People drive business success – if they have the right foundations

Working in Tech requires agility. Targets, strategies, and the technology itself can change rapidly, meaning best made plans can require sudden pivots into new, exciting directions.

However, despite being a global sector, rates of innovation, and investment, differ by country. Investment in Technology research and development in Europe is one-fifth of what it is in the US, and half that in China. For AI, investment is around 50 times higher in the US than in Europe.

With this concentration of capital starting to form in key geographical locations, there will be consequences in terms of global demand for skills. For example, McKinsey found in its survey of 3.5 million Technology job descriptions, that many of the skills in greatest demand do not have the required supply of talent. This fight for skills will place an even greater onus on businesses to create working environments that nurture talent, but also attract those needed to grow a business in the first place.

While cultural and legislative differences between countries exist, one common thread remains – businesses achieve nothing without the right people and skills to drive them forward. For those of us honing our ‘People Visions’, and the consequent strategies for making this possible, this mantra has never felt more important. Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI – and the success of ChatGPT – perhaps exemplifies how success is contingent on having the right skills and teams in place to respond to the vision and strategies set by leaders.

This concept was pivotal as we reevaluated how we grow our talent in the next phase of our journey, while also aligning everyone with our commercial objectives. To achieve this, we started with a ‘People Vision’, which set out what it means to be employed by Northern Data Group. From there, we created our new ‘People Strategy’, which puts employees firmly at the heart of the business, while also devoting specific pillars to key strategic priorities. This enables vertical and lateral growth, which we hope in turn will drive our commercial success too. Here are the key takeaways, and what this means for Northern Data Group.

Setting the business up for the long-term

Any People Strategy created in isolation is not going to work. There’s no point creating a document frequented by buzzwords and fluffy HR phrases, it needs to be designed with the business, for the business, while also running with our long-term corporate ambitions.

Our employees work in a fast-paced, changeable environment. However, despite this disruptive, innovative backdrop, it’s important to drive a sense of inclusivity, and ensure the ‘why’ behind decisions is explained. This means creating a feedback loop to drive engagement. We want to understand what employees need from us, to help put the right policies in place, as understanding their motivating drivers will influence their positive performance.

Accountable and measurable

To set us up for success, it was vital that our new strategy has people, measurability, and accountability at its heart.

For example, under each pillar we have initiatives and actions to help us achieve our 2024 goals, while also measuring our progress. From supporting cross-functional working initiatives through to running engagement surveys and implementing detailed follow-up action plans, it sets out a clear picture of what’s needed to help us achieve our goal of powering the next generation of talent to lead Northern Data Group into a brave and brilliant future.

Global and without borders

I talked earlier about the importance of relevance and ensuring nothing sits in isolation, and this ethos rings true in our strategy. We have a global workforce, which means there are nuances depending on where you work. From practicalities like labor laws (e.g. maternity leave, public holidays, employee relation processes) through to workplace culture influencing how teams work together, we had a challenge in trying to form a relevant Strategy that would appeal to people no matter their role or location. We therefore focused on universal policies with local appendices, ensuring consistency and fairness and building on Northern Data Group’s commonality instead of driving a feeling of where you work dictating the culture.

Creating something successful from scratch requires effort, as results are only as good as the endeavor you put in – much like prompting a chatbot. Corporate success relies on a long-term vision, and the same is true when it comes to people. Like the tech stack, it can’t be piecemeal or reactionary and requires foundations on which to build something solid. Our strategy reflects this, and we predict it will provide our talent with the necessary platform on which to thrive, helping in turn to drive future success for Northern Data Group.