The document discusses strategies for companies to gain an edge in recruiting and retaining talented help desk and technical support professionals given the competitive market. It recommends:
1) Paying IT staff competitively and benchmarking salaries against industry standards.
2) Highlighting the strengths of the company such as work-life balance, use of new technologies, and professional development opportunities.
3) Promoting autonomy for IT staff and teamwork within the department.
The FIRM & IBM : Rewriting the rules for the digital ageEmma Mirrington
Deloitte’s Human Capital professionals leverage research, analytics, and industry insights to help design and execute the HR, talent, leadership, organization, and change programs that enable business performance through people performance. Visit the Human Capital area of www.deloitte.com to learn more.
Unlocking Value - Embrace Governance, Risk, and Compliance PracticesKelly Services
As more and more direct business effort must be expended toward relationships with customers, as companies feel comfortable with the reach of technology and their need to manage more amounts of highly specific data, and as more companies struggle to satisfy the career and lifestyle priorities of workers, they have warmed to the idea of outsourcing mission-critical functions.
For market leaders who are obsessed with building more company value, outsourcing has actually become a key business strategy.
The Japan Talent Acquisition Report 2020 - Makana PartnersYan Sen Lu
The Japan Talent Acquisition Report includes a skills gap analysis, the compensation, experience, and age data for 135 bilingual TA professional, as well as, case studies and a roadmap to success. I hope this can be a useful resource for you should you be in search for your next TA leader, or if you're a TA leader in Japan looking to understand how to take your career to the next level. Thank you for reading and feel free to reach out should you be interested in learning more.
The FIRM & IBM : Rewriting the rules for the digital ageEmma Mirrington
Deloitte’s Human Capital professionals leverage research, analytics, and industry insights to help design and execute the HR, talent, leadership, organization, and change programs that enable business performance through people performance. Visit the Human Capital area of www.deloitte.com to learn more.
Unlocking Value - Embrace Governance, Risk, and Compliance PracticesKelly Services
As more and more direct business effort must be expended toward relationships with customers, as companies feel comfortable with the reach of technology and their need to manage more amounts of highly specific data, and as more companies struggle to satisfy the career and lifestyle priorities of workers, they have warmed to the idea of outsourcing mission-critical functions.
For market leaders who are obsessed with building more company value, outsourcing has actually become a key business strategy.
The Japan Talent Acquisition Report 2020 - Makana PartnersYan Sen Lu
The Japan Talent Acquisition Report includes a skills gap analysis, the compensation, experience, and age data for 135 bilingual TA professional, as well as, case studies and a roadmap to success. I hope this can be a useful resource for you should you be in search for your next TA leader, or if you're a TA leader in Japan looking to understand how to take your career to the next level. Thank you for reading and feel free to reach out should you be interested in learning more.
SmartConnect helps you stay updated with the latest in the HR world including news, technology, compliances and more! Click below to read the edition for May 2018.
Drive tool and software adoption among remote workers using infinite gamifica...Toby Beresford
Talk given for HR execs and line managers at Human Week Summit Turkey in Jan 2022.
Key points:
1. Feedback is the main reward
2. Gamification is being used to effectively drive software adoption
The Talent Management Cookbook: Recipes for Successful Talent ManagementSaba Software
This document is part of the Bersin Research Library. Our research is provided exclusively to organizational members of the Bersin Research Program. Member organizations have access to an extensive library of learning and talent management related research. In addition, members also receive a variety of products and services to enable talent-related transformation within their
organizations, including:
• Research—Access to an extensive selection of research reports, such as methodologies, process models and frameworks, and comprehensive industry studies and case studies.
• Benchmarking—These services cover a wide spectrum of HR and L&D metrics, customized by industry and company size.
• Tools—Comprehensive tools for HR and L&D professionals, including tools for benchmarking, vendor and system selection, program design, program implementation, change management, and measurement.
