PeopleSoft Projects 2.0: Will the talent be there when you need it?
Are you sure that when you are ready to start your next PeopleSoft project you will have or be able to find the talent you need?
Perhaps, six months ago the answer would have been obvious. Now the answer is not so clear. It could be that in the absence of a creative staffing strategy the talent train may have already left the station just about the time you get to the platform.
Many organizations are starting to think that they may soon need a lot more skilled workers. The New York Times recently detected significant Rays of Hope for Job Hunters. Indeed.com, an internet consolidator of online job postings, currently shows a 17% increase in information technology job postings over this time last year.
“The opportunities are growing fast,” said Paul Forster, chief executive of Indeed.com, which culls its information from sources like corporate Web sites, newspaper classified ads and job boards.
There is a long term labor trend occurring that is not getting sufficient attention and this article draws attention to it. A large number of experienced and skilled people will soon be leaving the permanent worker force. A combination of more demand for skilled workers and less supply may very well lead to shortages; fewer skilled people available to staff your upcoming PeopleSoft 9.1 upgrade project.
Tamara Erickson, an author and work-force consultant said the recession masked a long-term trend that will intensify: a worker shortage caused by the continuing retirement of baby boomers.
Suddenly, she said, employers are starting to realize that they don’t have, or won’t have, people with the skills they need. Some are starting to worry, she said, while others “have no idea what’s going to hit them.”
Reacting after the fact is not innovation. Innovation is detecting the trend, recognizing the implications, and acting before the crisis hits. The key is developing a manpower strategy that retains your most knowledgeable workers regardless of seniority and seeks experienced contingent staff in a variety of inventive ways.
The train has not already left the station. Stay tuned for future postings on novel, innovative options on staffing your upcoming PeopleSoft projects.
PeopleSoft Projects 2.0: Less Risk, Lower Cost, Why Not?
There are “Heavy” projects and there are “Lite” projects. We all recognize the “Heavy” projects when we see them. These projects are high in cost , elevated in stress, and often include stifling bureaucracies that choke progress. “Lite” projects usually lack big name integrators, include team members chosen for their experience and competency, cost less by several orders of magnitude, and get done without leaving internal stakeholders in a high state of distress.
UW System computer project sees delays, more costs.
”MADISON, Wis. – A second attempt by the University of Wisconsin System to install a new computer payroll program is millions of dollars over budget and a year behind schedule. “
I am working with a local business person – she is in the project management business – pushing a new concept of projects, Projects 2.0. The basic message is that structuring your project in an innovative way can be less risky and less costly than the standard alternative of outsourcing everything to a single large vendor. A key part of that innovation is finding highly competent and experienced people to keep your project on the right track and keep vendor costs from escalating. Why pay an outside integrator six, ten, twelve million dollars or more when the project can get done “Lite” and right for a fraction of that amount?
”The system’s top budget official, Tom Anderes, told the Board of Regents this month that planning for the project alone is now expected to cost $12 million. A year ago, officials had said planning would cost $1.6 million and implementation would begin that fall. In February, they raised the planning budget to $8 million and said it would last through this summer.“
How do you create your own PeopleSoft project 2.0? Here are a few suggestions on where to start:
- Seek the best people- Even in this poor economy almost all organizations hire and promote people on a regular basis. The vast majority of businesses have onboarding processes geared toward getting the best people for the best price. These well established processes could be used to assemble the best available project teams from deep pools of inside and outside talent?
- Use Web 2.0- The new yet well established networking sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Ryne, Dice, CareerJet, Indeed and others have consummate search and communications tools. If ordinary people in Iran can use these sites to organize large and forceful protests then your organization should be able to use the same tools to assemble a competent and efficient project team.
- Don’t shun easy savings- Demand to know where your contracting dollars are going. Let’s say the rate is $100 per hour. How much per hour is each project team member being paid? How much of your money is going to travel, contract paperwork, higher-up compensation, off-site meetings and other administrative overhead. Want to save money? There is a large pot of money at the end this rainbow.
- Let yourself take control- Too often organizations sign away control when they sign the contract. Decreasing your control of the project may sound good and easy but may actually be a disastrous course of action. Who knows your organization best? An outsider? I doubt that. The more control you can exert on the finished product the more likely you are to be successful. One way to take control is to build your own project team whose loyalty is to one and only one organization, Yours.