One of the lingering problems with the recession and recovery is that unemployment continues to hang over the nation like a black cloud. Companies are recovering but they just don’t want to hire more staff. That’s because they continue to think every employee is a cost without a benefit. A CIO Update guest columnist argues that thinking is wrong.
Running an IT organization is very much about optimizing cost and risk: What is the lowest cost way to deliver each service without risking the required service level? What must be developed or managed internally and what should be outsourced? Once you get clear on that, how do you then think about the ROI for investing the in the people who remain on staff?
I never understand when some business leaders see their people more as an expense to manage down, than an asset to build up or when they think people-oriented initiatives do not have a hard ROI. I never viewed the investment in people as a nice-to-have or a soft business driver.
