Module: Management in IT

Lesson: Managing People: Recruitment

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Managing People: Recruitment

Introduction

This lesson is all about getting the right talent into your IT department. It specifically addresses
the key areas of skills audits, training needs analysis, various staffing and management
reporting models, the recruitment process and the various recruitment channels available, the
induction and assimilation phases plus a final section on the role of HR and the various legal
and regulatory requirements that must be satisfied.

By the end of this lesson you will be able to:

2.1 Describe the types of recruitment options available

2.2 Discuss the features and benefits of a formalised recruitment process

2.3 Discuss the features and benefits of a formalised induction process

Be sure to watch the associated presentation for this lesson.

https://vimeo.com/200347882

Transcript

Recruitment

Current practices and decision-making in recruitment and selection are critical elements of
effective human resource management (HRM). We cannot discuss how recruitment and
selection take place without asking why certain techniques are used in preference to others.
Within the HRM paradigm, they are not simply mechanisms for filling vacancies.

Recruitment and redundancy can be viewed as key 'push' and 'pull' levers for organisational
change. Recruitment and selection allow management to determine and gradually modify the
behavioural characteristics and competences of the workforce. The trend for teamworking, for
example, has focused on people with a preference for working with others as opposed to the
individualist 'stars' preferred by recruiters in the 1980's.

Attention has switched from rigid lists of skills and abilities to broader-based competences. In
general, there is greater regard for personal flexibility and adaptability - a reorientation from
present to future stability. Recruitment can be divided into four key categories:

Marketing Jobs

Potential candidates may come from an internal trawl of the organisation, or from the external

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job market. The latter are reached through channels such as recruitment advertising,
employment agencies, professional associations or word of mouth. The approach differs
according to the organisation's resourcing philosophy: Organisations with a strong culture are
likely to seek malleable new employees at school-leaving or graduate levels. More senior jobs
are filled from the internal job market. Companies looking for the 'right' (best fit for the job)
person however may rule out internal applicants because they do not match the personnel
specification prepared for the job.

Informal Recruiting

Word-of-mouth applicants are likely to stay longer and may be more suitable than recruits
obtained by advertising; but word-of-mouth is discriminatory, since it restricts applications to
established communities and excludes recently arrived minority groups who have not had time
to become part of informal networks. At senior levels the informal method known as
'headhunting' or executive search has become common. Specialist consultancies aim to find
'outstanding' people to fill higher-paying jobs. Whether they genuinely are 'outstanding' is
questionable.

Formal Recruiting

Equal opportunity demands equal access. This can only be achieved through public and open
recruitment. The likelihood of attracting 'suitable' applicants depends on the detail and
specificity of the recruitment advertisement or literature. Key factors such as salary, job title,
career and travel opportunities obviously influence response rates. But remember that
employers do not want to be swamped with large numbers of applications from unsuitable
people. The Internet is becoming an increasingly popular method for this type of recruitment.

Targeting

Competition for the 'best' graduates requires employers to have a clear idea of what they mean
by 'best'. Recruitment needs to send a strong, distinctive message to these people. Check out
one of the Internet providers referenced below to see how jobs are described and marketed.

The Systematic Approach to Recruitment

Recruitment is about matching the skills, knowledge, experience and characteristics of a

person to the requirements of a particular job in an organisation. It is important to ensure that -
as far as it is reasonably practical - the 'right' new employee is fitted to the 'right' job, this calls
for specific skills and experience amongst those involved in the recruitment of new staff.

Fortunately, there are many established procedures and techniques that have been developed
to enable those involved in recruitment to carry out the role effectively and professionally. We
can now turn to look at all aspects of this recruitment process, from developing a recruitment
policy through methods of recruitment, to the evaluation of the effectiveness of the recruitment
achieved.