• Analyst Support—Via telephone or email, our advisory services are supported by expert industry analysts who conduct our research.
• Strategic Advisory Services—Expert support for custom-tailored projects.
• Member Roundtables—A place where you can connect with other peers and industry leaders to discuss and learn about the latest industry trends and leading practices.
• IMPACT Conference: The Business Of Talent—Attendance at special sessions of our annual IMPACT conference.
• Workshops—Bersin analysts and advisors conduct onsite workshops on a wide range of topics to educate, inform, and inspire HR and L&D professionals and leaders.
Agility & Talent Mobility how to enable business strategy with modern perform...Human Capital Media
In recent years, newspaper headlines have been littered with the names of companies that needed to change quickly but failed. People, and their inability to anticipate change and respond effectively, were often at the heart of those failures. In this webcast, Stacia Garr will discuss how performance management can be used by HR leaders to enable managers and employees to make critical decisions about talent and to increase the organization’s and individual employees’ agility. Listeners will have the opportunity to come away with a better understanding of:
How job profiles and competencies can enable leaders to quickly align people when business goals change
How performance management and continuous feedback can help keep employees focused on the right work
How continuous learning and development can help employees anticipate future changes and respond efficiently and effectively
A skills-based approach to employment creates a more equitable job market for all. In this deck, learn how your organization can become a skills-based employer by posting positions that reflect the skills you need, selecting candidates based on their skills, and helping incumbent employees develop new skills.
View related videos:
Welcome to the Future of HCM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpuYpJWD58k
Transformation, HR & Restructuring Best-Practice - DMR Blue Special - DeteconMarc Wagner
Transformation, HR & Restructuring Best-Practice - The New DMR Blue Transformation Special
What do “Integral Business”, “Smart Working”, “Corporate Demography”, and “Enterprise 2.0” have in common? They are all aspects of one of the greatest and most disruptive develop ments of the last century: the complete digitalization, virtualization, and flexibilization of the working world. A brave new world which does not stop with the optimization and automation of secondary processes; it is nothing less than a profound redefinition of work and its meaning.
Kenny & Company Management Consulting - Portfolio Management January 2018Will Yen
What is Portfolio Management?
Project Portfolio Management: “Everyone says they are doing it, but few are, and those that are, are unsure if they are doing it right.”
SmartConnect helps you stay updated with the latest in the HR world including news, technology, compliances and more! Click below to read the edition for May 2018.
Drive tool and software adoption among remote workers using infinite gamifica...Toby Beresford
Talk given for HR execs and line managers at Human Week Summit Turkey in Jan 2022.
Key points:
1. Feedback is the main reward
2. Gamification is being used to effectively drive software adoption
The Talent Management Cookbook: Recipes for Successful Talent ManagementSaba Software
This document is part of the Bersin Research Library. Our research is provided exclusively to organizational members of the Bersin Research Program. Member organizations have access to an extensive library of learning and talent management related research. In addition, members also receive a variety of products and services to enable talent-related transformation within their
organizations, including:
• Research—Access to an extensive selection of research reports, such as methodologies, process models and frameworks, and comprehensive industry studies and case studies.
• Benchmarking—These services cover a wide spectrum of HR and L&D metrics, customized by industry and company size.
• Tools—Comprehensive tools for HR and L&D professionals, including tools for benchmarking, vendor and system selection, program design, program implementation, change management, and measurement.
• Analyst Support—Via telephone or email, our advisory services are supported by expert industry analysts who conduct our research.
• Strategic Advisory Services—Expert support for custom-tailored projects.
• Member Roundtables—A place where you can connect with other peers and industry leaders to discuss and learn about the latest industry trends and leading practices.
• IMPACT Conference: The Business Of Talent—Attendance at special sessions of our annual IMPACT conference.
• Workshops—Bersin analysts and advisors conduct onsite workshops on a wide range of topics to educate, inform, and inspire HR and L&D professionals and leaders.
