Future-Proof the

IT Workforce
Retrain your IT talent for the future of business

Edited by
Lily Mok, VP Analyst, Gartner

© 2019 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. PR_621137
“What must-have skills and competencies do we need to “Lacking talent and skills is the top internal constraint to
achieve our digital business ambition? Does the current IT digital business growth,” says Lily Mok, VP Analyst, Gartner.
team have the necessary business expertise and technical “To overcome this challenge, CIOs must rethink how they
skills to design and deliver digital business capabilities? plan and source for new digital skills and competencies,
Can I future-proof the IT workforce to adapt to changing focusing more on the reskilling and development of the
business needs?” existing workforce.”

CIOs have many questions around talent in the world of

digital transformation and increasing amounts of emerging
technologies. But ultimately, they need to find technology
talent with the right skills and competencies to successfully
execute digital business strategy. CEOs believe digital is a
key driver for business growth and transformation.

It’s a clear mandate, but it’s difficult to know exactly where

to start. Luckily, the first and foremost solution is within your
existing team.

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 2

The challenge of
hiring talent
At a leadership off-site meeting, the CEO of a large marketing What she doesn’t know is that companies looking to hire data
organization announces a plan to focus on developing and analytics experts face steep competition. There are more
data-led business opportunities. The CIO immediately alerts than 236,000 data and analytics job openings in the U.S. alone
the Human Resources (HR) team that they’ll need to hire data and a 43% growth rate year over year, according to Gartner
and analytics specialists and data scientists. TalentNeuron™. And more than half of those jobs take longer
than six months to fill. Some cities in the U.S. and globally
face steep competition and wage pressure, making it difficult
Myth and expensive to acquire talent, even if the talent is in ample
It’s faster to hire from outside supply (see figure on page 5).
the company.
Besides looking externally for these new skills, the CIO really
should look internally to the current IT workforce and across
Fact
the enterprise, reviewing skill sets and examining who she can
Looking for the perfect fit outside
upskill and reskill to fill the role.
the company often means roles go
unfilled for long periods of time. IT and business leaders report an average of six months to
fill new roles externally, and nine months to develop internal
Reality candidates, according to a Gartner Research Circle survey.
You can’t hire your way out of the However, it will often take much longer to recruit externally
talent deficit. In fact, doing so can for in-demand jobs. The time that passes while searching for
compound the problem. a candidate is also time the enterprise spends without the
skill set, compounding the issue and putting the organization
further behind.

For a CIO looking to future-proof the IT workforce, relying on

hiring talent to fill new skill gaps is not sustainable, especially
when in-demand skills constantly evolve and competition for
talent becomes fierce.

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 3

Demand Pressure for AI Talent, by Location

Seattle 29%

Minneapolis 20% Boston 25%

New York 29%
Chicago 24% Philadelphia 16%
Pittsburgh 18%
Washington, D.C. 24%
Bay Area 31% Denver 22%

Los Angeles 25% Atlanta 27%

San Diego 25%

Dallas 22%

Austin 22% Unfavorable

Favorable

Source: Gartner TalentNeuron

Note: Demand is based on the total number of open jobs in 2Q18, and supply is also based on 2Q18 data.

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 4

 Big Data Drives Better Strategic Talent Sourcing
AI roles (including blockchain, DevOps and related skill sets)

Favorable locations
30% After comparing locations, some
are more favorable: Talent supply
is high, demand is moderate,
salaries are low and AI adoption
London Delhi NCR is widespread.
26% Mumbai
Notes
Bangalore 1. Talent supply is as of 2Q18.
2. Median salary cost is the
22% Beijing salary cost for all the job roles
Talent Demand

combined for each location.

Paris Singapore 3. D
 emand pressure is defined as
Sydney
talent demand/talent supply.

18% Pune Shanghai

14%

Buenos Aires Berlin

Median base
10% salary (US$)

0 6,000 12,000 18,000 24,000 30,000 36,000

Talent Supply
*Business Unit
Source: Gartner TalentNeuron

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 5

Assess the
business needs
Start with step one: Determine critical roles and skills When asked to rank the top three technology domain
necessary to design and deliver key business capabilities. investments for the next 12 months, leaders selected data
science and analytics, cybersecurity, and API and service
A recent Gartner survey asked IT and business leaders to platform design. When the timeline was pushed out to three
identify the top critical role to establish or improve bench years, they ranked machine learning and artificial intelligence
strength over the next three years, and five roles emerged: (AI), API and service platform design, and cybersecurity as
top priorities.
1 Digital business designer/architect
All of these investment options provide potential value to

2
digital business transformation, but CIOs must carefully
Data scientist assess which investments will enable the organization
to compete within their industry and mature their digital

3 Enterprise architect business. For example, a manufacturing company will focus

more on machine learning, whereas an insurance company

4 Chief digital officer

might invest more in data science and analytics.

