Five tips for building a successful global IT workforce

By Jay Patel

Takeaway: By harnessing the IT talent that's available around the world, you can build a high-performing global workforce that meets your organization's needs. These tips will help you develop and grow a flexible, effective IT group.

Successful managers agree: The strength of an organization's IT talent pool is a critical component to building and growing a successful company. And today's global environment makes it possible for an organization to build its workforce without restrictive geographical boundaries. An organization can pull talent and resources from around the world to build the strongest and most efficient team possible.

As a result, it is important for organizations to develop a systematic approach for recruiting and maintaining talent on a global level. In addition, organizations must implement strategies to optimize and harness the global IT service talent that best meets their IT service business requirements.

The following five tips will help CIOs and executives recruit global IT talent more effectively to ensure their organization's workforce is built for success.

1: Set objectives but allow for flexibility in roles

Setting goals and objectives is necessary when determining roles and responsibilities in an organization; however, it is also important to maintain flexibility to make room for individuals' unique skills and experiences. Maintaining a capable IT workforce is most effective when role requirements are clearly defined while still being flexible enough to incorporate the broad range and the scope of skills and talents available. For example, executives may consider redesigning service technicians' roles so an employee's unique skill set can shine through. By remaining flexible, it is easier to ensure organizational culture will support a diverse group of employees who thrive by playing up their strengths and following their instincts.

2: Recruit and promote from within

Companies should work to identify internal resources to develop and grow their workforce. Many managers have found that their company's most valuable resources lie inside the organization. Given the right training and support, internal candidates are put in a position to perform a broader variety of tasks, a particularly vital capability within the IT service industry where technologies and processes are constantly evolving.

3: Hire for innate talents and be willing to invest in training

Most executives trying to build a successful organization understand that it's important to find a balance between innate abilities and specific experience or qualifications when looking for IT talent. Often, hiring managers find a candidate who may have the right personality, experience, and problem-solving skills but may lack a particular certification or technical skill set.

When it comes to pooling talent and building an IT workforce, decision makers need to understand that even though certain skills can be taught, the innate abilities and attitude of a prospective hire can't be instilled with training. When a candidate with the right personality becomes available — even if he or she lacks a certain skill set — it helps to define the skills required for the position and determine whether certification gaps can be successfully achieved through training.

4: Build a candidate pipeline

To maintain the most efficient and well-balanced IT workforce, it's essential to be consistently on the lookout for talent. This is even more important as talent pools continue to globalize, resulting in larger and more diverse candidate pools. Having a candidate pipeline will reduce the likelihood an organization will be caught off guard or unprepared when a position opens up. Managers should ensure that they are never making hasty decisions or missing opportunities for talent. Examine your organization's business plan and try to anticipate future needs, including geographical expansions or relocations. Network and nurture relationships in an effort to recruit talent that aligns with your organization's future needs and direction.

5: Diversify

The most diverse organizations tend to be those that are flexible and strategic about recruiting and maintaining IT talent. Executives at these organizations understand the value of diversity in experience, perspective, and skill when building a workforce. This is even more important when building a global IT workforce, as there is a greater opportunity to connect with individuals with a wide variety of skill sets. By leveraging the existing talent pool, nurturing global networks, and investing in diversity, organizations can effectively mine new IT service talent sources, build multicultural talent, and be well positioned for market success.

Summary

In today's global environment, decision makers must consider business goals and the direction of the organization when mining talent and managing an IT workforce. By prioritizing company needs, being open to diversity and unique skill sets, and valuing the talent that already exists internally, executives are more apt to employ a workforce aligned with company values — one that plays a strategic role in a company's ability to develop new services and expand into new markets. By focusing on having the right resources to identify new sources of talent, optimizing the IT talent pool, and building a strong talent pipeline, organizations can gain access to skills that support business goals, build bench strength, and recruit effectively to enhance competitive advantage.

Jay Patel is Director of Professional Services for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), Worldwide TechServices.

