HANOVER, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TEKsystems®, the nation’s leading technology staffing and services company, today announced findings from its quarterly IT Executive Outlook survey, conducted in partnership with the Inavero Institute. Only nine percent of IT leaders say they have a formal, very well-defined process for addressing the organization’s current workforce planning strategy, and just eight percent have a process for addressing future workforce planning strategies.
In line with the low percentage of IT leaders who have formal processes to address current and future workforce needs, the majority of respondents agree about how far ahead they plan, with 59% planning for the next year. Less than 20% plan for the next two years and only six percent address workforce planning for the next five years.
“IT departments are constantly assembling teams to tackle emerging trends and stay ahead in a changing marketplace. 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,” comments TEKsystems Director, Rachel Russell. “Our finding that 34% 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.”
In addition to a lack of formal workforce planning strategies, the survey reveals that organizations are poor at succession planning and offering sound retention strategies. Only 15% of IT leaders say their companies are very good or excellent at succession planning, while 28% say the same about retaining employees.
“People make IT happen, so losing talented professionals can stop project momentum in its tracks,” continues Russell. “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.”
Developing a workforce planning strategy involves various stakeholders at all levels. In fact, IT leaders reveal the varied nature of those who participate in and lead these initiatives. The survey shows that IT Directors (95%), IT Managers (93%) and CIOs (83%) lead and/or contribute to an organization’s workforce plan, while HR (70%) and Finance (62%) do as well. Conversely, the least involved parties in the process are business leaders (48%) and the professional development team (68%).
“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,” says Russell. “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.”
About the IT Executive Outlook survey:
TEKsystems, a leading technology staffing and services company, partners with the Inavero Institute to conduct a quarterly survey of nearly 3,000 IT leaders. The third quarter 2011 online survey was completed by IT decision makers during June 2011. IT managers and directors represented the majority of survey respondents at 86%, and IT executives made up 14% of responses. IT leaders represented all industries, regions and company sizes.
About TEKsystems:
TEKsystems® is the nation’s leading technology staffing and services company. Combining a proven track record of superior performance, a quality-focused approach to service delivery and the highest-caliber technical professionals in the market, TEKsystems helps our clients successfully plan, build and run their critical technology initiatives. With more than 25 years of experience, we annually deploy 70,000 technical professionals from 90 locations throughout North America, Europe and Asia.