IT giant Logica is using business managers rather than HR staff to pull
internal project teams together in response to rapidly changing market needs.
The company has introduced front-line resourcing managers in each of its 10
divisions who are responsible for assembling teams from the 13,000 employees
around the company.
These specialist managers are not drawn from the central HR function, but
are recruited from the business and rotated around the company. Typically
working with two support staff, they track the company’s IT skills needs.
Logica account manager Virginia Ainscough said the business might need to
gather a team of 200 people within a month to work on a specific project.
She explained, "These people might say they need a C++ programmer.
There may not be enough of these across the business and this is then fed into
the recruitment process."
The project leader then asks the resourcing manager to find people with the
right skills. Resourcing managers come from a variety of business backgrounds,
including personal assistants, Ainscough explained.
Logica has also set up a network of non-HR staff consultants who are
responsible for about 10 to 15 people. They have full-time jobs but the added
responsibility of career counselling.
"HR at Logica sets the policies and the function is small and a lot of
it devolved. Each division has HR managers and senior staff consultants who can
offer career advice," said Ainscough.
She was speaking last week at the launch of the e-Skills NTO good practice
guide to help employers recruit in the IT sector.
The e-Skills NTO is the training organisation responsible for the IT sector.
The guide is backed by employers such as Barclays, Nortel Networks, Vodafone
and IBM.
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www.e-skillsnto.org.uk/recruitment
By Catriona Marchant