Agility & Talent Mobility how to enable business strategy with modern perform...Human Capital Media
In recent years, newspaper headlines have been littered with the names of companies that needed to change quickly but failed. People, and their inability to anticipate change and respond effectively, were often at the heart of those failures. In this webcast, Stacia Garr will discuss how performance management can be used by HR leaders to enable managers and employees to make critical decisions about talent and to increase the organization’s and individual employees’ agility. Listeners will have the opportunity to come away with a better understanding of:
How job profiles and competencies can enable leaders to quickly align people when business goals change
How performance management and continuous feedback can help keep employees focused on the right work
How continuous learning and development can help employees anticipate future changes and respond efficiently and effectively
A skills-based approach to employment creates a more equitable job market for all. In this deck, learn how your organization can become a skills-based employer by posting positions that reflect the skills you need, selecting candidates based on their skills, and helping incumbent employees develop new skills.
View related videos:
Welcome to the Future of HCM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpuYpJWD58k
Transformation, HR & Restructuring Best-Practice - DMR Blue Special - DeteconMarc Wagner
Transformation, HR & Restructuring Best-Practice - The New DMR Blue Transformation Special
What do “Integral Business”, “Smart Working”, “Corporate Demography”, and “Enterprise 2.0” have in common? They are all aspects of one of the greatest and most disruptive develop ments of the last century: the complete digitalization, virtualization, and flexibilization of the working world. A brave new world which does not stop with the optimization and automation of secondary processes; it is nothing less than a profound redefinition of work and its meaning.
Kenny & Company Management Consulting - Portfolio Management January 2018Will Yen
What is Portfolio Management?
Project Portfolio Management: “Everyone says they are doing it, but few are, and those that are, are unsure if they are doing it right.”
This presentation discusses frequently confusing areas of Perform Integrated Change Control, Change Management is one of the important topics of PMP and this presentation with video will help test takers in marking many questions right.
Release & Change Management in Salesforce. Best Practice in implementing Salesforce project or setting up your salesforce org. and manage release and changes
From Sandbox To Production: An Introduction to Salesforce Release ManagementSalesforce Developers
Wondering how to manage multiple Salesforce environments for managing your release? Join us as our Architects show how large enterprises manage Sandbox environments. Learn some of the key considerations in picking sandbox types and migration tools to lay out a process to manage an effective Release Management.
Understand how command & control release plans create false hopes and low quality products because there is no team buy-in.
Learn how to develop vision and use your your vision to drive the release plan workshop. Use patterns to validate your release.
Lastly you must learn from your release plan and improve the next release (inspect & adapt).
Salesforce Release Management - Best Practices and Tools for DeploymentSalesforce Developers
Join us to learn how EMC?s Isilon Storage Division has adopted salesforce.com best practices to better manage deployments on the Force.com platform. We'll also introduce the ?SfOpticon? tool, a custom-built, open-source solution which uses the Force.com Metadata API and Github to monitor, track, branch, package and deploy changes to our salesforce.com environments.
The Ideal Salesforce Development LifecycleJoshua Hoskins
It's common for organizations of all sizes to stumble a bit before adopting an effective Release Management strategy. Whether you are small or large, join us as we cover important best practices, like: How many Sandboxes and what kind do I need? How can Developers and Admins best compliment each other's efforts? What is the best way to promote changes from one environment to another? Why can't I do my development in Prod? Get actionable recommendations for making your Salesforce development team more customer-focused by making your release cycle cleaner and more efficient.
Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGiBNMahr6g
Digitize your repetitive development processes to gain additional productivity and improve quality and costs.
Your Challenge
IT is increasingly under pressure to release applications quickly, reduce development, operations, and maintenance costs, while remaining relevant to business objectives.
Using a purely manual software development process can be useful when starting out and processes are not yet concrete. At a certain point, you will hit scalability limits around traceability and throughput. This will affect overall product quality.