The strategic roadmap of technology investments (and

5 Cloud architect their current maturity) should guide the determination

of roles and skills requiring the focus of the IT workforce.
Re-examine whether the current workforce has the
capabilities and the desire to fill these new roles.

If employees lack the specific skills for emerging

technologies, it is possible to reskill them and build on
their established skills to meet new technical needs.
Plus, investing in your current employees and creating a
culture of continuous development has a direct correlation
to higher engagement, loyalty and motivation.

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 6

Develop the
existing workforce
CIOs should focus on growing and reskilling their teams in 3. Drive shared ownership of continuous learning.
both competencies and technical skills. Challenge managers to become effective coaches, and hold
them accountable for understanding individual needs and
Focus on three steps to develop the workforce internally:
personalized approaches to learning. Empower employees to
1. Assess and prioritize needs. set goals and work with managers to develop action plans.

Begin by determining what roles, skills and competencies are “Understanding the skills and competencies needed to
critical in the short and long terms, based on business goals. improve performance today and prepare the workforce for
Assess your current workforce against those requirements the future puts the organization in a healthier position to
and determine gaps. Then evaluate which outcomes will be meet and exceed their digital ambitions,” says De’Onn
most impacted by the gaps. This will help create a strategy Griffin, Senior Director Analyst, Gartner.
that focuses on closing critical skills and competencies gaps.

2. Blend different learning delivery mechanisms.

Employees will learn in different ways, which means CIOs
need to provide a variety of learning experiences.

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 7

Focus on improving
digital competencies
What is preventing CIOs from looking internally for candidates?
They do not believe their current workforces possess sufficient COMPETENCY [noun]:
capabilities to meet the demands of the digital arena.
A set of characteristics of an individual that
Logistically, leaders believe internal development requires are observable, measurable and predictive
more resources and time, and they find the number of options of superior performance in a given role.
for learning at work daunting. Organizations often lack the
investment, processes and competencies to retrain their
existing workforces. Anyone being trained for these emerging technologies
must have a deeper understanding of how technology can
Further, IT professionals will need knowledge beyond how
be applied to business growth and scale. Perhaps more
the technology works and into the business acumen that will
importantly than being trained in specific technology, IT
enable them to apply the technology to:
professionals will need to expand their business knowledge
and know how IT can improve its contribution and help
1 Drive new revenue streams transform the business.

2
“It is more important than ever for CIOs to define desired
Deliver greater business value behaviors and identify the underlying competencies for
differentiated performance at individual and team levels,”
3 Improve customer experience or citizen engagement says Mok. “Competency development motivates performance
when employees are learning new work processes and skills
for the digital business and digital ecosystem.”

Digital business demands higher workforce performance,

and competencies are the true differentiators.

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 8

Gartner has identified 12 digital competencies for CIOs
to identify and develop within their teams. All CIOs should 12 Digital Competencies
focus on developing business acumen as a competency.
Then select five to seven additional competencies based
on the company’s needs.

The goal is to develop the competencies that will enable Adaptability Business Collaboration/
individuals and teams to learn and adapt to a changing acumen synergy
digital world. For example, if the competency to be
developed is business acumen, the learning plan may
include formal training and development activities
illustrated in the following table. The learning plan may
look slightly different for each employee, depending on Decisiveness Design Digital
thinking dexterity
individual learning style and current competency level.

Outcome-driven Political Risk-taking

savviness

Diversity Growth Innovative

mindset mindset

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 9

 Example Development Plan for Business Acumen

Competency Development Activities Recommended Training

Business Align role with business strategy. Customer value and satisfaction:
Acumen Meet with others to learn about your organization’s business strategy; A course designed to enable
consider ways to align yourself with this strategy. Review the functions employees to understand
of your role and determine how these functions will enable you to customer value and customer
contribute to the business strategy of your organization. satisfaction and their impact
on the organization.
Consider customer requirements.
Consider the effect your decisions have on customer requirements Financial goals:
and needs. Make this consideration a prime factor in your decision- A course that examines the
making process. financial goals and objectives
of an organization.
Participate in business process improvement activities.
Volunteer as a participant on teams that address business processing
re-engineering.

Spend a rotation in business operations.

Take a short rotation in the operations of the business (for example,
in retail, work in a store; in manufacturing, work on the manufacturing
floor) to better understand the internal and external customer
experience. This can last for a period of two to three months or
be conducted on a predetermined basis.
• Attend business-unit staff meetings to understand what’s
happening.

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 10

Use a blend of learning
approaches
This “grow-your-own” approach to talent development means Hackathons: Gatherings of programmers, developers and
that CIOs need to select and cultivate programs that enable other technical employees to solve a problem, usually in
their teams to learn and grow. This will vary depending on a very short period of time. Hackathons can be used for
resources and personalities, but options exist across the technical issues, but also culture changes, team requirements
spectrum of high and low time and resource investment. or decision making.