Development trends to watch in 2011

By Justin James

Takeaway: Justin James considers Silverlight, Windows Phone 7, mainstream development alternatives, Web development maturity, and the economy topics worth watching in 2011.

2011 is here! While I don't like to make predictions per se, I do like to explore what topics I think may be important to developers for the next twelve months. Let's jump right into my look ahead for 2011.

Silverlight

2010 was the year that Silverlight (and with it, WPF for apps that need access to local resources) gained real momentum. The more I play with Silverlight, the less it frustrates me, though lots of aspects of the technology still rub me the wrong way. In my opinion, the "patterns and practices" people pollute Silverlight's ecosystem; they waste a lot of time and effort on a million frameworks to do things that address a couple of stylistic and academic concerns at the expense of increased complexity, indirectness of code, and significantly raising barriers to entry.

Fortunately, I learned that you don't need to do things the way these folks push. In fact, the default, out of the box Silverlight development experience is very similar to WinForms (for better or for worse), and the learning curve is not nearly as bad as it appears when you first survey the landscape. This is particularly good news because, in 2011, enough development is moving to Silverlight and WPF that folks who don't have the time and energy to learn new development paradigms will be moving to it.

Windows Phone 7

In my TechRepublic columns about Windows Phone 7 development, I note that the experience hasn't always been pleasant. While aspects of Windows Phone 7 development still frustrate me, it is a much better experience than its competition in terms of writing applications.

I don't know if Windows Phone 7 will be a big hit, but if it's a success, it will be a late bloomer like Android. Remember, Android was anemic until the Droid 1 was released just over a year ago, and now it's a big hit. That said, I think that Android is the odd man out right now. The development experience is tough because of the fragmentation. You never know what resolutions to expect, for example, or baseline phone functionality. Even on a particular model, you can't expect a particular version of Android. With iPhone, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone 7, you do.

RIM has lost an incredible amount of momentum, and none of its recent attempts at regaining it have looked promising. Palm's WebOS is on ice until HP figures out what it wants to do with it. Symbian has huge worldwide success except for the United States. iPhone continues to move crazy unit numbers. If Windows Phone 7 becomes a hit, it will be at the expense of RIM and Android. I think Android has enough problems, and Windows Phone 7 has both enough potential to pull it off. Windows Phone 7 is already quite good in ways that Android isn't, both to developers and users. If I were an Android developer, I would be watching Windows Phone 7 to see where it goes.

Related: My first Windows Phone 7 app development project, The Windows Phone 7 App Hub experience, and Optimize data access for mobile phone apps.

Mainstream development alternatives

The more I see of Java and .NET, the less I am happy with them. Java and .NET work really well for some things; however, both have a lot of problems, not the least of which is the ecosystems. The Java ecosystem isn't sure if it wants to be some open source haven or the next COBOL. The .NET folks are going insane replicating development patterns that were pioneered 30 years ago, but instead of studying the literature and figuring out how to do it right, they get hung up in replicating what was done ages ago, including the workarounds that were needed due to technical limitations at the time. Meanwhile, neither ecosystem is doing much of anything to deliver products that allow typical developers to produce better applications quicker with fewer bugs and security problems.

Frameworks that enable developers to use the latest pattern fads cover up the fundamental problems with both platforms, which is the amount of complexity in the typical application is overwhelming. I hope that the alternatives to these mainstream development platforms get more traction in the future. I haven't talked to anyone who left Java or .NET and was eager to go back, particularly around Web development. If you think there has to be a better way to get apps out the door, 2011 is a great year to check out your choices!

Web development maturity

In the last decade, Web development has really taken off, and there has been a ton of innovation in the space. Going forward, we are going to see a lot more maturity in the market. For better or for worse, HTML5 continues its progress toward being a universal standard for building Web applications. Web browsers are following suit, and even Internet Explorer is trying hard to comply with the HTML5 standard. This means that developers can spend more time getting stuff done and less time figuring out one-off workarounds and clever hacks for problems that shouldn't even exist.