Tests will increase over time as applications become larger and more complex, causing testing capacities to reach an upper bound slowing testing throughout. The urgency of release to market means a product may not be fully tested.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
Focus on instrumentation and integration when implementing your automated application development (AAD) tools to reduce maintenance costs, increase product quality, and improve project productivity. Instrumentation focuses on your tool’s execution, and integration refers to the movement and acceptance of development artifacts.
Don't try to automate if you don't have a good foundation based on quality and traceability first. Otherwise automation will make matters worse by amplifying gaps in your foundation. Assess your current development process for people, process, and technology gaps before deciding to implement AAD.
Impact and Result
Realize significant savings over time by reducing repetitive effort devoted to developing, testing, deploying, and maintaining applications.
Free up time to proactively optimize processes and tools or to take on innovation projects to help boost business initiatives. Innovation, a historically nice-to-have, can now be an integrated part of IT directives and mantras.
IT and the business can accurately measure the success of the development, testing, and deployment of the application to determine the need for future optimization projects to further reduce costs and improve productivity.
Release Management: Successful Software Releases Start with a Planconnielharper
This presentation was given at devLink 2010 in Nashville, TN and will weigh the pros and cons of each type of release cycle and identify what else is needed for a successful software release.
These are the slides from a presentation given to the San Diego Salesforce Developer Group on September 16, 2014.
The presentation highlights why coding standards and design patterns are important parts of creating a scalable, maintainable Salesforce Enterprise Org. A series of specific implementation and architecture recommendations are outlined. Finally, models for process and governance are provided to help the viewer take steps to bring about change in their Org.
Getting Through the Fear Factor When Hiring Tech Talents.pdfaNumak & Company
The more profound constraint is a further factor in making a perfect selection when hunting for tech talents. While recruiters are focused and determined on hiring competent candidates for vacant spaces, they should also consider reducing strictness in the process, for example, the years of experience and compulsory finished education level. Since the American survey tells that most candidates' educational backgrounds are not in-line with their experience because they acquire knowledge of other skills while holding a post.
Perhaps, since these candidates are well experienced, they should be considered, while employers cut down a little to test their knowledge.
This report is for managers, human resourcing and owners of technology companies, or those responsible for a technology department. The purpose of the report is to highlight ways of retaining technical talent.
12 IT Skills to include in your resume.Book Your CV
Information technology (IT) skills refer to the competencies that people in the sector utilise to carry out their job responsibilities. The degree and experience requirements for many professions in the IT sector vary, and the importance of an employee's talents is often high. For this reason, it's crucial to know how to highlight your IT talents on your resume when applying for these jobs.
In this post, we discuss the benefits of including IT expertise in your CV, provide a list of 12 skills to take into account.
Why list your IT expertise on your resume?
If you're going for a job in the technology sector or one that requires IT abilities, such as managers or receptionists, it's crucial to list your IT skills on your CV or resume. When analysing applications, many organisations use applicant tracking systems (ATS). In order to make sure an applicant possesses the fundamental abilities required for the position, our software analyses applications for keywords like IT skills. Bookmycv will help you with wide variety of resume samples for experienced and fresher candidates.
It's common for hiring managers to only look at applications that successfully navigate application tracking systems, so it's helpful to know which IT abilities the business can use as a keyword:
TABLE OF CONTENT
Software development
Interaction
Provides for clients
Risk assessment
Creativity
Development of Applications
Originality
Understanding of SEO
Working together
Solving Issues
You might wish to look through this list of typical talents to include on your CV in order to help you employ IT skills in your resume
1. Software development
For people pursuing professions in software engineering or other development fields, software development skills are crucial. It's always crucial to explain the software development tools you employ while mentioning this talent. You might, for instance, be trained to utilise a particular coding language or to write software for a certain operating system. These distinctions are crucial because the job description probably calls for a particular kind of developer.