A useful overview of the recruitment process (including social media) is provided at:

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4216

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https://archive.acas.org.uk/media/268/Recruiting-staff-guide/pdf/Recruiting_staff_guide.pdf

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4589

Recruitment Policy and Procedures

The purpose of recruitment is to buy in and retain the best available human resources to meet
the organisation's needs. It is important to be clear about:

What a job entails

The qualities that are required to do the job

The incentives that are required to attract, motivate and retain employees

Prior to developing job outlines which cover each of these, the organisation and the HR
department must establish adequate policies and procedures. A recruitment policy represents
an organisation's code of conduct for an area of activity. Some examples of recruitment
policies are shown below:

http://www.york.ac.uk/admin/hr/resources/policy/recruitment.htm

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/306964/Rec...

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1371

http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/b/c/Recruiting-staff.pdf

Within the context of such a policy, the detailed procedures for recruitment can then be
devised. Such procedures should ensure that the recruitment practices for the particular firm
are both systematic and responsive. The systematic approach in turn offers guidelines for all
managers involved in recruitment to follow. To ensure that the set procedures are followed,
HR managers can adopt a checklist approach. The checklist can be used by managers to
ensure that the systematic procedures become part of each manager's recruitment routine.

Job Analysis

Job analysis embraces a process of examining particular jobs in a company in order to

establish the key requirements of each. There are several methods that can be used to gather
this information:

The direct observation of employees at work

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 Interviewing jobholders

Referring to the training and instruction manuals attached to specific jobs

The required information can come from people carrying out the job in question, or from line
managers and supervisors involved with the area of employment.

Job Description

This aspect of the recruitment formalities outlines how an employee will fit into the
organisation. There are some essential elements that will be included in the job description to
ensure the fit of the person to the role that is being recruited for. These include:

The title of the job

Who the employee reports to

For whom the employee is responsible

A straightforward description of the actual role and the duties of the employee within the
company

Person Specification

Often known by the alternative title - a candidate profile - the person specification outlines the
explicit attributes that are sought in candidates for the vacant position. The person specification
summarises the most important knowledge, skills, experience and personal characteristics
required by the candidate to carry out the job effectively (or at least to an acceptable standard
of performance).

Relevant elements included in a person specification will be based on the nature and scope of
the particular position. The job in question will also determine which particular skills, knowledge
and experience are included in the person specification. The manager who has initiated the
recruitment activity will often determine the personal qualities required for the position. The HR
manager or a representative from the HR department will have an advisory role covering this
element of the process.

Recruitment Methods and Media

Following the completion of a person specification it is necessary to get people to apply for the
vacant position in the organisation. There are many sources of applicants for jobs, some using
third party media and high costs, whilst others are relatively inexpensive. Sources of applicants
for a vacant position include:

Internal advertisements

Analysis of personnel records to establish suitable candidates

External advertisements using various media

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 Employment agencies

Schools and colleges

Universities and professional associations

Speculative callers or writers of letters to an organisation

Recommendations from existing employees

Web-based recruitment sites

Competency Frameworks

A major development in recent years in HRM and HRP has been the introduction of
competency frameworks. Competency frameworks play a major role in the job definition, the
selection process, appraisal and training processes. A competency framework enables
transparency in selection and ongoing appraisal of employees.

A competency framework is a check list of the skills, abilities, characteristics and level that are
required to perform a specific job. The competency list will be part of the job description and
person specification. Often competencies are divided into two categories - essential and
desirable. This list can be used when analysing application forms, as a basis of questions for
interviews, as part of any testing and assessment processes. When the person is in post it can
be used to monitor development in the job position and can be used as part of the
remuneration process.

In the IT industry, competency frameworks are often linked with certification by IT suppliers as
this provides a clear statement to an employer of a possible employee’s competencies. Major
organisations such as Oracle, Microsoft and Cisco have certification programmes for their
products which provide an independent assessment of a person's competencies with the
product. The supplier provides a syllabus and an examination process. An individual can then
study the syllabus, many institutions will provide training courses for the syllabus, and then
take the exam. Many of the certification programmes require re-certification at set periods.

Selection Processes and Techniques

A systematic approach to the selection of the 'best' candidate to fill a job vacancy follows the
systematic approach to recruitment seen in the last section.