The economy

In 2010, the economy picked up steam for tech workers, but the momentum seems to be more for specialists than generalists. "Plain vanilla" developers are watching their wages remain steady, and entry-level developers are in tough competition with more experienced overseas workers within the same salary range. It seems like not many companies want to make a long-term investment in less-experienced developers who show promise, and even fewer want to put anything into their existing staff.

The trend of hiring to fill knowledge gaps instead of training will only increase. The really bright spots are for people with in-demand, specialized skills, such as Silverlight and mobile developers. It looks like Ruby and Rails will also have more demand as time goes on.

I also think this is a great opportunity for independent consultants. Companies have learned to be choosy enough about projects that their overall need for workers may stay the same in terms of total developers needed, but they are much more likely to need certain skill sets for limited periods of time.

What development topics will you follow in 2011? Let us know in the discussion.

J.Ja

IT compensation and hiring trends for 2011

By Toni Bowers

Takeaway: A new CareerBuilder survey indicates that IT hiring and compensation is on the uptick for 2011.

CareerBuilder conducted its national annual IT hiring poll among more than 170 IT employers between November 15 and December 2, 2010. The results were that two in five (42 percent) of IT employers plan to increase the number of full-time, permanent employees this year (this is up from 32 percent who said the same last year).

Here are some other employment trends to follow in 2011, according to the survey:

• Sixty-six percent of those polled said they will increase compensation for their existing staff in 2011. The good news is that 13 percent expect the average increase will be five percent or more. The bad news is that most estimate the average raise will be 3 percent or less.
• One-third (33 percent) state that they currently have open positions for which they can't find qualified candidates. Thirteen percent said they will be hiring outside the U.S. for workers to work in their U.S. offices. This is an interesting disconnect: Employers are saying they can't find qualified workers, but there are a ton of IT pros out of work.
• Nearly half (49 percent) of IT employers are hiring contract or freelance workers in 2011, up from 47 percent in 2010. Forty-six percent of IT employers plan to hire temporary workers on a permanent basis in 2011.
• More than one-third of IT employers (38 percent) voiced concern over worker burnout within their organizations, as heftier workloads and longer hours take their toll on worker morale. Nearly the same amount (34 percent) reported that maintaining productivity levels is one of the top staffing challenges for the new year. The first part of this paragraph sounded kind of nice until you saw the concern was linked to almost the same percentage of employers looking to maintain productivity, didn't it?
• Forty-four percent of IT employers stated that they will be placing a greater emphasis on social media in 2011.

10 things you can do to move up the IT career ladder

By Matt Eventoff

Takeaway: IT pros who aspire to a higher position need to lay the groundwork by developing the right relationships, refining their communications skills, and expanding their breadth of knowledge.

Even in difficult economic times, the opportunity for advancement exists. Whether you're a front-line associate aiming for the next level or a senior vice president looking toward the CIO role, certain strategies will help you reach your goals. These steps can't guarantee that you will move up within your organization, but they'll definitely give you a leg up on the competition.

Note: This article is also available as a PDF download.

1: Develop relationships within your organization — outside IT

It seems like common sense, but this often gets pushed to the side in favor of day-to-day responsibilities that yield immediate results. It is much easier to communicate what you do and why it is important to someone who is used to hearing from you regularly. Make a habit of trying to develop a relationship within a different business division at least once a month.

2: Develop a message

How does what you do, or what your team does, further the efforts of the organization? How does it help the business achieve its bottom-line objectives? You must be able to articulate the value of your position to the organization clearly. This often takes time and effort, but it's crucial. Make the investment.

3: Be open… be available… talk to people

IT can often breed a solo or small team atmosphere. If you are a leader in your organization, be seen. Nothing is worse than a CIO, CTO, EVP, AVP, or even a director who stays behind closed doors and remains silent.

4: Treat your top talent as you treat your boss

If you think you have talked to them enough, go back and talk to them one more time. Trust me: If your top talent is nervous (and they are) and you're not communicating with them, they are looking elsewhere. As times get more challenging, your top talent becomes more valuable. This rings true at every organizational level, from the front lines up. Replacing superstars is not easy.