2. Interaction
Writing and speaking interactions are both examples of communication skills. This ability is crucial for IT professionals in a variety of roles, but it is particularly useful for those in technical support roles. IT specialists engage with internal staff members and customers to troubleshoot technical problems. IT professionals who want to communicate technical aspects of their work to managers, clients, and other professionals who aren't familiar with IT lingo can often benefit from developing their communication skills.
3. Provides for clients
The capacity to communicate with customers and fulfil their requirements is a component of customer service skills. Since technical support employees may engage with consumers more frequently than other IT professionals, it is frequently more crucial for them to reflect this on their IT Professional Resumes.
IT Career Development - An Introduction into the IndustryLawal Adekunle
It is designed to help individuals with the knowledge and information they need in order to choose the perfect IT career. It also gives a clear insight into the industry
Vanator RPO | Top IT Recruiters In USA 2024Vanator RPO
Recruiting folks for IT Recruiters In USA that encompass software’s, network, digital systems that process, manage and transmit data, revolutionizing modern communication and your business.
Vanator streamlines IT Recruiters In USA with the help of its extremely talented and resourceful recruiters.
The vetted datapool helps in candidate sourcing, skill assessment, and tailored matching, ensuring optimal job-employee fits for tech roles.
All these assessment tasks are performed under supervision for recruiting qualified candidature in the field of Information technology.
Vanator maintains premium quality support and assures that every individual selected by them is up to date with the modern day technology and management tactics.
This enables them to perform better and make optimum use of resources provided to them by the companies.
Hiring Information technology specialist can take a toll on your business requirements but don’t worry, we always have your back!
Bentley University partnered with labor market analytics firm Burning Glass to uncover which skills employers are looking for, what that means for the future of certain jobs, and how educational institutions should be preparing the next generation of our workforce.
Activate Insight | The CFO's Guide to AI and Machine Learning in FinanceProphix Software
Artificial intelligence (AI) is here. It’s not some futuristic technology that’s just over the horizon. You likely used AI today. If you talked to Siri or Alexa, searched Google or browsed social media, you officially have experience with artificial intelligence. Feel free to update your resume accordingly.
Top IT Recruiters In USA [Vanator (RPO)]Vanator RPO
Recruiting folks for IT Recruiters In USA that encompass software’s, network, digital systems that process, manage and transmit data, revolutionizing modern communication and your business.
Vanator streamlines IT Recruiters In USA with the help of its extremely talented and resourceful recruiters.
The vetted datapool helps in candidate sourcing, skill assessment, and tailored matching, ensuring optimal job-employee fits for tech roles.
All these assessment tasks are performed under supervision for recruiting qualified candidature in the field of Information technology.
Vanator maintains premium quality support and assures that every individual selected by them is up to date with the modern day technology and management tactics.
Accelerating Your Digital Transformation Journey with IT Staff AugmentationTruefirms
In today's rapidly changing digital market, businesses continually search for ways to remain ahead of the competition and encourage creativity. IT staff augmentation has become a very common method. But what does augmentation of the IT staff actually mean? In simple terms, it refers to the process of augmenting your own IT staff by temporarily employing outside experts in the field.
For companies that need to increase their IT capabilities quickly but don't want to make the costly investment of hiring full-time employees, IT staff augmentation services offer a flexible answer. Businesses can access a huge talent and resource pool to help their efforts to transform themselves by using the skills and knowledge of outside experts.
Top 10 Ultimate Benefits of IT Staff Augmentation for Your Business.pdfultroNeous Technologies
IT staff augmentation is a hiring approach in which firms recruit temporary IT workers to supplement their in-house IT teams.
read more: https://blog.ultroneous.com/benefits-it-staff-augmentation/
Best Practices For Successful IT Recruitment.pdfStaff Connect
Master the art of IT recruitment with our guide on best practices for successful IT recruitment. Find top talent, streamline hiring, and build your tech team effectively. Learn more now!
