In a recent Survey
Reveal survey, more than half of respondents chose “recruiting developers with the right skills” as this year’s biggest business challenge in the software development space, followed closely by the challenge of maintaining current talent.
The fact that these human resource problems trumped common operational obstacles like time constraints, increased customer demands and limited resources, highlights the fact that the development of software and tech is still very much dependent on people and that hiring and retaining the right people in the right positions is critical for business success.
Replacing Talent with Tech?
To address the immediate shortage in skilled software developers, many companies are turning to low-code/no-code tools design-to-code platforms and other software that will work for citizen developers. As the demand for these solutions has increased, so have the number of offerings and their capabilities.
While these AI-powered tools may assist with the coding, setup and deployment of basic apps and digital interfaces, they simply cannot meet the rapidly changing demands and complex requirements associated with apps and systems in the VOD space.
Video on demand requires developers on demand
The OTT/VOD industry is notoriously competitive and customer loyalty is hard won. Even Netflix is not immune to the high demands and fickle tastes of viewers, as evidenced by their shocking drop in subscribers in the first quarter of 2022. And, as other streaming service providers will know, a drop in subscribers is usually accompanied by a drop in stock prices and investor confidence – a nightmare for any business. To avoid losing subscribers and retain their market share, OTT/VOD platforms need to constantly innovate and evolve as technological and customer requirements become ever more complex.
The success of any platform hinges on 2 factors – content and technology. It is one thing to create content that viewers want to watch. Ensuring that they are able to watch it where and when they want to on any device without any issues is a whole ‘nother thing. And that’s where we come in.
Having deployed devs-on-demand to various VOD clients including Discovery+ over the last 9 years, we have witnessed the immense growth and changing demands of the industry and gained unique insights into its challenges. With extensive knowledge and first-hand experience of these challenges, our developers are able to address them as they pop up, anticipate future issues and identify possible opportunities for growth and innovation.
Why our Devs-On-Demand are in high demand
In addition to developing innovative solutions to solve complex business and IT challenges, Hooligan’s developers are known for their ability to simply slot into a team and hit the ground running. This is because we don’t just believe in placing developers – we thrive on putting them in an environment where they can constantly develop their skills and reach their maximum potential. And before we do any of this, we make sure we’re working with the top talent by sticking to our rule of only hiring candidates who are 40% better than our previous hire. Strict? Sure. Difficult? Definitely! But it’s the only way to ensure we get results (and our clients have consistently reaped the rewards of our process).
Now you may think that we’ve relaxed our rigorous recruitment rules in the wake of the current global shortage of developers, but we wouldn’t dream of it. In fact, the shortage has only served to bolster our belief in hiring the best and making them better. Case in point is Hooligan recruit turned dev-on-demand Clifford Hattingh , who quickly made himself an unmissable member of the Discovery Plus team and even went on to secure a joint win in the inaugural Discovery Inc. Global Hackathon earlier this year, which saw 286 participants battle it out over 2 rounds for the top spot.
Cliff’s successes in his role at Discovery Plus can be attributed to his passion for innovation and drive to be the best, coupled with a recruitment pipeline we’ve repeatedly tried and tested and now totally trust for all placements.
The (he)art of training and retaining top talent
When recruiting new devs-on-demand, it is important for us to make sure that candidates are not only a good fit for our team, but will also perform well in our clients’ teams. It’s hard to define exactly what makes a Hooli, but some of the attributes we always look out for are curiosity, commitment and a passion for solving problems.
Continuous learning is one of the cornerstones of our company culture, so once we’ve identified and employed someone that shares our values and subscribes to the Hooli way of working, we make sure we provide ongoing support and coaching as well as skills and career development.
We also place a great emphasis on work-life balance and always aspire to make our devs-on-demand feel valued. By sticking to these principles we’ve been able to mitigate some of the other business challenges identified in the recent survey, including maintaining current talent (46%) and keeping employees engaged (43%).
The current shortage of skilled developers can have far-reaching consequences for businesses that rely on technology to meet their customers’ demands – especially those in the VOD/streaming space. Despite this global shortage, however, Hooligan has consistently succeeded in attracting, training and retaining the best devs in the business, so our clients wouldn’t have to worry about doing it themselves.