Monica Walls tells the community about how she thinks new talent should be managed.
Politicians all over the world like to tout IT as one of the growth areas for the global economy but many of the economies they preside over are failing to produce enough skilled people to fuel that growth.
This may be partly caused, as in the UK, by a failure to provide adequate ICT learning in the education system. UK education secretary, Michael Gove, recently branded the ICT curriculum as 'de-motivating and dull'. The UK government has announced plans to address the problem by involving businesses and university academics in the creation of new courses that will stop students 'being bored out of their minds being taught how to use Word and Excel by bored teachers'.
"Graduate recruitment schemes are definitely worth exploring. A good scheme gives trainees the opportunity to work with managers and specialists on real hands-on projects."
Whatever the reasons for the current shortage of IT skills, many businesses are starting to take matters into their own hands and are investing in training to try and overcome the problem. According to a recent survey, 70% of companies are doing just that.
Graduate recruitment schemes are definitely worth exploring. A good scheme gives trainees the opportunity to work with managers and specialists on real hands-on projects. It helps them acquire the values and know-how to perform projects successfully while allowing managers to learn more about the trainees. Our internship programme is relatively new but has already produced high quality candidates and we hope to convert many of them to full time staff in the near future.
It’s also important to have programmes and schemes in place that help to assimilate new employees into the business as quickly as possible. For example, we invite every new member of staff globally to attend a weeklong New Hire Orientation at our headquarters in Santa Clara, California. While there, they meet people from the various team functions including product management, sales, marketing, engineering, technical operations, business development, finance and human resources.
The orientation provides new staff with a good opportunity to observe what we do first-hand and to get answers to any questions they might have. The new staff also get the opportunity to work in teams and collectively brainstorm a real-life business scenario, mentored by experienced employees, to give them a better understanding of how to support customers.
"Companies need to ensure their HR teams have an ongoing commitment to their employees."
Recruiting staff is only one part of the equation. Companies need to ensure their HR teams have an ongoing commitment to their employees. One way to achieve this goal is to spend time working with all members of the team when they are hiring new staff to ensure recruits have a defined career path with proper training, mentoring and education.
Employees are a company's greatest asset. Recognising the value that can be gained from investing time in their careers is the best way for all companies to take their future into their own hands.
Monica E. Walls is vice president of human resources at Nexenta Systems
