Solve the skills shortage: employ the right people

Skills shortage or skills glut? In the black and white world of information technology we appear to be in the middle of one crisis or the other.

This month it's a shortage. Witness last week's poll of 250 UK IT directors which showed a lack of staff with the relevant technical know-how was stalling projects (http://www.silicon.com/a33724 ). Indeed, 15 per cent of those polled said they had been forced to cancel installations because of difficulties finding suitable employees.

Ridiculous, say two former IT directors. Speaking on this week's Behind the Headlines (http://www.silicon.com/a33849 ), Rene Carayol described the findings as "mystifying". The former IT director of IPC Magazines declared: "The skills shortage is a misnomer. People in IT have had one skill they've demonstrated from year dot - and that's the ability to acquire new skills quickly."

Carayol's views were echoed by David Taylor, president of Certus, the association of IT directors. "The idea that IT skills are all about Oracle, Cobol and so on is just wrong," said Taylor.

There exists a fixation in bringing in the 'finished article' - a programmer, a network engineer, or a systems analyst with the latest vendor-specific qualifications. This is fine, up to a point, but it is much more important to employ the people with successful qualities. An employee must have a personality that is able to integrate and interact with the existing team the pragmatism that enables them to learn and adapt their skills according to the situation and the hunger that means they are willing to learn and see a project through.

Taylor believes the UK in particular lacks suitable role models. "I don't think we have a skills shortage other than a skills shortage of leadership," Taylor said. The leadership needed involves identifying individuals with these vital qualities and ensuring those qualities are exploited. To illustrate his point, Taylor told of his days in charge of IT at Cornhill Insurance when he gambled on the project management skills of one employee. This employee spent his spare time putting on plays at his local amateur dramatics society. Taylor reasoned that since this individual could take a play from inception to the stage in 11 weeks, he could do the same with IT installations.

The opportunities and people are there. But as long as the number one factor determining employment is vendor-specific skills, we will experience a perpetual shortage. To paraphrase Carayol's maxim: 'An idiot with NT skills, is still an idiot.'