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 Back to 2006 Press Releases
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Gartner EXP Says Enterprises Must Have an Effective Training Strategy To Accelerate Growth and Innovation |
STAMFORD, Conn., May 9, 2006 - As businesses look to their IT professionals to create more value for the overall organization, companies must implement specialized training techniques and motivational strategies to enable them to accelerate business growth and innovation, according to Gartner Executive Programs (EXP), a unit of Gartner, Inc.
In the Gartner EXP Quarterly Trending report "IT Training: From Strategy to Execution" analysts examine how companies can initiate training strategies for their IT staff to increase productivity and facilitate the transition of IT to a strategic business partner.
"The roles of those who remain in IT are transforming from traditional technical experts to business partners who continue to draw on technical expertise, but who also need solid business knowledge and credible relationship management skills," said Diane Berry, managing vice president for Gartner EXP's human capital management content development group. "Developing these skills requires a significant training investment."
The ideal training strategy meets the needs of the organization and the individual. Most organizations develop their training strategies to fulfill three critical, inter-related requirements in workforce management - retention, career development and job performance.
The first step in the development and execution of an effective training strategy is to define performance standards based on competency and performance requirements for the job level and then conduct a skills inventory to assess actual skill levels and gaps. IT leaders should set objectives for training outcomes that can drive the training itself and be used to assess the training program's success. The sessions can be measured through a knowledge test, by observing changed behavior after training and tracking results achieved on the job.
"Although organizations are generally doing a better job of identifying training requirements, many still have a long way to go when assessing the value of training," said Ms. Berry. "Too often attendance is used as a success criterion. A better practice is to test knowledge and to observe whether the new behaviors impact performance and ultimately IT and business results."
The type of training that can help realize the potential for different IT groups varies according to the type of job, level of seniority and the systems used. Some groups need more sophisticated programming skills, others need to enhance their troubleshooting abilities, while others might need to manage projects or relate the business value of IT to business opportunities. Although the training for each audience varies in type, length, cost and outcome, the most frequently used options for delivering training are:
- Internal training which usually involves having internally resourced trainers and training programs
- Specialized third-party organizations, including vendors and their affiliated training houses, and colleges, which often use vendors' certification programs to design curricula
- Trainer's hybrid or "train the trainer" courses, which use external training providers to train internal subject-matter experts to become training facilitators in their subjects or expertise
"Whatever method is used, effective training can contribute to an enhanced workforce strategy, particularly in retention, career development and job performance," said Ms. Berry. "Effective training provides a competitive edge, particularly if the kinds of program and subject-matter are not overly restricted so that high performing talented individuals stay with the organization and deliver results."
For more information on purchasing the Gartner EXP Quarterly Trending Report "IT Training: From Strategy to Execution," please e-mail surveys@gartner.com.
About Gartner EXP
Gartner Executive Programs (EXP) is a membership-based organization of more than 3,000 CIOs worldwide. Members benefit from the convenience of a single source of knowledge, one-to-one counsel, personalized service, the shared knowledge of the world's largest community of CIOs and the assurance of Gartner objectivity and insight. Additional information about Gartner EXP can be found on the Gartner Web site at www.gartner.com/exp.
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About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. Gartner serves 10,000 organizations, including chief information officers and other senior IT executives in corporations and government agencies, as well as technology companies and the investment community. The Company consists of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 3,700 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants in 75 countries worldwide. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.
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