Just 9 percent of information technology leaders report that their employers have formal, well-defined processes in place to deal with their current work force planning strategies, with only 8 percent having a system for focusing on future strategies, finds a recent quarterly study from TEKsystems and the Inavero Institute.
Of the study's respondents, 59 percent are planning the workforce for the next year, less than 20 percent are planning for the next two years, and only 6 percent are planning for the next five years.
"IT departments are constantly assembling teams to tackle emerging trends and stay ahead in a changing marketplace," says Rachel Russell, director of TEKsystems. "Proactive workforce planning is an essential and competitive capability for high performance IT organizations as it ensures they have the skills required to meet project milestones and handle the ebbs and flows of workloads as projects evolve. Our finding that 34 percent of IT leaders say that their companies have only a 'somewhat defined process' to plan for their human capital needs shows the value of a provider that can help address workforce planning risks and drive successful project outcomes."
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According to study respondents, employers do not perform well at succession planning and offering sound retention strategies. In fact, only 15 percent of IT leaders say their employers are very good or excellent at succession planning, and 28 percent agree about retaining employees.
"People make IT happen, so losing talented professionals can stop project momentum in its tracks," Russell says. "Companies that strategically manage succession planning keep top performers engaged and motivated. Further, employees are able to seamlessly take on roles as other team members move on to different projects or new roles."
The survey also reveals that IT directors at 95 percent, IT managers at 93 percent and chief information officers at 83 percent lead or contribute to an organization's workforce plan. Human resource departments come in at 70 percent and finance is at 62 percent. Business leaders at 48 percent and the professional development team at 68 percent are the least involved parties.
"We believe it is best practice to involve varied stakeholder groups in the workforce planning process to ensure different perspectives and priorities are accounted for," Russell says. "Engaging business leaders in this process is an important opportunity for IT as we find that doing so improves alignment, understanding and respect between IT and business groups. Additionally, ensuring comprehensive stakeholder involvement produces workforce plans that not only support project outcomes, but also overarching enterprise goals."
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