Is Your IT Hiring Strategy Aligned with Your Business Goals?

You’ve probably heard a lot of buzz about alignment – specifically, aligning your information technology strategy with your company’s business goals. What does that mean? In simplest terms, does the technology your company is using help your business succeed?

If the answer to that question is “maybe” or even “no,” it’s time to make sure your company’s technology and your IT team are strategic assets that help your organization achieve its goals.  Here are 5 steps you can take:

1. Formalize your business goals. Your management team needs to make sure they communicate key objectives. What is the business trying to do? How can technology slow down or improve your operations?  How can it provide you with a competitive advantage?

2. Involve your IT team in business planning.  Business goals invariably impact, and are influenced by, the technology that keeps the business running—and they may fail due to some serious technical oversight.  For example, your IT team should be consulted on the purchase of new software or the logistics of switching to a new server early in the process to ensure success.

3. Communicate, both ways.  While all of your future business decisions need to take into account the technical ramifications, it’s also a great idea to consult with your IT employees about current challenges or ways to improve.  The people that interact with your technology every day can provide considerable insight into what works and what doesn’t.

4. Stay current.  It’s common to postpone the inevitable task of updating or replacing key components that no longer work to support your business.  But an aging technology infrastructure will damage your productivity through decreasing performance or disruptive technical failures.

5. Hire the right staff. If it seems like your IT staff just doesn’t understand the business, maybe they don’t. When hiring, don’t only consider IT professionals with computer science degrees or strong technology backgrounds. Look also for candidates who understand business operations and can bridge the IT-business alignment gap. For example, computer science majors focus on the science and development of technology, while information systems majors focus on how to support business through the application of information technology.

One of the best ways to find skilled, experienced IT professionals who can make an immediate impact on your business is by partnering with a specialized recruiting firm like Triumph. We promise excellent results: superior candidates, maximum service and the exact solutions you need.