Orchard HRO, a leading Executive Recruitment & Talent Solutions firm, has conducted a research survey into the latest trends in digital talent. We asked senior executives from various industry sectors about how Australia is coping with the dearth of digital skills, how their organisations attract and retain digital talent and how they adapt to the ever-changing digital landscape.

1. Digital Talent Survey 2015 Presented by Adrian Dennis, Principal Consultant
E: adennis@orchardhro.com.au
A 2013 study by consulting firm
Capgemini found that a staggering
“90% of companies were missing
the digital skills they require to
keep pace with the new digital
economy.” This is just one piece of
evidence that corporate Australia
has struggled to make inroads in
closing the digital skills gap in
recent years.
Orchard HRO surveyed over 100
companies across Australia last
month to see if this trend had
shifted…
Digital talent in Australia: losing the battle
but winning the war?

2. Digital Talent Survey 2015 Presented by Adrian Dennis, Principal Consultant
E: adennis@orchardhro.com.au
Within corporate structures across Australia, the digital function
remains under-developed. Most commonly digital is integrated
into other areas of the business such as IT or Marketing.
Where does Digital sit?
Only 5% of companies
have a stand alone digital
function
Technology Marketing
Operations Finance
Executive
Digital

3. Digital Talent Survey 2015 Presented by Adrian Dennis, Principal Consultant
E: adennis@orchardhro.com.au
Given the broad cross sector of
industries surveyed, this trend shows
strong promise that companies are
realising the convergence of business
and commercial opportunities with digital
engagement.
“
”
Implementing marketing automation company
wide and improving customer engagement
through digital channels would be a huge benefit
- eBusiness Development Manager
77% rank digital as a
high business priority
1%
3%
19%
32%
45%
High
Very High
Average
Low
Nil
What’s #trending in Digital? Importance of Digital

4. Digital Talent Survey 2015 Presented by Adrian Dennis, Principal Consultant
E: adennis@orchardhro.com.au
Today more companies are
implementing strategies that
encompass all facets of business-
critical digital technology. They are
striving to use and leverage digital
technology as a competitive
advantage for business in internal
and external operations.
Abbreviated 45%
Holistic 55%
55% of businesses have an
integrated, holistic concept of digital
What’s #trending in Digital?
Perception of Digital

5. Digital Talent Survey 2015 Presented by Adrian Dennis, Principal Consultant
E: adennis@orchardhro.com.au
77% of companies prioritise
their website & online presence
67% use data & analytical tools
62% of businesses regularly
use social media
59% have developed a mobile
presence
46% prioritise search engine tools
like SEO & SEM
32% of companies rely on their
internal web systems
“
”
One of our top priorities is to leverage company
owned and operated digital assets to cross-market
our products to existing and potential audiences
- Sales Manager, Victoria
What’s #trending in Digital?

6. Digital Talent Survey 2015 Presented by Adrian Dennis, Principal Consultant
E: adennis@orchardhro.com.au
Low Priority 13%
High Priority 87%
Importance of attracting digital talent
Ability to attract digital talent
It is clear, digital is a high priority for
companies. However 40% of
participants report their organisation as
poor to average at engaging digital
talent. This demonstrates a persistent
gap between needs and fulfilment.
Previous studies report half of
respondents believed their company
was average or below at engaging
digital talent. Our study shows
improvement, with 60% rating digital
engagement as good to excellent.
Poor – Average 40%
Good – Excellent 60%
87% of leaders believe attracting top
digital talent is pivotal to their business
Key talent battlegrounds

7. Digital Talent Survey 2015 Presented by Adrian Dennis, Principal Consultant
E: adennis@orchardhro.com.au
Data / Web Analysts
Social Media
Search/SEO Specialists
Other
Marketing
Developers/Programmers
Strategists
UX/UI Designers
Product Managers
“
”
Previously niche skills such as cloud specialists
and data scientists are increasingly sought after.
- National Recruitment Director
Some skill sets such as Data and Web
Analysts have become less challenging to
find* whereas the difficulty of attracting top
Digital Strategists and Product
Managers has increased.
Gen Y digital natives may be tomorrow’s
leaders in the digital economy however, a
lack of commercial acumen and business
experience, leaves a short term leadership
gap in the sector.
The hardest digital skill sets to find…
23%
21%
20%
15%
14%
15%
25%
40%
15%
*Capgemini Report (2013). “The Digital Talent Gap: Developing Skills for Today’s Digital Organizations”
Key talent battlegrounds

8. Digital Talent Survey 2015 Presented by Adrian Dennis, Principal Consultant
E: adennis@orchardhro.com.au
• Digital is gradually shifting from simply an item on Australian
companies’ agendas to an integrated part of all business activity
• Over the next 5 years the prominence of the Chief Digital Officer will
increase exponentially in line with the surge of digital as a core
business function
• Signs of improvement among Australian companies in the way they
engage digital talent following their increased use of more
innovative methods of employer brand marketing
• The ability to attract talent still lags behind the urgency and need for
digital skills. Organisations need to invest further and improve their
digital talent acquisition, development and retention strategies
The wins…
The challenges…
How Australia can win the digital talent war
• The most important digital skills required today may not
be the most important tomorrow. Keeping pace with the
ever-changing digital landscape has never been harder