Low time and low investment Job shadowing: A team member working alongside another,
usually in a different role, with the purpose of the team
Mentoring programs: One-to-one relationships between
member gaining a deeper understanding of the tasks related
people (internal and external) that facilitate learning and
to the selected role.
professional development and build self-confidence.
Consider a variety of pairings: A senior executive could Low time and high financial investment
mentor a less-experienced employee for professional
development, a junior employee could mentor a senior External executive coaching: Conducted by a certified
employee on new technical requirements and peer coach, this long-term activity is focused on identifying
mentors can share experiences with new employees. weaknesses and having structured regular meetings to
support behavior changes.
Lunch-and-learns: Lunchtime gatherings of employees
from across the organization to discuss new ideas and Simulation training: An employee uses computer-created
emerging practices and collaborate. scenarios to learn how to perform certain tasks or better
prepare for situations.

On-the-job training: Employee training while doing the actual

job under the supervision of an experienced person and after
a formal training class.

Virtual instructor-led training: Training delivered in a virtual

environment, i.e., instructor and learner in separate locations,
either in real time or on demand.

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 11

High time and low investment High time and high financial investment
Internal coaching: Frontline managers and leaders Degrees/professional certifications/leadership development
incorporate feedback and coaching into the way they programs: Employees pursue formal degree programs or
lead the individuals on their teams. certifications delivered by educational institutions.

Job rotation: A 6- to 18-month assignment with enough Instructor-led courses (ILT): Training facilitated by an
exposure to each job that employees in the rotation can instructor that enables the instructor/facilitator and
own deliverables and see results. learners to interact, discuss and apply the skills individually
or in a group.
Lead an organizational change initiative: Selecting a team
member to lead a change initiative enables the individual to Apprenticeship programs: A system of training and
focus on and learn to lead from the perspective of the people, development across the enterprise on the skills and
processes and stakeholders and less on the technology and competencies of critical roles with on-the-job training,
system changes. accompanying study and work that furthers agency
objectives (refer to chart on the next page).
Assignment to cross-functional projects: Employee works on
a cross-functional team to share/teach others and contribute E-learning: Conducted by electronic media, typically
across the organization. This option builds enterprise acumen accessed via the internet or intranet (via a learning
and enables employees to make connections. management system within an organization).

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 12

Nine Steps to Kick Off a Reimagined Apprenticeship

Step Roles Action Step Roles Action

Figure out what study makes

5
Ensure the program name is attractive Program
sense based on desired skills
and encompassing for the goals, Lead
and competencies.
as apprenticeship might have other
1 CIO connotations. For example, it could be CIO
Look across the business units and IT to
6
called a learning adoption program, Program
practicum, “learningship,” pathway or find the “masters” based on desired skills
Lead
fellowship. and competencies.
BU

Find an energetic and motivated person CIO

2 7
CIO or Find the right projects and decide on
to act as program lead, either full-time BU
HR deliverables.
or as part of a larger role. Leaders

CIO Determine the skills the apprenticeship

Create a program with learning
3 8
should develop. Validate them with the Program
HR opportunities that can be completed
business units and ensure senior Lead
BU* in a reasonable amount of time.
sponsorship.

Select a manageable number of

CIO Build in milestones and mechanisms to
apprentices who demonstrate a desire CIO

4 9
validate the program as it moves along.
HR to learn and a willingness to try a new Program
Ensure success by keeping the program
BU approach. Ensure at least one apprentice Lead
on track.
is from a BU.

*Business Unit

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 13

Conclusion
CIOs have a challenging roadmap to follow to acquire the
right talent to meet CEOs’ digital ambitions:

Identify the emerging technologies investments that

align with business goals. Decide what roles, skills and
competencies are critical to deliver and support those
information and technology capabilities. Examine your current
IT teams for gaps in those workforce capabilities. Outline a
strategy to develop your team members and imbue them
with the business acumen required to effectively leverage
current and future emerging technologies in support of digital
business growth.

Those who are successful will have a workforce that can adapt
and change for future technologies and business challenges.

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 14

Additional research
and articles
Survey Analysis: CIOs Must Invest in Reskilling and Tackle the Talent Problem: Invest in Growing Your
Transforming the IT Workforce to Propel Digital Business Own Employees
Lily Mok, December 2018 De’Onn Griffin, December 2018

Reimagine Apprenticeships to Develop Talent to Reinvent Talent Strategies: The Digital-Age Mandate for HR
Scale Digital Business Brian Kropp
Christie Struckman, March 2018
Analytics-Driven Talent Strategy
Develop the Competencies Your Workforce Needs Ashley Tatum, April 2019
for the Digital Ecosystem
Diane Berry, December 2018

Future-Proof the IT Workforce 15

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© 2019 Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. PR_581843