Categories: People Skills Talent

IT is the place to be

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Learning, People, People Skills Talent, Skills Tagged , , ,

Pupils across the UK have received their A-level results and are wondering what to do next. Like every year, we can expect that nowhere near enough of these talented individuals will pursue a career in IT.

The reason for this is surely not that IT has little to offer, or that it is too specialist, or even that it is boring, for it is none of these things. But this is how a lot of young people see it. Until we start doing something to change this perception, we will struggle to attract the required talent.

IT flies our planes, broadcasts our football matches, and records and edits our music. IT systems monitor the effects of global warming, fight terrorism, and ensure hospitals function. New innovations like the iPad and Facebook have made billions and changed the world.

None of these are dull professions and they are all areas which interest young people. They are more interesting than most office jobs, and a heck of a lot more interesting than bar work, which seems to be the fate of all too many talented young people.

But as an industry, we are seen by many 16-18 year olds as sitting in a basement with a computer. We need to change this perception and get these people, who are currently making big career decisions, excited about IT. We need to start focusing on all the exciting and varied opportunities that IT offers, and to communicate this to young people through education, careers talks and the media.

It’s down to the people again

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Customer Service, People, People Skills Talent, Uncategorized Tagged , , ,

I was closely watching the exchange in the US over the debt issues and President Obama supported the Gang of Six plan to reduce trillions of debt over 10 years. In a news debate on TV, the panelists claimed it was led by somebody with whom the President had a close relationship over the years. No surprise.

Now apply this to technology and to every walk of life. Despite the new platforms and tools now at our disposal, doesn’t business still get done when people make a connection with each other and find a situation that benefits both parties? Hasn’t it always been the case, and will it not always be that way? I think so.

I do enjoy the US – such good service and huge choice of everything you care to buy. Little wonder that so much innovation stems from there. It seems to have this knack of combining ideas and people to create some of the most innovative and forward thinking applications of technology.

Look at the image above. In a Brookstone store, I found this cushion; it was a remote control embedded within the softest material. Tacky in some respects, ingenious in others, but it sells! The US has such a willingness to try things, to embrace failure as a step in the right direction; as one leading author claimed, “By failing in a project or task, that is one less mistake that can’t happen next time.”

I enjoyed being a part of the Service 800 event where the theme was excelling in customer service. I had a chance to present to the group and engaged in some interesting conversations with individuals from 3M, GE Healthcare, Lexmark, Siemens and others, as well as some quite brilliant personalities from CompuCom. Some of these great people were kind enough to share a testimonial for me (see the tab above). Europe can benefit so much by watching and learning from these service experts.

Keeping IT cool

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in People, People Skills Talent, Skills, Social Media, Talent, Technology Tagged , , , , ,

Gadgets are the new cool – everyone wants the latest mobile phone, iPad 2, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy and a myriad of others. In fact, at the recent CRN PartnerConnect conference at the Ricoh Arena, where we talked about cloud business opportunities and mobility, our CEO Todd Thibodeaux brought all of these devices with him in his hand luggage and showed them to the audience, which generated a combination of laughter and interest. Todd also talked about making IT cool (http://blog.comptia.org/2011/05/09/making-it-cool/) and I would like to pick up on this.

When I present to audiences about some of the trends in technology, eyebrows are always raised when I ask about engaging our young employees and utilizing social media for business. Why? The younger generation are digital natives and they live and breath the technology that so fascinates my generation. For them, it is their oxygen, a gateway to the outside world. They also understand how it works, how it connects, and how to maximize it, so why do we push back and in some cases not allow social media sites in the office during work time. My view is that we should encourage its use, and also invite the younger generation to tell us how we can build sites to target the new generation on the platforms they are so comfortable with. That is how we can tie “cool” and “IT” together, and create a new harmony in the workplace. More importantly, by doing this we make our companies a more exciting place to work and we will attract the new generation to want to work for us. Today they have a choice, and those with the skills and talent will decide whether they want to add us to their CV. They are vitally important to our success, regardless of how cool we think our company is – we must engage them on their terms, because they are both our workforce and our customer of tomorrow.

Above was the view at the Ricoh Arena from my room when I drew the curtains in the morning. What a great idea to combine corporate hospitality suites with hotel bedrooms to maximize use of the space. Another cool.