We’ve worked with Executives and IT leaders for over 30 years, and the single most common complaint we hear from them is their profound frustration with the lack of results and transparency from their never-ending IT investments.
To add further complexity, the demand for digital products and services has made it increasingly difficult for organizations to make ongoing investments and balance the need for innovation with optimization.
The latest data, combined from global enterprises, big consulting and research firms, makes the case that companies need to urgently act to address the digital disruption of their business and their related skills gaps. The data shows that 70% of digital business initiatives are likely to fail to deliver business growth, due to lack of business process and product innovation, as well as poor organizational adaptability.
Poor governance and legacy product management processes to align business and IT initiatives, coupled with insufficient leadership engagement across the organization, are the main reason most companies are wasting money on IT.
This thought paper speaks to these challenges and how optimizing both technology innovation and cross-organizational engagement will accelerate the positive business outcomes that organizations are looking to achieve especially in lieu of increasing digital disruption.
Authors - Alex Adamopoulos and Bob Kantor
The future of customer support is AI-driven automation. Soon, we’ll interact conversationally with bots that know who we are and how to fix our problem right the first time. Soon, the capabilities of virtual agents will far exceed those of today’s best humans. We’ll receive support that is more reliable than friends, more accurate than social media, and less frustrating than waiting on hold.
In this session, we’ll discuss how artificial intelligence is impacting IT. We’ll cover research trends, technical challenges, and the cultural implications of AI-driven automation. We’ll also discuss how AI and natural language processing (NLP) can be used to improve KPIs like MTTR, FCR, cost per ticket, and customer satisfaction.
You'll leave better informed, less frightened, and armed with actionable advice to help you spearhead your team's vision for the future of IT.
Desktop Support is evolving from its traditional hands-on, hardware-focused, physical deskside work. With that in mind, we have to consider what's the future of desktop support. HDI's Desktop Support Advisory Board addresses this in a Roadmap that has been published & is the basis of this presentation for HDI's San Francisco Bay Area Chapter.
1. Winning the
War for Talent by John Reed
Any hiring manager who has tried to recruit help desk or technical are confident in their companies’ growth
support professionals in recent months knows the demand for top prospects in the first quarter of 2012. Of
course, growth means more investment
talent is high. One major reason is that many of the best workers simply
in IT—and thus, higher demand for IT
are not on the market. The unemployment rate for computer support support. Not surprisingly, the Bureau of
specialists was only 6.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, well Labor Statistics projects employment of
below the national average. And in a survey of more than 1,600 CIOs, computer support specialists to increase
46 percent said desktop support topped the list of the most in-demand by 14 percent between 2008 and 2018,
a pace that is faster than the average for
technical skills.
all occupations.
Given that many companies are expanding their operations, competition for help desk Given these trends, it is easy to see why
professionals will only intensify. Eighty-eight percent of CIOs surveyed for Robert Half both hiring and retaining talented help
Technology’s most recent IT Hiring Index and Skills Report (www.rht.com) said they desk and technical support professionals
14 Suppor tWorld | March/April 2012
2. are becoming increasingly challenging endeavors. The following
are some strategies to help your company gain an edge in the war
for skilled technical and desktop support professionals.
How Job Seekers Can Speed Up
the Hiring Process
Pay IT Staff Competitively While you may not be doing anything “wrong” in your
While money is not always the most important factor for job employment search, you may be overlooking some important
candidates, talented professionals may consider other opportunities steps. Here are some tips to help increase your chances of
if their compensation is not appropriate. Re-examine the salaries being invited to an interview and securing a job offer.
you offer for key positions to verify they are in line with what
competitors are paying for the same roles.
