How to Crush the Talent Crunch

Key Insights

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  IBM's design team grew from a few hundred to over 3,000 designers globally under Phil Gilbert's leadership before the pandemic reversed this trend.

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  High turnover during the pandemic involved even long-tenured and new hires leaving within months.

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  Design Ops at IBM operates under a hybrid model with centralized design leadership and decentralized team support.

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  Hiring challenges include long periods of radio silence for candidates and recruiters lacking specialized knowledge about design roles.

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  Onboarding suffers from information overload due to multiple overlapping checklists from HR, design, and business units.

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  Only 12% of employees strongly agree their company does well at onboarding, and only 29% feel fully prepared when starting their role according to Gallup data.

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  Consolidating onboarding materials and creating timelines to spread knowledge transfer improves new hire experiences.

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  Peer-to-peer coaching programs matched designers from different domains to promote cross-team skill sharing and engagement.

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  Engagement is the common denominator affecting hiring success, onboarding effectiveness, and retention of design talent.

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  Design Ops leaders must embrace discomfort and uncertainty while learning to focus on high-impact activities that truly move the needle.

Notable Quotes