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 Figure 2.01 - Recruitment Flowchart

For some positions of employment, the matching of applicant details against the person
specification will be supplemented with other assessment methods. As an example, it may be
that medical examinations will be used to assess older applicants for a position, or for
hazardous positions such as a petrol tanker driver.

The Selection Procedure

Many applicants for a position can be eliminated from the selection process without being
seen. Letters of application, resumes and application forms can all be used as a method of
screening candidates. This screening can remove people from the rest of the process, as well
as highlighting those who are 'worth seeing'. The screening of candidates and the methods
used to make this stage of the process simpler will depend on the nature of the position
requiring filling, as well as the type of organisation that is recruiting. For this reason, it is
important that companies use the most appropriate method of application, whether this be an
application form or an application letter accompanied by a resume. It is important for an
organisation to understand that there are some details that should be avoided when requesting
information from prospective candidates.

Questions covering marital status, numbers of children or place of birth could potentially be
tantamount to taking an unfair or discriminatory stance towards prospective applicants. By the
same token, a company that has a policy of equal opportunities may need some of this
information to monitor the implementation of the policy.

Many companies use a detachable 'equal opportunities monitoring form' to meet this corporate

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requirement. Such a form is treated as confidential and separated from the rest of the
application details prior to the consideration of candidates for short-listing.

Although many people question the validity of interviews to make the 'right' appointment
decision, this form of selection remains the most commonly used method of employee
selection.

Problems with Interview Techniques

The interview provides many opportunities for stereotypes and prejudices to be demonstrated
by interviewers. Such distortions in an interviewer's perception are more likely where the
interviewee is from a different social background or from a different culture. Distortion can
further be evident where the interviewer and interviewee are of different genders. In each of
the above, the fact that an interviewer is aware that such perceptions exist should enable them
to take account of such perceptions in the interview process, and to counter the issues that can
arise through managing contrasting perceptions.

The following sites outline good interviewing practice:

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4221

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3734

There are five broad types of questions:

Open questions - used to gather information to enable the matching of the interviewee's
characteristics to the person specification. For example, 'why did you apply for the job?' 'Why
did you choose that degree?'

Closed questions - questions where there are only 'yes', 'no' and 'don't know' answers
applicable. This type of question is useful for checking information. For example, 'do you need
to give three months’ notice in your current position?'; 'have you driven this size van before?'

Probing questions - used to probe an answer from an interviewee. For example, 'and from
what you say a career move is important to you. What do you mean by a career move?' 'You
mention your experience with XY software; could you tell me more about your dealings with
this?'

Linking questions - this is where the interviewer will link a topic that has just been covered in
the interview with another topic that leads on from this.

Problem-centred questions - this is where an interviewer uses questions to gain an

impression of how a candidate for a particular position would act in certain circumstances. For
example, 'what is the most difficult sales situation that you have to deal with, and how did you
deal with it?'

Although interviews remain a popular form of candidate selection, it is evident that there are
some issues connected with them. To be an effective interviewer, it is important to ensure that
some guidelines are adhered to. See the above web links.

Selection Tests

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In addition to using interviews, the selection of a candidate for a particular position can also
include the use of tests. Selection tests represent a method of collecting data about
candidates' abilities, interests and personality. The tests are carried out under standard
conditions that enable the analysis of a candidate against certain criteria that are required to
carry out the job effectively. To offer a candidate a chance to prove their abilities, a more
effective recruitment decision can be made. The use of tests further allows a candidate to
complete the tests and not be subject to the bias and discrimination that can be evident in an
interview. The use of selection tests can also be a valid way to reduce the costs associated
with poor recruitment decisions - through reducing errors that can occur when an interview
alone is used.

