Best Practice IT Best Practice IT Professional DevelopmentProfessional Development

Why?Why?

• Constant evolution in IT– “Commodity technical skills are going

overseas” (Computing – Jan 2007)

• New “Skills profile”– Business aware, good communicator, able to

manage business relationships, creative, innovative, leadership ability (Computing – Jan 2007)

Understand the Strategic contextUnderstand the Strategic context

• What are the strategic business objectives?

• How does IT enable them?

• How are they supported by the current people development processes?

• What is the HR strategy/ HR objectives?

Managing the IT resources in Managing the IT resources in different environmentsdifferent environments

• What skills have we got?

• What level of skill? Basic? Expert?

• How many?

• How can we evaluate?

• What do we need?

Defining the skills we needDefining the skills we need

Yesterday• Programming• Analysis/Design• Operations• Support• Management

Today

• Innovation• Transformation• Communication• Leadership….

Create a Skills Management Create a Skills Management StrategyStrategy

• Determine the business case for skills/resource management, professional development, and other strategic change

• Analyse professional development processes/strategy vs a Maturity Model of professional development

Create Skills DirectoryCreate Skills Directory

• Determine the key Skills

• Establish a measurement framework

• Create a skills matrix

• Re-invent the wheel?

Skills FrameworkSkills Framework

“SFIA describes what people do, not necessarily what their jobs are called”

introduction to SFIA

Skill CategoriesSkill Categories

• Strategy and planning

• Development

• Business change

• Service provision

• Procurement and management support

• “Ancillary”

LevelsLevels7 - set strategy, inspire, mobilise

6 - initiate, influence

5 - ensure, advise

4 - enable

3 - apply

2 - assist

1 - follow

Planning developmentPlanning development

Personal development Personal development Participant withskills portfolio

Ad-hocDevelopment

Participant withenhanced skills

portfolio

Planned Professional DevelopmentPlanned Professional DevelopmentParticipant withskills portfolio

DevelopmentCycle

Participant withenhanced skills

portfolio

CDP

DevelopmentPlanning

CompletedDevelopment

Cycledocumentation

The ProcessThe Process Assess Individual Skill NeedsAssess Individual Skill Needs

• Where am I now? – Skills Framework (SFIAplus)

• Where do I want/need to be? – Skills Matrix (organisation’s needs)

• How can I get there– Development process ->– Fill the gaps

The ProcessThe Process Development CycleDevelopment Cycle

Create Cycle

Record Progress

Pursue Actions

Development Objectives, based on Skill needs, and Actions to achieve them

ReviewProgress

Verify Record & Sign off Cycle

Practitioner & Manager

Practitioner & Manager

Practitioner

Practitioner

Manager

Create Journals, linked to planned Actions

Agree new Actions as appropriate

Add comments to close cycle

Integrate the Personal Development Integrate the Personal Development Process with Performance Process with Performance

Management Management

• Formalise the Development Process

• Agree parameters for measuring the effectiveness of the process– Eg time frames, quality criteria, filling skills

gaps

• Set performance targets, using these parameters

Corporate relationships with Corporate relationships with The BCSThe BCS

• Group membership

• Accredited professional development programmes– Individual development planned, monitored

and reviewed– Well tested Success Factors and

Performance Indicators– Annual audit by BCS

Corporate relationships with Corporate relationships with The BCSThe BCS

• “Trusted Source” arrangements

• Streamlined nomination process for BCS Membership grades

• “CITP Processing Agreements”