IT Executive Outlook Survey Third Quarter 2011 To drive successful business outcomes, it is critical to evaluate IT initiatives within the context of the broader market environment. TEKsystems quarterly IT Executive Outlook Survey is designed to keep you informed of significant and emerging trends so you can effectively plan and implement your initiatives with realistic budget, timeline and workforce requirements.
QUESTION: 1 Rate the strength of the following components of your IT organization s on-the-job training? On-the-job IT training needs improvement. Less than one third of respondents rate their IT organization s on-the-job training program as excellent or very good. Nearly half of IT leaders rate their ability to reinforce (46%) and hold IT employees accountable (42%) for on-the-job training as fair or poor. CIOs rate their organization higher for defined deliverables, goals, timelines and accountability. Canadian IT leaders were less likely to rate their IT organization s on-the-job training as excellent or very good compared to their counterparts in the U.S. www.teksystems.com 2
QUESTION: 2 Who is responsible for prioritizing training topics/courses/targets for your IT organization and who should be? Should IT employees control their IT training destiny? Twenty-eight percent of IT leaders say IT employees should be responsible for prioritizing training topics for themselves, but only 17% of Canadian IT leaders agree. Today, IT managers and directors are most often responsible for training topic prioritization. IT leaders believe that IT managers and directors should continue to help set the training agenda but that IT employees should share the responsibility. Each type of IT leader (CIOs and IT VPs, directors and managers) is more likely to claim responsibility for prioritizing training curriculum today. In Canada, IT leaders indicated that CIOs (30%) or HR (24%) are responsible for prioritizing training topics, while leaders in the U.S. cite that IT managers (60%) or IT directors (51%) are responsible for training prioritization. www.teksystems.com 3
QUESTION: 3 How would you rate the effectiveness of the following aspects of your IT organization s training programs in general? IT training program effectiveness receives low scores. Over 35% of IT leaders rate their IT organization s training program s effectiveness as fair or poor, with IT certification programs receiving the worst ratings. Less than one quarter rate IT training program effectiveness as excellent or very good for all categories except leadership, industry knowledge and technology skills. Interestingly, over 10% of IT organizations do not offer training for IT certifications or business acumen today. CIOs are more likely to rate the organization higher, with the exception of learning transfer and leadership/management training. www.teksystems.com 4
QUESTION: 4 Which of the following skills are best suited for training versus those skills that should be innate or developed organically? Formal training is best for hard skills, while soft skills should be innately developed. Over 60% of IT leaders say formal training is the best choice for hard skills like project management, general technology, emerging technology skills and certifications. Leaders say that softer skills like communications, leadership and business acumen require less formal training and can be learned organically. Leaders also agree that learning transfer from the education environment to the job is not a process that requires a formal program. www.teksystems.com 5
About the Survey TEKsystems, a leading technology staffing and services company, partners with the Inavero Institute to conduct a quarterly survey of more than 3,400 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. Contact Tania Lavin, at tlavin@teksystems.com, to learn more. TEKsystems 7437 Race Road, Hanover, MD 21076 888.835.7978 www.teksystems.com TEKsystems, Inc. is an Allegis Group, Inc. company. Certain names, products and services listed in the document are trademarks, register trademarks, or service marks of their respective companies. Copyright 2011 TEKsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6