References

As well as using the interview and selection tests to assess the suitability of candidates for a
vacant position, references can also be taken up on those candidates who appear to be suited
to the job. References are used in the selection process to supplement information gained
using the interview and any tests. This method of selection can further be used to assess the
accuracy and strength of the candidate's statements and test results. There are several issues
attached to the use of references. For example, candidates are unlikely to pick referees who
will speak unfavourably about their suitability for the vacant role. A reference from a previous
employer may also present problems. It may be that the employer is not very aware of the
employee and their achievements. It may also be that a previous employer would welcome the
chance to lose the candidate from their payroll - and are more than happy to give the person a
glowing reference.

There are ways to make references more reliable:

Ask a previous employer only to provide factual details - job title, employment dates,
reasons for leaving

Check any vague or doubtful information about a candidate using the telephone

Provide a structured reference form that asks the direct questions to which you want an
answer

Using the discussion forum, work with your co-students to describe and compare your own
experiences of the above recruitment techniques. Ever had a nightmare interview? Completely
messed up a test?

Induction Processes

Induction can be defined as the process of receiving and welcoming employees when they first
join an organisation, and giving them the basic information they need to settle down quickly
and happily and start work. It has four main aims:

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 To smooth the preliminary stages when everything is likely to be strange and unfamiliar to
the new employee

To establish quickly a favourable attitude to the organisation in the mind of the new
employee so that he or she is more likely to stay

To obtain effective output from the new employee in the shortest possible time

To reduce the likelihood of the employee leaving quickly

The size of an organisation and the nature of its operations will be key factors in any decisions
about the structure of an induction programme. Another factor will be the type or employee
recruited. When an organisation decides to employ a new member of staff, it is essential that
adequate information is provided as part of the introductory process of employment. This
induction will ultimately provide benefit to both the employee and the organisation. It will also
enable the employee to settle into their new role more quickly and thus accelerate their path to
achieving their full potential.

The period of induction should be viewed as a foundation for gaining employee support and
buy-in, and will often be a determining factor in their long-term commitment to the organisation.
Induction should be provided right from the beginning of the period of employment and may
take a considerable amount of time. In many cases, induction will continue for as long as six
months. This will enable the employee to gain all the necessary information and skills that they
will need to carry out their function appropriately.

During this period, the quality of the induction process will have a pronounced effect on the
employee's ability to understand the organisation and its operations, and how well they see
themselves fitting into it. Some organisations fail to pay adequate attention to the nature of the
induction process, leaving new employees to find their own feet from discussion with existing
employees. This is foolhardy and unreliable, often proving expensive and wasteful in terms of
time. If this is the case, it will fail to integrate the new employee into the workforce.

The chosen induction programme should be well considered, although this can be a complex
process. It needs to be appropriately designed and cost-effective if it is to prove acceptable to
senior management. It must provide all the information that employees need, without
swamping the employee in an excess of detail. Or distracting them from their integration into
the workforce. The duration of the induction period depends to a large extent on the demands
of the particular job and the experience and background of the new employee. It is important to
accept that there is no solution which will work for all employees. There must be some degree
of customisation on the selection of an appropriate induction programme.

The Basic Induction Process

The induction process normally starts at the recruitment stage and will remain with a new
employee right through into employment. The exact finishing point of induction will vary from
organisation to organisation, and will often be determined by the progress made by the
employee. New employees will need to understand the organisation in terms of culture and
objectives. They will need to know who senior managers and other employees are, as well as
the status that they hold and the responsibilities that they carry.

The aim of the induction process will be to ensure that each new employee receives an

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individual programme that is derived from a combination of discussions with individuals and
more formal presentations. Organisational induction procedures should not rely entirely on the
printed word. The manager or other individual who is looking after new employees should run
through the main points with each individual or a whole group if many employees are being
inducted at the same time. In this way, it will be possible to provide a more personal touch as
well as handle a range of questions.

Once the initial induction meeting has been completed, new employees should be taken to
their place of work and introduced to their line managers or supervisors for further
departmental induction. Alternatively, they may go straight to a training department or college
and join the department at a later date. Line managers will be responsible for a new
employee's induction, but will not be involved in all aspects of it themselves. Many areas of the
induction will be passed to other members of staff who have specific roles to play in different
areas of specialism.

