Launch of IT skills planning and management service

Citation

(2000), "Launch of IT skills planning and management service", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 32 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2000.03732cab.005

Launch of IT skills planning and management service

Launch of IT skills planning and management service

Keywords: IT, Management, Benchmarking

The independent IT consultancy, NCC Services Ltd, is targeting IT managers with a new approach to the planning and management of IT skills. The service, Skills21, is designed to help with the retention, recruitment and development of staff.

Skills21 is an assessment-based service that enables objective comparisons to be made with relevant benchmarked information. This approach to identify best practice in the management of staff and skills issues can help avoid the loss of key staff and critical skills - crucial in today's highly competitive IT market. Above all, the service provides IT managers with the ammunition they need to take a strategic view of skills, giving them the ability to link this through to their organizations' IS and business strategies.

John Eary, head of NCC Skills Source consultancy, says: "Too many organizations adopt a knee-jerk reaction when staff leave. Dealing with the skills shortage is not about rushing into a salary auction - few organizations will succeed in a bidding war, especially those in the public sector. Organizations that have successfully coped with skills shortages have demonstrated that dealing effectively with the IT skills crisis requires careful planning and monitoring."

He continues: "Clear strategies need to be in place for the attraction, development and retention of staff. There is a lot of best practice advice in staffing and skills management developed over the years that many IT managers are unaware of. Skills21 highlights the opportunities to address underlying skills problems."

Skills21 provides an overview of eight critical skills aspects including skills planning; skills and career development; and organizational design. It offers a useful way of identifying the real issues that often only manifest themselves as problems in recruiting or retaining staff. It identifies both the scale of the skills problems confronting the organization and its achievement in managing them. Organizations can also use the service to benchmark their skills management and ensure the use of best practice measures.

For further information contact Jeff Tate at NCC Services. Tel: 0161 242 2439; E-mail: jeff.tate@ncc.co.uk