Hiring valuable talent is key to profitability

Digital technologies are fast becoming utilities and engulfing our daily lives like never before. Tech advancements, innovations and the blistering pace of breakthroughs in recent years have fundamentally altered the way we live, work, shop, entertain and relate to one another.

The complex and fast-changing mobile digital landscape is leading to growing demand for marketing professionals who possess technical understanding along with business strategy and leadership abilities. Value-focused delivery, adapting to change and continuous improvement are key to achieve business success.

That’s why professionals need to have relevant skills to function in today’s fast-changing business environment and compete globally. They should also be ready to cope up with anticipated working requirements of tomorrow.

As a nation, India is growing fast and technology is powering much of its rise. Two-thirds of the population is below the national average age of 26 years. Expanding internet user base and access to information by millions of people are leading to rising aspirations in rural and urban markets.

Successful marketers and management leaders thus need to be focused on the customer. They must shed the baggage of the past, be agile and responsive, and have the willingness and ability to adapt quickly with fast-changing technologies and market dynamics.

Agile teams

On the other hand, as customer experience becomes increasingly important, companies need to invest in the talent to deliver those experiences. The work environment is becoming more dependent on collective skills and strengths of a multicultural, multi-disciplinary agile team – rather than being focused on the talent of separate individuals.

People thus not only need to have a strong technical understanding but also to be able to function well in teams, sometimes even across various locations. Poor team dynamics can quell even talented individuals.

Successful marketing professionals often perform multiple roles – from driving insights through customer research to briefing design and engineering teams. They should be able to conceptualize a product (or service), position it and communicate effectively with potential consumers.

Talented marketers must have strong communication and influencing skills. Digital marketing can bring targeted traffic to the website, generate potential business leads and increase brand awareness by using various online platforms like content marketing, search engines, social media and online display advertising.

They should be able to create and roll out plans to support agile processes across the business. With management leaders, they should have the ability to put in place measurable performance indicators to track progress.

Reverse mentoring

A workable strategy to have the right talent mix should focus on retaining and training existing professionals as well as on uncovering potential candidates who are already in the business. A thorough understanding of mobile digital technologies and their business applications also extends to senior executives.

Effective reverse mentoring programmes can help address this gap. As the future of technology will be defined by the youth, managements must closely interact with the younger generation of professionals who can provide deep insights on consumer behaviors and current market trends.

The days of specialization are virtually over. Versatility is the key. Marketing professionals should, therefore, focus on delivering measurable business value, delighting the customer and optimizing return on investments.