A typical list of those responsible for a range of induction tasks might look something like this:

Line manager (or supervisor) - describe the department or section, the requirements of the
job, details of the agreed probationary period and appraisal systems used within the
organisation.

Human Resources manager - provide information about 'housekeeping' matters, such as

completion of employee forms, collecting personal details to include bank account, national
insurance, and pension provision, and to fully explain the stages of the induction process to the
employee.

Safety officer - descried issues relating to health and safety.

Section supervisor (or a nominated employee) - conduct a guided tour of the department or
section and introduce to other employees and relevant managers. Provide guidance on
essential procedures that are applicable to the first few days of employment.

Senior manager - provide an overall picture of the organisation, its development, its products
and services, as well as information about quality systems.

Training officer - provide information about training services that may be available, and
discuss appropriate skill needs and how they can be fulfilled. Also, explain what other sources
of information are available, such as the organisation's intranet or any interactive learning
facilities that might be available.

Trade union representative - provide details of membership and benefits, to include staff
sports and social clubs.

Mentor - often new employees are offered a mentor (or 'buddy') to accelerate the settling-in
period.

Using a Formal Induction Process

Organisations will choose for themselves whether to adopt a formal process for induction of
new employees, or a simpler informal method. The former will be very structured and cover all
aspects within a short space of time, whilst the latter will involve informal discussions over an
extended period, providing new information as and when it is required.

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The main advantages of a formal approach are likely to be:

Saves inductors' and managers' time by dealing with a group rather than several
individuals

Ensures that all new recruits are given a positive message and consistent information

Can employ a range of communication techniques including:

group discussion and projects

presentation (PowerPoint/overheads/slides/videos)

visits and guided tours

off-site training sessions

involvement with suppliers, customers and contractors

Enables new recruits to socialise with each other and build cross-functional relationships

Is relatively easy to arrange

The disadvantages of a formal process will probably include:

Contains a range of subjects that are unlikely to appeal to a cross-functional and mixed
ability group of new employees.

May take place several weeks, or even months, after the inductee joins the organisation,
which disrupts integration into the work team.

Is less personal and involves managers and HR personnel rather than colleagues and local

supervisors.

Contains too much information to be assimilated in a short time.

May not be a true reflection of either the organisation or the job.

Individuals may not be able to attend all sessions in a series of induction presentations
resulting in incomplete induction.

The term induction is used to describe the complete process of adjustment and adaptation to a
new role, often in a new organisation. It involves a degree of orientation, involving training, and
socialisation. These direct the way new employees develop their working relationships with
other employees and find suitable roles for themselves within work teams.

The Purpose of Induction

The purpose of induction is to provide an effective provision of integration of new employees

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into an organisation to obtain the maximum benefit for both the employee and the organisation.
It has been recognised that effectively designed and managed induction programmes lead to
improved employee retention in the long term

An effective induction programme comprises the following elements:

Physical orientation - indicating where specific facilities are, the scale of the organisation's
operations and numbers of employees and sites.

Organisational orientation - describing how employees are placed within teams and
departments, and how their roles fit into the organisational strategies and objectives.

Health and safety training - providing the necessary legal instruction.

Terms and conditions - detailing employment expectations and contractual obligations. This
should include information about disciplinary action, dress codes, etc.

Activities of the organisation - explaining the organisation's history, its products and services
offered, its culture and values.

Job description and person specification - providing an outline of the requirements of the
person and the job as well as details of their responsibilities and accountabilities.

Failure to Provide an Effective Induction Programme

If no effective induction programme is provided, new employees may fail to grasp the
fundamentals of the organisation's objectives and procedures. There are several problems that
may arise as a result. These include:

Poor integration into the team

Low morale, particularly for the new employee

Loss of productivity

Failure to work to their highest potential

If serious enough, any of these may lead to the employee leaving the organisation - either
through dismissal or resignation - within only a short period. If this happens, the organisation
will have wasted the time spent on selection and, more than likely, be forced to repeat the
process to find a suitable replacement.

