Acquiring IT Talent

"The most important and expensive decisions in organisations are the least carefully considered. They are taken without any analysis of the problem. They are taken without any evidence to support the decision. They are taken by people who have no responsibility for the consequences. And they are taken on the authority of just one person's gut feeling. What are these decisions? As you've probably guessed, these are recruitment and selection decisions."
From the book "Finding and Keeping the Right People" by Jon Billsberry.

This section is about acquiring IT Talent and includes:

• The Employee Value Proposition
• Searching for IT Talent
• Selecting IT Talent
• Onboarding for Productivity

The Employee Value Proposition

"An Employee Value Proposition (EVP)) is the sum of everything the people in your company experience and receive while they are a part of the organization; from the intrinsic satisfaction of the work, to the environment, leadership, colleagues, compensation and much more. It's about how well the company fulfills people's needs, expectations and dreams." "The War for Talent", Harvard Business School Press, 2001.

Today's corporate challenge is not just about competing for business; it is also about competing for TALENT that can drive the business INTO the future as well as IN the future.
How do companies compete for top talent in an environment of severe skills shortage? Many companies are lulled into a false sense of security (regarding employee satisfaction) because, in a "soft" labour market, such as the beginning of this century, many employees are content merely to have a job.
Companies apply countless resources toward the development of Customer Value Propositions (CVP); similar effort needs to be applied to attract and retain top talent.
Assess whether your company has what it takes to identify, recruit and retain the most talented individuals by asking: "Why would a highly talented person choose to work here?" In your answer, focus upon three key areas: Relationships, Infrastructure and Compensation. And, most importantly - be brutally honest with this answer, if not, don't expect great results!
The TalentAlign tools, information and services can help to build a compelling EVP for your organisation.

Searching for IT Talent

IT talent resourcing is no longer just about Recruitment and Selection. With the shortage of skills available, organisations are going to need to be more creative in their IT Talent Resourcing Strategy. And top of the list is the classic "make vs buy" decision - do we train and build our staff, or do we recruit from outside? This is dependent on the size of the "talent pool" outside the organisation. Do you really know what the IT Talent Pool is - in your area, in your country, globally? Other strategy decisions include:

• Is it a permanent position?
• Can we contract in?
• Is it a temporary position?
• Should we outsource the function?

And each of these decisions leads to other "management decisions" - cost, feasibility, etc.
But when "Searching" for talent within and outside the organisation, the purpose is to attract a small number of highly suitable applicants. This is not always as easy as it sounds, and made more difficult by new job entrants who "don't know what they don't know" and apply for any and all jobs advertised.
Using TalentAlign tools, products and services, you will be better able to achieve this purpose - with all the associated cost savings.

Selecting IT Talent

Onboarding for Productivity

Many companies are beginning to realise that yesterday's orientation programs, characterised by large manuals, out-dated videos, and a week or two of paper-work, do not increase effectiveness or retention of valued employees.
An effective onboarding program seeks to align new employee's knowledge, skills and behaviour with the organization's business objectives. It should effectively reinforce both the employee's decision to join the company and the company's decision to hire them!
Onboarding is about making new recruits, whether from elsewhere in the organisation or from outside, productive in the shortest possible time. How employees are introduced to the organisation has a major impact on their commitment to the organisation and their desire to remain with the organisation.
And Onboarding is not just about "skills" and "throwing them in at the deep end to see if they can swim. It's about how the knowledge and skills are integrated into the organisation, it's about understanding the deliverables of the role and the performance measures for success in the role, it's about cultural "fit", it's about values, and motivation and a feeling of belonging!
If you want to get new hires productive in the shortest time, a well-structure Onboarding Program is the way to go, and the information, tools and services provided by TalentAlign can help you achieve this.

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IT Staff Attraction and Retention Presentation
Organisations are already starting to feel the "pinch" of the IT talent shortage. Over the next few years implementing IT Talent Strategies that cater for attraction and retention are going to be crucial to the achievement of organisational goals. This is a presentation from given to the CSSA in Cape Town on the 22nd May 2007. Download presentation NOTES here! read more ...

IT Staff Attraction and Retention Workshop
Organisations are already starting to feel the "pinch" of the IT talent shortage. Over the next few years implementing IT Talent Strategies that cater for attraction and retention are going to be crucial to the achievement of organisational goals. This is a presentation from a workshop in Johannesburg on the 29th May 2007. Download presentation NOTES here! read more ...

Onboarding

The Paper Trail of IT Workforce Management
In general, too little emphasis is placed on the documentation necessary for the strategic planning and management of the organisation’s IT Human Capital. Especially the expectations of IT staff in terms of current position and prospects within the organisation. read more ...