Are Staffing Troubles Brewing? Find Out

A timely report was just released by Forrester Research Inc. that offers insights into how chief information officers can measure if they operate a shop that attracts the best talent, if they can be developed, and if it can keep them. Because President-elect Barack Obama has said he will use technology to improve public services and make government more transparent, the tips are timely for federal CIOs if they want to build a team to answer the call -- if it comes.

Craig Symons, the researcher who wrote the report, says CIOs should measure three categories in their work environment: recruiting, development, and retention. Even those these are mostly written for the private sector, they are relevant for the public sector. Here are some of the metrics CIOs should use (and it's a good guess government doesn't do too well in these categories):