Employees who leave an organisation early and because of poor induction procedures usually
cause an organisation the following problems:

Additional cost for recruiting a replacement

Wasted time for the inductor

Lowering of morale for the remaining staff

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 Detriment to the leaver's employment record

Having to repeat the unproductive learning curve of the leaver

Damage to the company's reputation

Induction Pitfalls

The following list describes some of the common issues that can arise from an induction
process:

Providing too much, too soon; the inductee must not be overwhelmed by a mass of
information on the first day. Keep it simple and relevant

Pitching presentations at an inappropriate level - they should be suitable for everyone in

the audience and for their roles within the organisation

HR rather than local personnel providing all the information - it should be a shared process

Creating an induction programme which generates unreasonable expectations by

overselling the job

Each one should be carefully considered, and appropriate action taken to reduce its effects to
improve the likelihood of success of the process. Visit the following website to read more about
employee induction:

http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/3/0/Starting-staff-induction.pdf

Documentation

When a new employee joins an organisation, it is important that they are provided with the
appropriate documents to ensure that all information has been supplied. This must include at
least the following:

Offer letter - confirming the appointment. It is usual for this to specify any conditions attached
to the offer of employment. For example, there might be a requirement for satisfactory
references

('references satisfactory to the company' as opposed to 'satisfactory references') or the

employment

maybe subject to a probationary period, such as three months.

Statement of terms and conditions - a list of items which indicate the employment
expectations of the organisation. It is common practice for this to be supplied in the form of an
employee handbook, which should include everything that the employee ought to know about
the organisation and its way of operating. Where possible, all policies and procedures should
be included, although these are most likely to be non-contractual.

Phrasing such as, '... these are for guidance only and do not form part of the contract of

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employment' is used to protect the employees and the organisation in the event of grievances.
A loose-leaf handbook is advisable as future documents or amendments can then be easily
inserted.

Failing to provide adequate documentation is likely to present problems if a dispute is brought

before a tribunal. Since October 2004, when statutory disciplinary and dismissal procedures
took effect, failure to adequately notify employees of their rights can result in penalty payments
awarded against an organisation.

Induction checklist

Irrespective of the style of induction programme selected by an organisation, it is necessary to

keep a checklist of the areas or training received. This applies to programmes developed by
the organisation, and perhaps even more so to those that have been out-sourced. The
checklist should be used to indicate the steps involved in the process. It can also be used to
indicate, at any time, what stage of the programme has been reached. As each stage is
completed, the checklist will usually be signed by the employee and countersigned by the HR
department or the line manager.

This ensures that new employees receive full training and it identifies the people involved in
the various stages. The checklist can be a valuable reference source at a later point in the
employee's career; for

example, checking when an employee was briefed about specific policy documents or when
certain training was initiated.

Using the discussion forum, work with your co-students to discuss your own past induction
experiences.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing is where an organisation has another organisation do some of its work activities.
These activities are done to an agreed level and in return there is a payment. Outsourcing has
a long history in business life. Traditionally areas such as canteens, cleaning, and security are
areas that organisations have outsourced. In IT there has, since the late 1970s, been a growth
of outsourcing IT-related activities and since around 2000 there has been significant growth in
the outsourcing of business processes. So, the implementation of outsourcing has meant a
move away from the tradition method of providing human resources in the IT industry.

Benefits of Outsourcing

Enables management to focus on core business

Cost benefits from the economies of scale provided by the outsourcer

Helps manage peaks and troughs of workload

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 Access to specialist skills

Access to the outsourcer's knowledge

Helps manage risk

Costs of Outsourcing

Contract management costs

Loss of knowledge

Costs is outsourcing relationship has problems

Cost of any tender process

Possible security problems

Outsourcing Areas

There are many areas within IT that can be outsourced - from outsourcing all the IT to
individual elements of IT Areas that can be outsourced are:

Software development - there is a significant off shore software development industry

especially the one based in India. This is often outsourced to improve the quality of software
and to reduce the costs of software production.