Resources like the Robert Half Technology 2012 Salary Guide Reassess Your Résumé
(www.rht.com/SalaryCenter) and 2011 HDI Salary Report Your résumé should be up-to-date. Delete old, irrelevant skills
(www.ThinkHDI.com/IndustryReports) can provide insights or jobs. For instance, you do not need to say that you worked
on current and upcoming compensation trends. Our research as a waiter in college if you are applying for a mid-level help
indicates that average starting salaries for all technical services, desk position. Also, make sure your job application materials
help desk, and technical support roles will increase in the year underscore the skills, talents, and credentials that make you
ahead. For example, according to the Robert Half Technology 2012 most marketable and valuable as an IT candidate. Instead of
Salary Guide, employers will need to pay more in 2012 to recruit the traditional objective statement, many candidates today use
IT professionals for the following roles: a brief summary that succinctly highlights their most relevant,
• Systems Administrator: $59,000 to $81,750, an increase notable qualifications and accomplishments. This approach
of 5.8 percent over 2011 levels can help give busy hiring managers a snapshot view of what is
most important to know about you as an IT professional.
• Systems Engineer: $68,750 to $87,500, an increase of 5.8
percent over 2011 levels
• Tier 3 Help Desk: $57,500 to $75,250, an increase of 4.5 Network, Network, Network
percent over 2011 levels The strength of your professional network can have a
Similarly, if current staff members’ salaries are not in line with the significant impact on the success of your job search. So if you
marketplace, they may look elsewhere. Check online salary surveys have only a few contacts in your network—or keep in touch
to make sure the compensation you are offering is appropriate. primarily with peers who are also in the market for IT roles—
it is time to raise your visibility and meet new people who
Trumpet Your Company’s Strengths can help you make the right connections. Use social media
Have you also thought about whether you are doing enough to sites like LinkedIn or Twitter to regularly engage with those in
underscore what makes your company a great place to work? For your network by sharing relevant information, contributing to
example, maybe your organization strongly emphasizes work/life conversations, and commenting on others’ posts, tweets, and
balance, allows IT professionals to use cutting-edge technology, or updates. But remember to take advantage of opportunities in
offers reimbursement for job-related educational expenses. Perhaps the “real world,” too.
your business is admired for its socially responsible activities or
has an outstanding employee cafeteria. Whatever your company’s
best attributes may be, highlight them in your recruiting materials Seek Professional Guidance
and your firm’s intranet or employee newsletter. This can help your Re-energize your job search process by seeking the advice of
firm attract new talent while also reminding current employees a career coach or professional recruiter. A career coach can
why they made a smart choice by joining—and remaining with— provide encouragement and advice for clarifying professional
the organization. goals. A specialized recruiter can offer similar guidance, and
help you find IT project positions. Interim work arrangements
Make Professional Growth a Priority can help you earn income—and keep your skills fresh—while
During the recession, many employers put professional you continue to seek full-time employment.
development programs on hold due to budget constraints. But
IT professionals in particular like to expand their knowledge and Even in a hot field like IT, it can take time to find the right
skills and explore new technologies. That is why offering such job. The hiring landscape is crowded, and many firms have
opportunities can be a powerful retention and recruiting tool. extended the recruitment process to avoid bad hires. However,
The good news is that professional development efforts do not by fine-tuning your résumé, expanding your professional
have to be expensive. Cost-effective options include providing network strategically, and seeking advice from reputable career
challenging assignments and project leadership roles, connecting consultants, you can likely shorten the wait until your next
staff with mentors, and crosstraining. If you have the budget to do interview—and, more importantly, your next job offer.
so, enroll top-performing employees in eLearning courses.
www.ThinkHDI.com | A Professional Journal for the IT Service and Technical Support Community 15
3. Another tip: If you do offer these opportunities to your IT staff, result in a landslide of résumés from unqualified applicants.
make sure you also give them the time and resources necessary They also can inadvertently convince talented candidates that
to take full advantage of them. they should not bother to apply for the position.
