
Let Them Grow – Why Millennials Need More Growth Opportunities at Work
As Gen Y’s size and clout in the workplace grows, meaningful engagement between businesses and these employees will become central to developing tomorrow’s leadership.
Company: CompTIA
Job Title: CEO
Todd Thibodeaux is the president and chief executive officer of CompTIA, the ICT Industry Trade Association. He is responsible for leading strategy, development and growth efforts for the association.
Before joining CompTIA in July 2008, Thibodeaux spent more than 17 years with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), where he served in a wide range of roles culminating as its senior vice president of industry relations.
Thibodeaux is a life-long IT and tech enthusiast dating back to his very early years. The son of an electrical and mechanical engineer, Thibodeaux's love of technology continues to this day and he has infused CompTIA with a renewed sense of enthusiasm for the industry the organization represents.
He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (Bachelor of Science, economics, 1988) and George Mason University (Master’s degree in economics, 1997).
As Gen Y’s size and clout in the workplace grows, meaningful engagement between businesses and these employees will become central to developing tomorrow’s leadership.
Technology professionals need to familiarize themselves with how IoT is altering the IT landscape in order to future-proof their careers.
Instead of settling (and paying) for ineffective training, IT businesses should turn to online learning platforms.
Internal security is only half the picture, and companies today are increasingly scrutinizing the data integrity of their channel partners.
No one enters the IT field with all of the hard skills they will need for their career, but it’s also the “soft skills” – the interpersonal knowledge – that make the biggest difference.
In case you weren’t able to make the conference, here are the three biggest takeaways from ChannelCon 2015.
With the intense focus on competitors and the bottom line, it is often difficult for IT professionals to keep track of constantly-evolving technologies and trends. Those who want to stay at the top of their game must take it upon themselves to stay current. Conferences, seminars and trade shows are valuable sources of insight, and everyone — even IT veterans — should understand how to make the most of their time (and registration fees) at industry events.
Graduation season is upon us, and many students have begun sending out resumes in hopes of finding an internship, a job, and possibly a career in the IT sector. New graduates trying to get a foot in the door need to sell potential employers on both their technical and non-technical qualifications, and tailor their capabilities to hiring managers’ specific needs. Here are three tips for the latest crop of IT job seekers.
Many businesses are still grappling with the challenges of creating Millennial friendly work environments, but their successors are already close at hand. A deeper reliance on mobile technology and an emphasis on career advancement sets Gen Z workers apart from their Millennial predecessors — nuances that smart IT employers will recognize and plan for.
The popular wisdom has long held that a four-year degree is the only gateway into the IT field. However, this is less true today than ever before. IT certifications also represent a viable path to success in the industry, and they are becoming more valued. CompTIA’s recent study “HR Perceptions of IT Training and Certification,” found that two thirds of HR executives believe certifications are valuable, compared to less than one third (30 percent) three years ago.
The millennial workforce is notorious for its flighty reputation, and there’s plenty of research to back that notion. High turnover rates among younger workers are not inevitable, however, and IT firms shouldn’t resign themselves to coping with millennial flight risk. By adapting their hiring and retention strategies to reflect the values of Gen Y workers, IT employers can build environments that Millennials won’t be so quick to leave.
A CompTIA study revealed that less than one third of business enlisting third-party IT support claim to be satisfied with their providers. What does this mean for channel partners? Many businesses aren’t getting the support they need.
Last year, many high profile IT companies made efforts to become more transparent about diversity within their ranks. The findings were unfortunately predictable: the technology sector has a diversity problem. Thankfully, the IT industry has an opportunity to address existing gender, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities among staff.
In the aftermath of an attack, the focus is rightly on the customer — to safeguard their information and reinforce their trust, so that views of the brand aren’t shattered. But what about company employees?
Before even stepping foot in the workplace, there was speculation about Millennials and their work habits — often translated as being less motivated and having unreasonable expectations. Contrasted with Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, a prevailing attitude was that millennial workers would be lazy and unmotivated when beginning their professional careers, tearing away at years of progress in the professional world. Yet, as Millennials have gracefully stepped into leadership roles across industries, they’ve put many of the myths about their work habits to rest.
If your firm has been forced to cancel or delay projects due to understaffing, it may be time to better differentiate your organization from the competition. Here are three ways to get you started.
One way to effectively manage millennials in the workplace is to provide them constant feedback. They want to know how well they’re performing, and how they can improve their skills. Give them constructive feedback.
Creating a unified operating system with Windows 8 seemed brilliant from a development perspective. But Microsoft’s inability to implement that vision led to less-than-enthusiastic adoption rates among enterprise customers (and contributed to the now notorious “Windows Pattern”). Microsoft has demonstrated a commitment to incorporating many enterprise-oriented features.
CES has more to offer the enterprise than one may think. The latest and lightest in wearables, smartphones and ultra-compact laptops are bound to find their way into workplaces.
There are always more skills for IT workers to master, but cross-industry trends will put a new premium on security, mobile applications and analytical expertise with big data in the coming year. Why should IT admins pay attention to these skills in 2015? Here are the details.
Read about @coxbusiness' acquisition of @Logicworks. dlvr.it/Shty4t https://t.co/3MaKai6SVr
Where in the world are the top MSPs?? Take a look at the infographic breakdown of 2022 #MSP501 winners by region >>… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
.@SovosCompliance offers tips for how and when to revamp #partnerplans. dlvr.it/ShtDgv https://t.co/vPzajXnjee
Day 2 of #ZTW: @ThreatLocker unveils new Ops threat detection tool. dlvr.it/Shs93Y https://t.co/dAnj6IUiF2
.@broadvoice appoints a channel vet as new program leader. Before joining the company, he had risen through the ran… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
More activity over at @Pax8 (which just hired @RobTRae): the #cloud marketplace firm has purchased @BamBoomCloud.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
.@SamsungMobile launches #GalaxyS23 phones, new #GalaxyBook3Ultra at Samsung Unpacked. dlvr.it/ShrW8G https://t.co/DloltwdMsE
The new partnership between Channel Futures and @ITExchangeNet is poised to benefit the partner community.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…