Software maintenance - this is often outsourced to enable the organisation to focus on new
development. As the workload is one with peaks and troughs it can be beneficial to outsource.

Network management - this allows access to economies of scale and expertise.

Operations/production - the running of the production systems can achieve economies of

scale from the outsourcer.

Desktop support - the outsourcing the support of PCs etc. can bring economies of scale.

Help Desk

Projects - the integration and management of projects or a programme of projects can be

outsourced so that necessary resources are obtained and risk minimised.

So, when an IT department decides to outsource activities it needs to consider the objectives
of outsourcing and how it will manage the outsourced processes. There are many choices
about how the outsourcing can be packaged both with the activities and the number of
outsourcing companies used. More and more with large scale outsourcing, the path followed is
to outsource all the activities to an outsourcer, the outsourcer often will then outsource
individual areas to different specialist outsourcing suppliers.

Offshoring

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When IT activities are outsourced they are often offshored. Offshoring has become a major
element in the delivery of IT Offshoring is where the wok takes place in another country and
quite often in another continent. The major Indian software companies have driven this model
of delivery. Offshoring has been attractive to I.T. organisations as it often reduces the costs,
improves the quality and facilitates 24 hour running with the different time zones involved.

Go online and locate some IT outsourcing and offshoring companies and make brief notes on
the services they offer.

Contracting

Another way of sourcing human resources which is common in the IT industry is the use of
contractors. Using contractors means bringing in individual resources for a specified period
and for a specified piece of work. This approach to human resources can assist in managing
workload peaks and troughs, contractors can be brought in when workload is high and
released when workload is low. It is a way of supplementing the directly employed resources.
Contracting is also a way of bringing in specialist skills and often the contractors are involved in
skills transfer to the directly employed employees.

Go online and locate some IT contractor websites. What skills are most in-demand? What are
the market rates for paying these contractors?

Consulting

A major growth industry in the last 25 years has been the use of consultants in the IT industry.
When sourcing with contractors the organisation is employing individuals when using
consultancy firms, you are sourcing from organisations which have a large pool of resources
which will have a wide range of different specialisms, different knowledge and experience. With
contractors, individuals are being engaged; when using a consultancy firm then there will be a
large pool of resources and a wide range of resources with different specialisms and different
knowledge and experience. The large consultancies are major organisations who can cover all
the areas of IT and have experience in many types of industry or market segment.

Go online and locate some IT consultancy websites. What skills are most in-demand? What
are the market rates for paying these contractors?

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Summary

To conclude, the main learning points are:

There are similarities between the management of IT departments and other departments

There are functions that are specific to the IT department which require management

There are many ways that an IT department can be organised and resourced

This means that IT management need to take significant organising and resourcing
decisions

It is now common place that IT departments will have a mixture of resources i.e. direct and
indirect

To integrate these different resources into the IT department is a significant management

challenge

We have now reached the end of this lesson. We have covered a lot of ground but hopefully it
has been a very informative and enjoyable journey. To conclude, post your thoughts to the
module discussion forum on the following issues:

Which aspects of the lesson you found most enjoyable (and why)

Which aspects of the lesson you found least enjoyable (and why)

Any technical aspects you are still unclear on

Any particularly good websites that you found - so others can benefit

How the lesson could be improved or enhanced

The key things that you will take away from this lesson

Anything else you want to discuss

See you in the next lesson…

Further and Wider Reading

In addition to the reading recommended within the lesson:

Chatham, R., 2015. The Art of IT Management - Practical tools, techniques and people skills.

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 BCS Learning and Development.

James, D. and Innovative Solutions IT, 2014. Inclusion Recruiting: The 12 Secrets to recruiting
a diverse workforce. 1st edition. Create Space Independent Publishing.

Newell Brown, J. and Swain, A., 2012. The Professional Recruiter's Handbook: Delivering
Excellence in Recruitment Practice. London: Kogan Page.

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