On the road with Kyocera

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in People Skills Talent, Technology Tagged , ,

Spent a day with Kyocera at their Service Director’s conference this week. One cannot emphasise enough the value of bringing people together face-to-face from different markets to interact and brainstorm. The Europeans were tough and direct, focusing on taking the business to the next level while the senior reps from Japan were very reflective and said little, although what they shared was critical. Their commitment to leading-edge learning and skills systems underline their core values in investing in their talent. Watching the human dynamics was fascinating, but they also had the sharpest sense of humour. The Japanese were easily the masters of origami, creating animals, birds and this boat from the evening menu!

Dubai experience

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Customer Service, Future of Technology, People, People Skills Talent, Technology Tagged , , ,

Spent most of this week in Dubai, working with a new reseller partner to help grow the region. Only two blog posts ago, I talked about companies’ ‘secret weapons’ and this team is impressive. They surrounded us with a circle of dynamic and motivated individuals who are chomping at the bit to make a difference. I sense this partnership will do well, they are keen to succeed. I also had the most pleasant check-in experience via Emirates Airlines. I checked-in myself, printed my own luggage tag and boarding card, all at a kiosk and weigh-in counter utilising the latest technology – quick, effortless and impressive. We can all learn from this experience – I felt it was the best customer service, I had to do it all myself, yet it was more satisfying when it worked.

Secret Weapon

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in People, People Skills Talent, Skills, Talent Tagged , ,

I love David and Goliath stories and so I was immersed in a story about independent bookshops that are bucking the trend and doing well against the giants of the e-tailing world. How? By putting to effective use their secret weapon: PEOPLE. Individuals with the specialist knowledge, people skills and personal touch to make customers want to go in and buy books, even though they are almost always cheaper online. Brilliant and encouraging for every small business.

Crowdfunding – a great enabler

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Future of Technology, People, People Skills Talent, Talent Tagged , ,

This is Tan Thi Nguyen. She lives in Vietman and runs a shop that sells the fresh meat of pigs. I am supporting her. Through Kiva (kiva.org) and their technology, I have become a lender to a number of small businesses around the world. Lending upwards of $25, it makes such a difference to people in Peru, Vietnam, Cambodia. So easy to do, so fulfilling so see the difference 3 computer-clicks can make. The Kiva record is impressive, over 220,000 loans valued at more than $163m and a repayment rate of 99%. As long as I am standing, I will be doing this.

Teachers

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Education, People, People Skills Talent, Skills, Talent Tagged , , , ,

The students of a very bad teacher will learn, on average, half a year’s worth of material in 1 school year. The students in the class of a very good teacher will learn a one-and-a-half year’s worth of material. That difference amounts to a year’s worth of learning in a single year. Teacher effects dwarf school effects: your child is actually better off in a bad school with an excellent teacher than in an excellent school with a bad teacher. If you rank the countries of the world in terms of the academic performance of their schoolchildren, many countries could climb the ladder simply by replacing the bottom 6-10% of public-school teachers with teachers of average quality (Jack Welch tells us to do this in our companies every year). After years of worrying about issues like school funding levels, class size, and curriculum design, many reformers have come to the conclusion that nothing matters more than finding people with potential to be great teachers. Summarised from Malcolm Gladwell’s excellent new book ‘What the Dog Saw.’

Indian Adventure

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Customer Service, People Skills Talent, Skills, Talent Tagged , , ,

Co-hosted three TechKnowledge evening seminars in Bangalore, Chennai and Delhi this week. Whirlwhind tour but well worth it. Hosted more than 180 delegates, where we discussed creating a competitive difference through skills and talent. A common thread is emerging, and when you look at changing demographics, the median ages of key global markets and India’s investment in education, it is poised to become the world’s largest supplier of
well-educated workers. People are our number one asset, and India recognises that.

22% of income on education

Posted by mattpoy on Posted in Education, People, People Skills Talent, Skills Tagged , , , ,

Families in South Korea spend 22% of their income on education and 13% on their housing. How many of us in the UK spend an amount each month on educating our families that comes anywhere near what we spend on our mortgage or rent, or even our leisure spend. It is worth thinking about, especially as the skills and talent of our next generation will determine whether a company is successful or not in future. All about the people. Also, most of us focus any spend on education at senior school or university fees – but in Asia, the big spend is on infant education – that’s where they get the greatest benefit and they generate millions of students keen to learn and able to learn (from a Vistage UK event hosted by my old chum Steve Gilroy www.vistage.co.uk).