Posted onin Leadership/Management
As we welcome 2014, it’s time for CIOs to look at our readiness in facing our most daunting challenge: developing the IT workforce of the future. NOW. Technology changes are more rapid than ever. Today it is the Internet of Things and the Consumerization of IT; tomorrow it will be something new. Devices are changing hourly, and the explosion of attention given to mobile, social and cloud is moving at an unbelievable pace.
Simultaneously we are seeing a rapid shift in technologies including wearable devices, Big Data and more analytical and collaborative tools. Toss in the fact that there is a high rate of potential retirement in IT organizations with the next three years, and a CIO’s plate is piled up pretty high.
This may be more than obvious to most CIOs, but we need to embrace this rapid change with these five questions
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- What is the impact of this shift on your business partners and customers?
- Which future IT skills or roles will be needed in your organization to take it to the next level?
- Who are the top performers that you need to focus on to make the shift?
- What training is needed to move our critical assets or staffs to their needed skill sets?
- Do we need more IT workers who are generalists versus specialists, i.e. those who have the ability to embrace this rapidly changing world?
IT organizations are no longer the monopoly supplier of services. More alternative sources of tools are available now than ever before. As CIO, you need to be the primary evangelist for the value of skills, services and competencies your organization can provide to your customers. We need to challenge and influence our staff to embrace a service delivery mindset that is user driven.
Today’s IT workforce should be comprised of knowledge workers. Those who provide the highest levels of technical expertise tempered with the ability to analyze and influence their customers’ business needs and provide results. While rapidly becoming buzz words, titles like “user guru,” “social media coach,” and “service broker” have real applicability in shaping the IT workforce of the future.
As we enter the New Year with its opportunities and obstacles, CIOs know that frequent organizational change is the norm, not the exception. Chances are, we have many of the next generation of IT workers already within our organizations. We first need to recognize ability and provide guidance with an emphasis on collaboration and service delivery. Then all we need to do is stand back and watch this new workforce tackle 2014.
