96% of IT Leaders Know People are Critical to Project Success, Only 51% Say People Issues Get the Strategic Attention They Deserve
Dec 6, 2011 | HANOVER, MD | For media inquiries, please contact us at media@TEKsystems.com.
HANOVER, MD – December 06, 2011 –TEKsystems®, a leading provider of IT staffing solutions, IT talent management expertise and IT services, today announced findings from its quarterly IT Executive Outlook survey, conducted in partnership with the Inavero Institute. Ninety-six percent of IT leaders agree that the success of any IT initiative significantly depends upon the IT professionals implementing it. Moreover, 94% say that people-based issues such as talent attraction, development, retention, team communication can derail the success of IT projects. However, only 51% of respondents say that human capital issues get the strategic attention they deserve.
“As an IT service provider that specializes in human capital, we know firsthand the central role great people play in driving project success. We also see how critical it is to have superior processes through which high performers are attracted, developed, and retained,” says TEKsystems Director, Rachel Russell. “With 46% of respondents indicating that the most significant contributor to underperforming IT departments is the lack of team bandwidth to accomplish necessary objectives, it’s clear to us that many IT leaders just don’t have the time to really design, build, and run an ideal workforce management plan.”
Utilize Partners
IT leaders report that IT staffing companies (62%), systems integrators (57%) and business consulting companies (52%) offer human capital management expertise. However, the quality of that expertise is not consistent. Respondents rated the human capital management expertise respondents received from IT staffing companies the highest (55%), followed by Systems integrators (42%) and business consulting firms (40%).
“All service providers are not created equal when it comes to providing quality human capital management advice. A successful human capital management strategy must be based on the fundamental belief that people are not commodities. What’s more, it has to go beyond theory and into what really works in practice,” says Russell. “Our perspective is not only based on the proprietary research studies we conduct on the IT workforce. It’s also the result of our relationships and the thousands of real-world experiences we have with IT leaders and IT professionals every day.”
Confidence in Implementation
IT leaders rated their confidence in their ability to perform various components of a human capital management strategy. Responses show the most confidence in their ability to foster teamwork (58%), knowledge of the roles necessary for specific projects/initiatives (56%), and building a sense of community (51%). Conversely, optimizing hiring processes (28%) and succession planning (28%) were the aspects which IT leaders are least confident in implementing.
“Given the speed and degree to which the IT environment changes, great human capital management practices for the IT workforce are a major differentiator that allows businesses to keep or even set the pace for progress,” says Russell. “It’s vital to long term success that businesses carefully consider their human capital management strengths and bolster those areas in which they lack a core competency.”
About the IT Executive Outlook Survey:
TEKsystems partners with the Inavero Institute to conduct a quarterly survey of more than 2,100 IT leaders. The fourth quarter 2011 online survey was completed by IT decision makers during September 2011. IT managers and directors represented the majority of survey respondents at 85%, and IT executives made up the remaining 15% of responses. IT leaders represented all industries, regions and company sizes.
About TEKsystems
People are at the heart of every successful business initiative. At TEKsystems, an Allegis Group company, we understand people. Every year we deploy more than 80,000 IT professionals at 6,000 client sites across North America, Europe and Asia. Our deep insights into IT human capital management enable us to help our clients achieve their business goals–while optimizing their IT workforce strategies. We provide IT staffing solutions and IT services to help our clients plan, build and run their critical business initiatives. Through our range of quality-focused delivery models, we meet our clients where they are, and take them where they want to go, the way they want to get there.