6 STEPS to Optimizing IT STAFF

Software Magazine, August, 2000 by Maria Schafer

Keeping IT employee skills current requires a commitment to ongoing training, development of a profiles database, and the involvement of employees and HR.

HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT issues continue to dominate IT managers' concerns, with the IT labor shortage rapidly worsening and skill levels across a wide range of domains in impossibly short supply. META Group, Stamford, Conn., estimates that nearly one million positions in IT will remain unfilled by the end of 2000.

At the same time, those individuals with the requisite hot skills, such as networking, Web development, customer relationship management, and project management, are benefiting from the skills shortage by demanding and receiving a wide array of cash incentives (sign-on bonuses, hot skill bonuses), and other perks as retention incentives--cars for employees, and in some cases cars for spouses, dry cleaning services, meal vouchers, etc. And yet, current survey data from the META Group IT Staffing and Compensation Guide indicates average IT turnover across the U.S. continues to be high, ranging from about 11% to 13% across all types and sizes of organizations. Thus, it is small surprise that after several successive years of declines in training and reskilling efforts, U.S. organizations are finally realizing that optimizing the workforce is essential for competitive survival in the Internet age.

Efforts aimed at reskilling staff must take into account:

* That reskilling, and training in general, is inherently a long-term initiative; companies must be willing to give it time to bear fruit.

* Centralizing training efforts into a single locus, and operating training in much the same way that a program management office is run for managing the application implementation process, will generate greater efficiencies and enable better tracking of costs and success.

* Training efforts are 50% more successful when employees are involved in determining key aspects of the program.

Development of broad-based skills, including business skills, requires greater flexibility from management personnel, and targeted programs aimed specifically at building these skills. Many firms confine IT training to development of technical skills. However, new positions in IT (such as Web content development, CRM, ERP, and project management) often require specific skills targeted in other areas, such as business management, finance, and marketing and communications. Currently, though, companies do not include these areas as mandated for IT professionals.

Many plans exist for reskilling IT employees, but paramount for any initiative is to keep in mind that training and development must be part of a multilevel retention strategy.

Training serves several purposes, not the least of which is that it supports employee retention efforts. Historically, U.S. firms have regarded training (and learning) as the private domain of the employee, rather than as critical to competitive success. But this is changing, not least because of the high cost of replacing a single individual (1.5 to 2x an individual's base salary, in direct costs alone), versus increasing investment in existing employees. And, indeed, META Group research indicates that the ability to maintain skills at the "hot" level is cited as the first element employees mention when asked why they remain with a particular firm, or the reason they would most likely take a new position.

A Multistep Process

Our research indicates that organizations that focus on developing skills using a multistep resource development process will benefit on several levels:

* The organization maintains discrete skills at acceptable levels, enhancing performance and meeting targets.

* It is possible to do succession planning across critical skill areas (say, for a key project manager who leads a large-scale implementation project).

* Enables clearer understanding, through the gap analysis phase, of missing skills, and provides a framework for creating pathways and determining courses to attain them.

* Provides an employee-empowerment zone; employees maintain and update their personal skill base as appropriate or as they are motivated to do so.

* Employee appraisals are easier to accomplish, since information is tracked and dates and deadlines are more readily available to the supervisor.

* Better reuse of available skills within the organization.

Fundamentally, a resource development program consists of:

* Portfolio/profile creation

* Skill assessment

* Skill improvement and gap analysis

* Career planning

* Succession planning

* Tracking IT experience

Each step should be treated as an integral part of the whole, but assigned distinct development time.

Creating Profiles This first step often creates widespread employee anxiety. They may ask, "Why is my profile necessary? Is this part of a restructuring or downsizing effort?" Therefore, outlining the benefits to portfolio creation, the overarching project goals, and the importance and ultimate uses for profiles within the organization will help keep the process on track, and reduce anxiety and distrust. Lots of communication is essential for this to work, and an organization that wants to be successful will establish a change management team and offer many opportunities for employees to obtain information and clarification about the process.