Under-investment in skills training in the IT sector is having a
major impact on the UK's ability to compete globally, writes Fiona
Bates of training provider
The
Inspirational Development Group (IDG).
Lack of technical ability is often cited as a major factor in
the
skills shortage, but the IDG believes a dearth of softer people
skills is making the problem far worse.
A survey by the IT Governance Institute of more than 700 chief
executives and chief information officers worldwide found that
almost four in 10 reported problems relating to inadequate IT
skills.
IDG's Bob Jones says, "It is obviously important that staff have
the technical ability to do the job, but at the same time those
promoted to managerial roles need to be able to rapidly build
high-performing teams.
"If they don't have the skills to communicate and network
effectively, the prospects of retaining good staff and ensuring
proper succession planning are stark, and this will impact on their
ability as a business to work in a global environment."
His views are echoed by Paul Ventisei, head of HSS Technology,
the IT division of HSBC Securities Services, which has been putting
its key staff through a year-long leadership development programme
with IDG. He says the programme has led to substantial changes in
both the mindsets and capabilities of employees, with an immediate
impact on both individual performances and the target population as
a whole.
"As a global organisation with 6,000 staff - of whom 250 are
directly technology-based - we wanted to ensure that working
relationships were productive and that we could deliver faster,
better, cheaper results than our competitors.
"When employees were asked how they felt the company could
improve and operate more effectively, every answer centred on the
development of soft skills - increased communication, allocation of
projects and understanding customer needs."
120 HSS employees are now at various stages of the intensive
Fusion programme, which starts and finishes at the Royal Military
Academy at Sandhurst, with which IDG has a partnership.
The IDG programme focuses on developing a commercial awareness
with an interlinked approach of leadership, followership and
partnership, enforcing that to be an effective leader you must also
know how to follow, how to build and manage relationships with
internal and external partners and be a well-rounded business
person, not just a technical expert.
Ventisei says, "The programme is called Fusion because it brings
together staff not only from the UK, but also from Hong Kong,
China, New York, India, Paris and Bermuda which was vital to open
up our international communication channels. Just like the army,
they spent a lot of time together which really helps build valuable
global networking bonds.
"Through a series of workshops and exercises, participants chose
team-based projects in teams that were carefully constructed to
cross cultural, age and hierarchical boundaries. They embarked upon
a steep learning curve, discovering how to simultaneously build a
high performing team and deliver a well executed quick-win payback
project.
"All teams were later expected to give a Dragons' Den-style
presentation, introducing their project to the senior executives at
HSS - these were managers seven levels above the most junior people
on the programme. Such a make-or-break presentation demands
excellence and ensured that participants approached the projects
seriously. Only then could they reach the real crux of teamwork
where tensions and passions rise, people become frustrated and
issues have to be resolved."
Interestingly, the lack of softer skills in the IT sector is not
a problem experienced solely by the UK market our US counterparts
struggle too. One US university is addressing the problem early on
and in an innovative programme insists that computer science
students study a foreign language in addition to the major
programming languages. Furthermore, in both course work projects
and exams they operate as teams, working on creating technology
solutions for customers.
For many already in the industry, however, this need has been
identified too late and they continue to lag behind in such vital
softer people skills.
Ventisei says, "People in IT don't develop or train in soft
skills because they find it hard to justify the expense. With IDG
the training is a one-year journey in which people become committed
to changing habits and developing projects that pay back the cost
of the programme and more the results are not only justifiable but
beyond expectation.
"The training and development in the Fusion programme has not
only allowed us to work as a high performing team, it has also led
to a much reduced level of staff turnover. If people in the IT
industry do genuinely want to alleviate the existing skills
shortage, we would certainly advocate training in soft skills as an
important factor in trying to resolve the problem."