CIOs get serious about closing the skills gap — mainly from within

The traditional method of managers saying they’d like to see their staff get some type of technical training and then hoping employees follow through no longer cuts it. “Now, you have to have a plan and provide direction and coaching and support to make sure they get the training the organization needs,” he says.

This is being driven by the fact that “AI is going to continue to dominate for the years to come,” Roman says, adding that he is fortunate that he doesn’t have to micromanage his IT staff and can trust them to get the appropriate training to upskill themselves.

“I’ve always been a huge proponent of training for tech people, and most people resist going to training because they’re so dedicated to their jobs,” Roman says. “So, the job always comes before training.” But IT people need to invest in themselves.

“The work will be there when you get back,” he says, while admitting it helps when the company sees the value of upskilling. “It provides you with career security and it provides your company with value.”

Rohan Sharma, chief product and technology officer at Zenolabs.ai, a global clinical trial startup, agrees: “Upskilling without career paths leads to turnover. I have seen good retention … because I gave guidelines to my leadership team to always give individual contributors stretch projects to implement new skills.”

Setting measurable, smart goals

CIO Michael Corrigan says World Insurance Associates’ skills gaps are primarily around emergency technologies, data, and AI. Before he came on board two and a half years ago, the company was outsourcing to MSPs to fill gaps.

To address this issue, Corrigan has hired new talent and has upskilled employees through continuous training. He also has developers and engineers participate in workshops and vendor bootcamps.

Training internal staff has been the most effective approach, Corrigan says. But some engineers have showed no desire to upskill, whether because of the stage they were at in their career or just being resistant to change.

Corrigan says that won’t fly: “We want to embrace new technologies.” Even if people weren’t open to it, learning certain skills became part of their jobs.

“We set annual goals, and 50% of their bonus is [tied to] meeting their performance goals,” he says. “We set measurable, smart goals and track them throughout year and … provide as much support and opportunity as we can for their personal growth and success.”

Corrigan says he will help any employee who is “excited and energetic about challenges and change,” and is driving an IT culture that “embraces change and the AI wave.”

The upskilling program has been a big morale boost, and the company will reimburse employees who go for additional certifications if they are successful.

“Those are generally our top performers,” he says. “They’re interested and excited.”

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