Enterprises and service providers are facing a talent crunch that requires them to double down on employee engagement programs to attract and retain people with critical skill sets, says an expert with Information Services Group, a leading global technology research and advisory firm. "When employees are engaged in the corporate culture, have visibility to the executive team and are confident the company values their input, they are significantly less likely to leave. In talent landscape, this is a competitive advantage." Speaking at the All Day DevOps virtual event today, Ola Chowning, partner, ISG Digital Strategy and Solutions, said companies need to engage employees and ensure they are noticed, recognized, heard and valued to improve retention. Chowning made her comments during a 30-minute online presentation, "Skill Shift 2022 – From Deep to Wide, Hard To Soft," her fifth consecutive appearance at the annual event, the largest of its kind in the industry.

Companies are looking to grab any technology-driven advantage they can as they adapt to new ways of working, managing employees, and serving customers. They are making bigger moves toward the cloud, e-commerce, digital supply chains, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), data analytics, and other areas that can deliver efficiency and innovation. At the same time, enterprises are trying to manage risk -- and the same digital initiatives that create new opportunities can also lead to risks such as security breaches, regulatory compliance failures, and other setbacks. The result is an ongoing conflict between the need to innovate and the need to mitigate risk. "There is always going to be some amount of tension relating to managing risk and engaging in digital transformation work," says Ryan Smith, CIO at healthcare provider Intermountain Healthcare.