Identification and selection of successful future IT personnel in a changing technological and business environment

Information Technology (IT) personnel are faced with rapid technological and organisational change, an increased global market place with a resultant organisation restructuring that is having a profound effect on the IT environment. IT persomiel have always been required to keep their technological skills current. During the last two decades additional non-technical skills have been added to the IT person’s portfolio, such as the utnderstanding of business principles and the application of information technology to business practices. Continuous re-skilling is a costly investment for the individual and employer. Consequently, the selection of the right individuals who have the ability to continuously learn new skills is of the utmost importance. The entry level requirement for the South African IT industry is a university, college or technical qualitication. It is the task of such institutions to identify and select students who will successfully contribute to the requirements of today’s dynamic IT industry. Ilow best to select prospective IT students and persomiel has been researched for a number of years. Such research demonstrates that performance-related criteria, such as matriculation results, are useful indicators in the identification and selection of successful IT students and personnel. The psychometric profile of an 1T person appears to also be a useful indicator in the selection procedure. However the psychometric profile of IT personnel is changing as business changes, as new IT careers emerge and current IT careers change or disappear. Research conducted at the University of Port Elizabeth in South Africa, on the identification and selection of successful IT students, has identified new performance and psychometric criteria. This research has also identified a number of nontechnical IT skills which are required to perform successfully in the business envirotunent. Introduction IT personnel are experiencing increased demands, as business faces growing competition, fast-changing technologies and more sophisticated and demanding end-users. The traditional IT person, programming from specifications, having no contact with the end-user and with business, specifying delivery times for programs and hiding behind the application backlog, is now accountable to management and has to cost justify the IT budget. IT personnel must justify their existence and contribution to business success by applying technology to leverage competitive advantage for the company. The traditional IT department developed and maintained application systems for distinct functional areas and activities. With day-to-day business operations being increasingly supported by, or dependant on IT, the modern IT department must now manage a complex information technology infrastructure which supports the complete business process, from tnission critical applications to business innovation and strategic advantage. In South Africa, business is additionally affected by a changing economic, social and political enviromnent and climate. South African business is currently experiencing an acute shortage of skilled IT personnel. The so called ‘brain drain’ has seen skilled IT personnel leaving the country, due to an uncertain future and a prevailing high crime rate. The figure has been estimated at 4% per year (Sunday Times, 23 November 1993), aggravating the IT persomiel shortage and the threat from increased international competition and customer demands for quality service. South African business is demanding that IT personnel support business in providing strategic technological guidance (Sprague et al, 1993). Newly qualified IT students entering the job market are expected to adapt to this changing business environment and to apply technological skills to new strategic business practices. South African Computer Science and Information Systems departments must meet these challenges. However, they are experiencing staff shortages, limited cotnputer facilities and dwindling educational budgets. Staff face heavy workloads, time constraints and a rapidly changing student population. As the numbers of prospective IT students rise, educational institutions are under pressure to ensure that students accepted into the curriculum will be successful. The selection of prospective Computer Science and Information Systems students is crucial, as is the identification and selection of suitably qualified IT persomiel, for future success in business. This is the challenge that faces IT departments in tertiary education institutions.