickety scooter. Organizations are buckling under the pressure of broken supply chains, impacted operations, shortage of labor, high cost of commodities, restrictions on movement, and issues of scale with technology.

Many technology employees are exhausted, sick, or in mourning. Grief and long hours have taken their toll. Organizations are struggling to help technology employees cope with personal or professional loss. Employees are reevaluating their reasons to stay and looking for a new sense of purpose. Industry observers say that many companies may go out of business for the lack of talent rather than a lack of market opportunities or customers. Companies that already had a brittle work culture before the pandemic will suffer the most.

It is not surprising that many organizations don't know how to address the issue as they don't understand it or tend to brush it aside as a temporary problem. It doesn't have to be this way for the employee or the employer. If both parties make an honest effort, things can certainly work, and value can continue to be delivered. The pandemic has created unique opportunities for companies and their employees. Sensible organizations will jump on this chance and use it to mold the technology organization of the future. They will lay down the new template and revise the ground rules to retain the much-needed technology talent. By reassessing work attitudes and value systems, employees can prove their actual worth to their companies by coming forward in the moment of crisis.

Regardless of how the pandemic unfolds, the battle to retain technology talent and deliver value will remain one of the most urgent challenges of our times. Even today's most progressive technology organizations will be forced to reevaluate their strategies and ways of ensuring continuous employee engagement and sustainability.

Zachary Pell's Sensible Agile offers common-sense solutions to this critical need that are not based on vague theory but rather result from direct experience, thoughtful experimentation, and reusable principles. Pell's book makes a case for a shift in how we think about technology work, employee-employer relationships, and value delivery in software development. It can be said that Pell's work gives you the new tools you need to survive and thrive in uncertain times.