Firms still not training staff adequately

Companies are still not taking training seriously enough, even though the skills shortage is at the top of most business agendas.

Chief executives need to raise the profile of skills and training as a business issue if they are to effectively tackle skills shortfalls within their organisations, warned Microsoft's skills development manager Sarah Foxall.

"How many companies have a chief executive or someone on the board who takes responsibility for skills issues and skills strategy?" she asked. "The majority of companies don't take it as seriously as they should."

"Your capability is your competitive advantage, and that's about your people," she added. "Depending on how important IT is to the business, companies need to take a very strategic view of the skills issue."

Foxall also highlighted the changing landscape of IT instruction as training companies evolve to offer a much broader service to their clients.

"Leading IT training companies should offer more than just courses. It's increasingly about skills development services and helping companies to devise learning strategies," she explained.

Foxall urged businesses to use training companies as consultants, whose services include measuring the skills of the workforce, performing training needs analyses, and devising custom courses. "Companies need to be proactive, rather than looking at what they need when they need it," she said.

First published in Computing