How coaching and mentoring are bridging the skills gap
Digital transformation remains an imperative for Australian businesses-in any sector. CTOs and IT managers continue to face the urgent challenge of closing the skills gap while keeping pace with rapid technological change.
Traditional training programs and certifications are valuable and necessary. However, they often focus on technical skills in isolation. By embedding coaching and mentoring into professional development strategies, organisations can help employees adapt, innovate, and even lead in an ever-evolving tech landscape.
We always find that the soft skills are essential for effective collaboration and communication. Whether it’s reading the room, being open to new ideas, or simply knowing when to listen and when to speak… this is sometimes a more difficult skills gap to fill, compared to the technical skills. Mentoring or shadowing a mentor coach is a strong way to bridge the soft skills gap. – Shane Jones, CEO and Director, 9Yards
Closing the IT skills gap and building soft skills
Emerging and disruptive technologies continue to challenge organisations that want to modernise their systems. Teams impacted by digital transformation will need to acquire new technical skills.
Coaching and mentoring provide a hands-on, practical and relevant approach to upskilling in technical areas such as cloud computing, DevOps, data management, cybersecurity, and AI while keeping pace with industry trends.
Coaching and mentoring are also excellent ways to teach transferable skills. These are skills that build resilience and shape how teams think, collaborate, and solve problems.
Learning on the job from experts is also a good way to bridge the training gap during transitions and beyond.
Mentoring by external digital transformation experts is a cost-effective and efficient way to transfer technical and soft skills without losing the corporate knowledge and culture that drive long term success.
If you’re keen to get started with coaching and mentoring, consider starting with the following actions:
- Introduce peer coaching within IT teams to encourage continuous learning.
- Pair IT employees with technical mentors who have expertise in key skill areas.
- Use coaching to help teams apply new knowledge in real-world projects, rather than relying solely on courses and certifications.
- Create mentoring programs where external experts guide employees through major tech transitions such as cloud adoption, AI integration, or cybersecurity overhauls.
Benefits of employee coaching and mentoring
There are direct and indirect benefits of using coaching and mentoring to bridge that skills gap and help your teams navigate the change that disruption brings. Two key benefits are based on retaining skilled employees and building a resilient company culture of collaboration and innovation.
Employee retention through coaching and mentoring: High turnover in IT teams can disrupt projects and slow innovation. Yet employees who feel supported in their career growth are far more likely to stay. To reduce the risk of turnover, mentoring offers technical and other skills to support career development. Coaching helps employees feel heard, valued, and equipped to succeed.
Strengthen collaboration and innovation: IT teams often operate in silos, leading to inefficiencies and bottlenecks. Businesses can use coaching to foster collaborative problem-solving. A coaching model can help teams work more effectively across disciplines, whether in software development, infrastructure, or security.
Some action items to strengthen collaboration between IT teams and the rest of the organisation might be:
- Engage external coaches or train your internal IT experts in coaching techniques to encourage knowledge sharing and teamwork.
- Introduce cross-functional mentoring where IT professionals learn from business leaders. This will help to align tech strategies with company goals, and give leadership teams real insights into the challenges and opportunities that impact day to day operations during digital transformation.
- Consider reverse mentoring where younger employees share insights on emerging technologies with senior leaders.
The risks in using coaching and mentoring
Choosing to add coaching and mentoring into your organisation’s professional development mix will bring a range of short-term and long term benefits. However, there are some risks and challenges. We’ve listed some below, with some actions you can take to mitigate the risks and address the challenges.
Lack of structure, unclear goals: Define KPIs for coaching and mentoring, such as improvements in skill adoption, team performance, or leadership readiness. Set regular check-in meetings. Track progress through feedback loops.
Mismatched mentor-mentee pairings: Use a structured matching process to choose mentors based on skill needs, career aspirations, and personal compatibility. Provide training to mentees to help them get the most out of the mentorship. .
Perception by employees that coaching is ‘informal’ and low-value: Create information campaigns to help teams understand that coaching is a positive approach to building resilience in the face of technological change, as well as accelerating growth. Share success stories to demonstrate its impact.
Confidentiality and psychological safety: Change is hard and people navigate change in different ways. Under pressure, employees may hesitate to speak openly. Establish confidentiality guidelines for coaching and mentoring relationships. Foster a culture where employees feel safe discussing challenges without judgment.
Engaging external mentors and coaches
A highly effective way to upskill teams and build a culture of collaboration and innovation is to engage external mentors and coaches. They bring technical expertise, experience and an up-to-date understanding of the current technology landscape.
9Yards can support your digital transformation with strategic and project consultation services.
Our team of digital transformation consultants is platform-agnostic and experienced in mentoring teams and individuals to achieve their modernisation objectives.
