This is the second installment of a two-part series. Read Part 1 here.
These focus areas set the stage to build effective teams and provide challenging career opportunities. How can you ensure your culture is working for you and getting the right results?
Emphasize team building. Acquire and grow talent through interdepartmental teams.
- Commit to professional development so you have time to recruit from within and train employees from other areas when an initiative provides opportunity.
- Leverage internships to tap into bright game-changers with new perspectives around usability, innovation for applications and technology – disruption is good!
- Bump up the bonus structure for employees who successfully recruit new talent.
- Capitalize on Agile techniques to broaden job responsibilities. Dev Ops can be an open recruiting and training area for employees who want to broaden their base even if they stay in their existing department.
Support career growth: Retain high-potential talent by providing maximum growth opportunities.
- Ensure that new employees are on-boarded, have clear role definition, are trained and have a mentor. Identify and manage poor fits quickly and fairly.
- Allow rotations into and out of IT to reinforce the value of business experience.
- Give feedback and career coaching regularly to ensure employees are developing, have a plan and know their value.
- Insist on regular training, development and new experiences, and provide the time and space for it. Set up a training sabbatical structure every few years if budget allows.
A world-class culture is one of the most effective recruiting tools you can have because the best ambassadors are your employees. Be sure to reward behavior that aligns with company values and recognize results that support the business strategies and culture. Gartner reports that as digitalization expands beyond IT into more areas of business, demand for people with specialized technology skills will continue to increase. Competing for talent is expected to get more intense. As the battle for talent escalates, companies must focus on culture and opportunities to recruit great candidates and retain top performers.
To assist with your talent quest, be sure to check out Merritt College Cybersecurity Career Day on Nov. 2. The event will offer CISO and Instructor panels, as well as a keynote address from Cisco’s Chief Privacy Officer Michelle Dennedy.
Author:
John Dick 2019