IT Workers Report Lack of Adequate Training

MBA (9/29/2008 ) Palaparty, Vijay
Seventy-eight percent of IT workers in the United States do not feel adequately prepared and have been asked to accomplish tasks without receiving proper training beforehand, according to a survey from SkillSoft PLC, Nashua, N.H.
The survey also reported that 74 percent of IT workers, who represent more than one-fifth of employees in the survey sample, in Europe and the United Kingdom expressed similar sentiment. Overall, 68 percent of workers in North America agreed that training would have helped had they received it before doing certain tasks or jobs. Seventy-six percent of workers in Europe said they should have received training before beginning assigned work.

“IT is a continuous training environment,” said Todd Luhtanen, CTO of ISGN, Bensalem, Pa. “The rapid development of new technologies as well as the time necessary to implement them makes it difficult to keep all IT professionals current in their training. Any progressive organization will incorporate both stable, known technologies along with a fully trained staff as well as emerging technologies with a highly competent staff that learns as it goes and discovers best practices.”

Luhtanen said companies that work with vendors could avoid some challenges. “Companies need to understand long-term value in leveraging vendors for technology versus building completely in-house solutions,” he said, “Many decisions are made only on technology currently associated with a project and not implications of transitioning to the next technology advancement afterwards. Vendors, however, have the re-training built into their business model, constantly rotating staff through new technologies.”

“Regardless of location and job title, the majority of workers think ongoing training and development, and the flexibility to take the training when necessary, are essential, no matter what the employee's position,” said John Ambrose, senior vice president of strategy, corporate development and emerging business at SkillSoft.

Ravi Varma, CEO of LendingSpace Inc., South Plainfield, N.J., said there is an acute shortage of good IT resources. “Good resources move to better paying jobs,” he said. “When IT managers lose resources in the middle of projects and are trying to meet deadlines, they are forced to fill positions with individuals from other projects or hire new resources who do not necessarily understand the project.”

Of surveyed workers in the U.K., 67 percent said training is most important for senior managers; 52 percent of U.S. workers reported a similar sentiment. Throughout Europe, 51 percent said training was most important for senior managers.

“The good news for employers is that managers across the globe concur that training and development is an essential part of their organizations' strategy,” Ambrose said. “But survey data suggests that basic training is not enough, and that management skills training is a neglected area, leading managers to feel less confident in their ability to manage and lead people.”

Technical tasks ranked second in a list of top 10 tasks managers in the U.S. were asked to undertake without receiving proper training. Compliance-related tasks ranked sixth and finance-related tasks ranked seventh.

“Lack of training does bring up issues of security and other risks, and while it does appear to increase risk, most companies and employees are aware of this and use the vast amount of resources—from vendors to the internet to industry experts—to mitigate those risks and use best practices,” Luhtanen said.

In Europe, technical tasks ranked fourth, finance-related tasks ranked fifth and compliance-related tasks ranked seventh.

"This survey not only shows the significance of leadership training, but it also proves workers need to be trained at all stages of their careers," Ambrose said. "Regardless of a company's training program, on-boarding plays a key role in getting employees properly acclimated, and as the employee matures, efforts need to fit the specific employee role."

Respondents in the U.S. identified supervisors (70 percent), customer service teams (54.2 percent) and IT teams (52.5 percent) as most in need of training.

“An ability to be agile and responsive to market change in order to remain competitive is imperative for organizations, regardless of industry sector and geographical location,” the report said. “This can only be effectively achieved by investing in the skills and competences of the people who make up the workforce. Organizations that allocate time and resources to nurturing the talents of their employees—providing them with opportunities to grow and progress—are more likely to be heralded…typically amongst the most successful in the world—financially, culturally and socially.”