How To Attract Top IT Talent | Creating Diversity Councils | Duke Energy CIO’s Data Vision

Plus: The Data Land-Grab Continues As S&P Global Acquires IHS Markit For $44 Billion

Hello, and welcome to the latest issue of the Forbes CIO newsletter.

The third and final episode of our Forbes CIO Next virtual summit series just wrapped up and it was jam-packed with fascinating insights into how to build and inspire high-performance teams. 

That task is complicated by the fact that the market for tech talent remains tight in spite of the pandemic: According to the latest data from IT trade group CompTIA, the unemployment rate amongst U.S. tech workers is now just 2.4%. That compares with an overall rate for all roles of 6.7%. Some companies such as General Motors have announced they are aiming to recruit thousands of new tech staff. 

So how can tech leaders attract top workers to their teams? A poll of the large online audience at our event highlighted the importance CIOs attach to using speaking opportunities (hopefully including in-person ones again at some point next year!) to help enhance their appeal to potential recruits, as well as building a strong presence on social media platforms. Participating in industry groups was also cited as an effective recruiting tactic.

Top CIOs who spoke at the event stressed it’s crucial to come across as authentic, whatever channel you’re using. “It’s not a script. It’s not something you can just write down,” said Fumbi Chima, the CIO of BECU, one of the U.S.'s largest credit unions. “It has to be something inherent in you.” Chima also stressed the importance of highlighting an organization’s purpose or mission, especially when it comes to attracting younger talent. Echoing Chima’s comments, Harry Moseley, the global CIO of Zoom, encouraged CIOs to be proactive about tapping personal networks to find talent. “People aren’t going to come knocking on your door. You have to go out there and become an attractive opportunity” for tech workers, he said. 

Other speakers stressed it’s crucial to be clear about what you are looking for in potential recruits beyond hard tech skills. Atish Banerjea, Facebook’s CIO, said he looks for people with a strong desire to build novel tech because the goal is to create world-class solutions for the social network that can potentially be sold to other companies too. BECU’s Chima also underlined the importance of selling the opportunity to learn and grow in roles. 

Deepika Rayala, the CIO of Yext, a publicly quoted provider of search technology for businesses, stressed that she looks for recruits who are willing to wear multiple hats in a relatively small organization. “Every single person in my team is a leader at some level.” That will no doubt resonate strongly with other CIOs who are running outstanding teams.

A brief note regarding our publishing schedule: Given the upcoming holiday season, this will be the last CIO newsletter of 2020. Look out for the next issue on January 7, 2021!

Thanks for reading and do please send me your tips, thoughts, questions and ideas for future issues at mgiles@forbes.com. You can also follow me on Twitter and on LinkedIn. And if you enjoy reading this newsletter please recommend it to others who may find it useful.

Technology & Innovation

Cybersecurity: One of the world’s top cyber companies, FireEye, whose software protects other businesses, said it had been hacked. The attackers stole tools the company uses to test defenses for its thousands of customers, which begs the question: “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”

Computing: MacBooks from Apple using its new M1 processor demonstrate exceptional performance and battery life using tech from ARM. This could well kick off a new round of innovation and competition in personal computers.

Leadership & Strategy

Automation: Business process automation has many benefits, such as reducing labor costs. But all too often there’s a disconnect between expected benefits and what the tech delivers. So what’s the best way to align expectations on automation initiatives? Here's an insightful how-to guide for CIOs on the different metrics that can be used to quantify and report automation benefits.

IT accounting: Technology is crucial to business models, which makes it all the more important that CIOs understand financial reporting and are prepared to safeguard their companies against year-end financial traps. Many reporting changes are not nefarious, but some can be a slippery slope to trouble. Ask yourself these questions about key financial items during the accounting process to avoid pitfalls.

Talent & Careers

Diversity and inclusion: One way that companies are committing to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace is by creating a diversity council. Here’s a helpful guide on how to start a council within your organization to advance D&I efforts. 

Talent development: Attracting and keeping talent is critical to the success of any tech leader. Many companies have turned to video learning this year due to restrictions imposed by Covid-19. These talent development trends show that while video is beneficial, it's still not as powerful as in-person programs. 

"There are three main areas [to focus data-centric innovation on]: our assets, our operations and the experience that we create for the customer."

Bonnie Titone

CIO, Duke Energy

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