Invest in Your Team
While finding new talent is an important part of maintaining a strong workforce, the best investment is almost always realized when developing the talent you already have. Instead of hiring experts on a particular new technology (such as cloud computing), CIOs will need to retain people with general technical backgrounds — a "blueprint of technical knowledge" — and provide them with the tools they need to become experts in the latest enterprise technology.
Departments should set aside an annual budget for employee training that balances the financial realities of the department with the need to keep an employee's skills up to date. Large organizations may benefit from a formal internal training program, while IT departments with tighter budgets may devise lower-cost creative options, such as peer trainings in which employees share their knowledge with one another. Whatever your training budget, make sure every dollar spent on professional development addresses skills your organization needs now or will likely need in the future.
Getting Ahead of Your Organization's IT Skills Gap
Getting Ahead of Your Organization's IT Skills Gap
Technology is at the heart of almost every business transaction today and continues to evolve at a staggeringly rapid pace. For enterprise CIOs, it's an exciting time, witnessing first-hand the profound impact smart-technology decisions can have on business and its customers. With each technology change and new application comes greater possibilities for how IT can deliver value to the broader organization.
However, this transformation to a "digital enterprise" is not without its challenges. Many CIOs are enthused by the potential of the Internet of Things, Big Data, and cloud computing, but are uncertain as to whether or not they are prepared to maintain an IT workforce with all the necessary skills to support it. Some believe this so-called "IT skills gap" is approaching critical mass. CIOs know they can't capitalize on the many technology opportunities available without the right IT team to execute on them. In this slideshow, Charles Galda, CIO, Technology Centers and Services, GE Capital, outlines five steps that CIOs can take to bridge the IT skills gap and make sure their workforce is poised for success in the rapidly changing enterprise.