Promote Autonomy and Teamwork Focus on “must-have” requirements, including education
levels and professional credentials, such as the HDI Customer
Most IT workers today place a premium on autonomy and the
Service Representative certification or the Microsoft Certified
ability to make decisions themselves. So cultivating a work
Systems Engineer designation. And do not overlook other
environment where help desk and technical support personnel
attributes a candidate will need to excel in the role and in your
are empowered to develop their own solutions to problems
organization—for example, strong interpersonal skills. The
contributes to recruitment and retention.
Robert Half Technology 2012 Salary Guide, the 2011 HDI Support
At the same time, encourage a collegial atmosphere, where staff Center Practices & Salary Report, and the 2011 HDI Desktop
members can share ideas and opinions and collaborate with others Support Practices & Salary Report include sample job descriptions
to strategize, solve problems, and achieve objectives. This not for IT support professionals that can serve as useful models.
only builds trust and camaraderie across a team, it also promotes
knowledge sharing that can help everyone perform better Recruiting and Retaining Talent through
and, therefore, feel more confident in their roles. For example, Flexible Staffing
when a technical support professional successfully resolves a Many leading employers are finding that the staffing strategy they
particularly challenging issue, have her share any insights gained used to weather the recession is now helping them recruit and
through this experience so colleagues can apply that knowledge retain skilled IT talent: flexible staffing. The use of both interim
to address similar problems in the future. and full-time employees enables you to staff up or down quickly
and cost-effectively as business needs fluctuate, and reduces the
Make It Easier for Talent to Find You burden on core staff when workloads spike. It also provides an
Creating realistic and accurate job descriptions also plays a key opportunity to evaluate potential full-time candidates.
role in attracting highly qualified help desk and technical support Working closely with interim personnel for an extended period
specialists to your firm. Vague or outdated descriptions can or through repeat engagements allows you to assess a potential
16 Suppor tWorld | March/April 2012
4. hire’s ability to collaborate effectively with existing staff and Every professional wants to be commended for a job well
succeed in the prevailing corporate culture. Being able to place done. If staff members believe their contributions are valued
people already familiar with the company culture and specific and truly make a difference, they’ll be more inclined to stay with
job responsibilities and expectations means you may not need your firm.
to expend valuable resources on a broader candidate search.
You also may be able to reduce onboarding and training costs.
To emerge as a winner in the war for talent, your business
A recent survey of CIOs revealed that technical support teams will need to work hard to locate and hold on to the most skilled
are often understaffed, by an average of 42 percent. By using and experienced help desk and technical support professionals
flexible staffing to ease the burden on core help desk and available. If you do not act now, you risk allowing competitors
technical support specialists, you can enhance retention efforts. to recruit your top talent, leaving you without the resources
Furthermore, maintaining a positive work/life balance is a your business needs to succeed in the mission-critical campaigns
priority for many professionals today, so the need to engage that lie ahead.
additional support to help stave off burnout is especially clear.
About the Author
Don’t Take IT Talent for Granted
John Reed is the executive director of Robert Half
Remember, your own employees are fair game in a market Technology, a leading specialized-staffing firm
where the demand for skilled help desk and technical support that places IT professionals on a project and full-
specialists is higher than the supply. Turnover can be costly time basis. John has an extensive background in
for your firm. Aside from lost productivity, losing critical IT both IT and staffing, including twelve years in
IT product sales and eleven years in the staffing
support and skills just when the organization is ready to expand
industry. He is a frequently quoted expert on
or embark on critical new technology initiatives can be a difficult employment trends in the IT field, and he is
setback to recover from. This is why it is critical to be proactive involved with several professional organizations,
about letting talented individuals, whether new hires or longtime including the Association of IT Professionals and HDI. John received his
employees, know how much they are valued. BA in public affairs and administration from the University of Oklahoma.
Save up to $700
when you register by May 4, 2012 { Discounts:
Super Savings – $400 (ends May 4, 2012)
Early Bird – $200 (ends June 22, 2012)
Member – $200
Alumni – $100
}
www.ThinkHDI.com | A Professional Journal for the IT Service and Technical Support Community 17