Very bullish article from Sharon Florentine at CIO.com – of course the reality will be down to your specific country / industry sector.
CIO Prediction 1: Expect Hiring Explosion in Q1 and Q2
The forecast for the first half of 2015 looks bright for IT workers. Eighty-seven percent of 2,400 CIOs surveyed by Robert Half Technology say they will add more staff, whether to fill vacant roles or new positions.
If we take all these at face value then my questions for IT organisations are:
- are you hiring permanent or contract resource – see prediction #5 below.
- and if you’re hiring contract resources is that because you haven’t been forward thinking enough to develop your own people – see prediction #4 .
- what impact does hiring in contract or other external resource have on your permanent staff’s engagement and performance – see prediction #3 below.
- and would having better IT workforce data and data analytics capability help you with these questions? – see prediction #6.
CIO Prediction 2: Companies Will Leverage Mobile and Social Networks to Recruit Passive Talent
The new paradigm for 2015 is using social networks and mobile tech to increase connections with passive candidates, which will also serve to drive up salaries.
CIO Prediction 3: Increased Focus on Employee Engagement and Retention
“Smart employers are definitely increasing their investment in keeping the people they have — anything to provide more collaboration and meaning to peoples’ jobs.
Smart employers understand that there is always a higher paying job out there, but people will stick around for jobs that have true meaning for them,”
I think … Retaining employees is good business as long as there is a continual focus on performance in line with business needs
CIO Prediction 4: Emphasis on Education and Training
Education and training will be a major focus for 2015, … especially for millennials.
“When you invest in training your people, you’re providing them with skills and tools they can not only use today, but also continue to draw upon throughout their career,”
I think … there should really be less emphasis on training and more on being given the opportunity for career – enhancing experiences
CIO Prediction 5: Employees Shift Focus from Full-time Work to Contracting/Freelancing
“The global economy in general is moving to a contract or freelance workforce. It’s now a $1 billion worldwide market, and projected to be $5 billion in the next five years,”
I think … the challenge for organisations is to get the balance between contract and permanent resources. It can easily get out of kilter (particularly if you are under pressure to hire lots of people – see prediction # 1)
CIO Prediction 6: HR Department Turn to Big Data
“We call it ‘Intelligent Talent Management,’ taking advantage of all that data around employee behavior, productivity, skills, system usage and workflow to grow workers skillsets and continue engagement and productivity.
I think … this will not be a quick fix and requires significant change in the HR department to make this reality