IT Management Slideshow: 10 Ways to Develop Your Tech Talent

Dedicate Specific Roles for Talent Oversight

Lockheed Martin SSC brings managers from multiple departments to define and help manage tech skill sets.

Link Tech Talent Strategy with Business Strategy

General Mills uses R&D forecasting to anticipate talent needs for the upcoming year, as well as the likely five-year trajectory of each employee.

Cultivate a Culture that Appeals to Tech Workers

IBM engages employees with programs that seek tech solutions to global social and environmental problems.

Offer Flexible Career Paths with Dual-Career Ladders

General Mills workers can opt to pursue both tech and business paths.

Use On-the-Job Training

Lockheed Martin SSC encourages this by documenting employee experience attainment in a database, which links to defined skill sets for each line of business.

Maximize Campus Recruiting & Internships

Caterpillar allows students to work at the company part-time during school and full-time when school is out.

Offer Multiple Ways to Share Expertise

IBM's "BluePages" is a directory for employees to connect, and workers educate each other via blogs, wikis and forums.

Use Competency Models to Guide & Assess Tech Worker Performance

Schlumberger has come up with a highly detailed competency model that's updated annually or bi-annually.

Leverage Succession Planning to Develop, Promote Promising Tech Talent

At General Mills, talent assessments measure a "nine-block" system of performance and potential to help determine an employee's readiness to advance.

Recognize High Performers in Public

Caterpillar holds an annual event to acknowledge workers who receive patents or external technical awards.