5: Understand your audience

IT has a language all its own, and those outside IT may have trouble understanding it. In fact, it's never a given that even those within IT, but in a different division, will understand the lingo associated with your specialty. Communicate with your audience in mind.

6: Be consistent

Nothing deflates an organization or a team more than perceived inconsistency in communication or communication style.

7: Be open with Information

The expression "Information is power" holds some truth; however, the idea that hoarding that information will result in more personal power does not. Controlling the flow of information is a losing proposition. Everything you do sends a message, and communications, or lack thereof, sends a clear message. (Hint: not a positive one.)

8: Develop partnerships with other IT divisions

The tendency to end up in silos and spend precious little time networking with other divisions can cost opportunity. It happens in many divisions outside IT as well. Just like in sports, rising stars in different positions often end up leading the entire team because they developed those relationships along the way.

9: Master other domains

When commenting on professionals who are looking to ascend internally, I often hear IT executives cite the need to have experience in more than one space. While "master" might be a strong term, a well-balanced portfolio should not be limited to your 401k.

10: Get a mentor

Mentors are crucial in any business, and in a business where networking is not as common as in other lines of work (sales, marketing), mentoring is a great way to learn. It's also a great way to develop a relationship with an executive you would not normally get to interact or spend significant time with.

Matt Eventoff is the president of Princeton Public Speaking. For more than 15 years, he has served as a communications and messaging strategist for C-level executives in organizations ranging in size from startups to Fortune 100 firms.

10 tips for boosting your career in 2011

By Kathryn Ullrich

Takeaway: From developing cross-functional skills to aligning your contributions with company goals, these tips will help you map out a plan for advancing your career in 2011.

The start of a new year offers a prime opportunity for charting a course for career advancement. Executive recruiter Kathryn Ullrich shares her advice for managing your career in the months to come.

Note: This article originally appeared as an entry in techrepublic Career Management blog. It's also available as a PDF download.

1: Look out for number 1

Take responsibility for your own career development. Many large organizations have scaled back on training and development — a common outcome of the economic downturn — and small companies can rarely provide significant support. Simply put, your career rests in one set of hands: yours.

2: Be strategic

Have a long-term career strategy, or at the very least, a sense of where you're headed. Ask yourself, "What do I really want to do?" or "Where do I see myself in five to 10 years?" Seek people in similar roles and ask for their advice.

3: Work in step with your company's goals

Connect the dots from your role to your company's vision and key objectives. How does your work align with the organization's goals? What can you do to maximize your contributions?

4: Be customer-centric

Whether your customers are internal or external, know their wants and needs and be fervent about meeting them. Bring the voice of the customer into your day-to-day work and let it enhance your decisions and deliverables.

5: Collaborate

Working with and through others is requisite to innovating, creating, and producing business results. Adopt a mindset for teaming and collaborating and put it into daily practice.

6: Hone your communication skills

Communication skills can make or break careers. Pick one area that needs your attention — considering skills such as listening, presenting, influencing, persuading, or distilling messages — and commit to improvement. Take a class, practice with a trusted friend or colleague, or join a group such as Toastmasters.

7: Cross over functionally

Many successful executives have risen through the ranks by taking cross-functional roles, such as moving from finance to sales or from marketing to IT. Follow their lead and you can grow your skills, your network, and your political capital.

8: Expand your experience

Volunteer for special projects or assignments that are outside your everyday role. Discuss your goals with your boss, an HR representative, or a senior leader and ask for help in finding opportunities to broaden your experience base.

9: Find a guide

Mentors can serve as influential role models and provide important guidance for your career. Reach out to a potential mentor within your company or industry and see if he or she would be open to mentoring you for a specific purpose and timeframe.

10: Network — now

The best time to increase your network is… today. Starting now, get involved in groups such as professional associations, charitable organizations, or even sports leagues. Step into leadership roles and make your expertise known.

Bonus tip: Specialize

Today, companies look for specialists, not generalists. Develop a personal brand, distinguish your skills and strengths, and determine how to best market yourself.