Human resource issues in IT

IT staff may have a different culture to staff in the rest of the organisation. This can cause problems. It also means that approaches to recruitment, training and appraisal may be different. The management of information systems will involve the management of IT staff and an understanding of a culture gap. Not all IT staff are as portrayed in "The IT Crowd", but there may be a need to encourage more empathy in technically minded staff.

Tasks
How might IT staff differ from the rest of staff in the organisation? Explain the IT / Business culture gap. How will you recruit staff? What is the balance between recruiting skills from outside and training staff internally? How important are technical skills compared with business skills? Outline a recruitment process for recruiting a development team for a new project. Outline an approach to appraisals. Explain why culture is important in the IT department. What is a "community of practice" and how may they be developed in the IT department?