Technology and talent: You can’t have one without the other

CIOs who invest in technology to increase collaboration, drive mobility, deliver business discipline and offer innovative technology solutions cannot do so without attention to two key talent issues. 

First, technology changes how people in an organisation relate to each other. Technology 1.0 was a source of information as people replaced encyclopaedias with Google searches; 2.0 was efficiency as technology changed time and space for business operations; and now 3.0 focuses on relationships as technology connects people in new ways.

Technology relationships require careful attention to avoid superficiality and ensure substance. Tweeting about what a celebrity eats for lunch on Tuesday to thousands of fans creates a false intimacy. 

CIOs need to carefully plan how technology will change not only work processes, but also the boundaries of work. But being able to corral knowledge from disperse places to solve a common problem affects both productivity and relationships.

Used wisely, technology accesses a broader knowledge base and turns that knowledge into productivity. Used unwisely, technology isolates people and leads to short term efficiencies and shallow relationships.

Second, using technology wisely requires increased competencies among the IT staff. Legacy stereotypes of IT staff operating in grungy rooms at odd hours and totally isolated from the rest need to be replaced with IT staff that can contribute to business success.

To deliver value, IT staff have to focus on their both their roles and competencies. Roles imply what IT staff will deliver to their organisation. Good IT professionals help their organisations change quickly, enhance customer service, reduce costs, build technology capability and collaborate across boundaries. 

CIOs should focus their IT organisations on the outcomes of the IT investments. Competencies imply the knowledge, skills, and abilities IT staff must demonstrate to deliver value. These competencies include not only technical excellence, but also personal proficiency, business acumen, change insights, and strategic perspective.

Technology without talent results in elegant systems that are not used productively. Talent without technology results in isolated individuals working inefficiently and without connection.

(Dave Ulrich is a Professor of Business at the University of Michigan and a principal partner at the RBL Group, a consulting firm focused on helping organisations and leaders deliver value. Professionally, he studies how organisations build capabilities of speed, learning, collaboration, accountability, talent, and leadership through leveraging human resources. He has helped generate multiple award winning databases that assess alignment between strategies, human resource practices and HR competencies. He has published over 100 articles and book chapters and 12 books. He has consulted and done research with over half of the Fortune 200.)