New & Notable

Toronto CIOs Explore Talent Issues

Details

Tuesday, 03 May 2016 00:00

With aging legacy systems that need maintaining, disruptive technologies that require new skill sets, and a young workforce that values personal satisfaction over long-term security, the challenges have never been greater when it comes to keeping IT departments adequately stocked with skilled employees. To help meet these challenges, The IT Media Group hosted another of its highly popular CIO Master Series roundtables on April 28, 2016 in Toronto, this one entitled “Winning the IT Talent Wars”.

More than a dozen Toronto-area IT executives from a wide range of private- and public-sector organizations participated in the invitation-only session. John Pickett, IT Media Group VP Executive Programs, moderated the discussion, while Chris Makkreel, Head of Solution Engineering, represented event sponsor Salesforce.

The conversation covered such topics as finding and developing people with a blend of technical and soft skills, understanding employees and giving them feedback, the impact of managers on employees, the importance of training and mentoring, creating a culture in which it is okay to fail, the pros and cons of telecommuting, clarity and consistency in messaging, and the use of contract versus full-time employees.

The care and feeding of millennials was a topic that got an especially thorough airing. While lamenting the fact that it’s hard to keep millennials around – they don’t mind changing jobs – most roundtable participants agreed that they can be a great boon to the organization. They’re fearless and when you unleash them they can do some wonderful things. But they will resist if you try to mold them; you need to find ways to capitalize on their strengths.

It was evident from the outset that the session hit a sweet spot with roundtable members. The level of engagement by everyone at the table was high, and the comments were diverse and insightful. Session feedback was extremely positive, opening the door to future discussions on this topic.

The IT Media Group’s CIO Master Series is one of the most successful event programs for IT executives in Canada, bringing together scores of senior level peers for thoughtful private discussions around the top issues facing enterprise IT. For a better understanding of these events please visit our Video section.

The IT Media Group is an award-winning producer of events and content for senior IT executives. Based in Toronto, our leadership team includes some of the most experienced and well respected media, technology and business professionals serving the IT executive community in Canada.