At Leadership Forum, a Guide to Creating Future-Ready IT Teams

At the recent Florida IT Leadership Forum* in Tallahassee, government leadership expert Kimberly Moore, chief innovator with Envision Moore Consulting Group, discussed the importance of preparing IT teams for the future.

Key points included creative approaches for cultivating future-ready IT teams, the need for adaptive approaches that address critical workforce and the skills necessary to thrive in a digital landscape.

Workplace dynamics present unique challenges, with five generations from the Silent Generation to Gen Z each bringing distinct skills and perspectives, and leaders must be willing to adapt. Moore emphasized a generational gap in expectations, particularly regarding career growth, highlighting the need for tailored engagement strategies.

The Silent Generation, she said, holds tremendous importance as “89 percent of agencies report critical dependency on somebody that [falls] in that category,” due to their knowledge of legacy systems in place.

Among baby boomers, Moore noted that 8 percent are eligible to retire, while 45 percent of Gen Xs are seeking advancement in their roles. Among millennials, she said 67 percent want more advancement and feel as if they are not getting enough invested in them. For Gen Z, that number is 89 percent.

The process begins upon onboarding, said Moore. Leaders should ask themselves, “what are you saying in that onboarding?’ And then, what is the reality going to look like once they complete the onboarding and they’re thrown out there in the trenches? What does that look like? Is there a discrepancy?” said Moore.

“You can’t have a different conversation and you wear your rose-colored glasses, versus what HR then says to them and what then another manager that they may have to interact with says to them — then you have three different voices on that,” she said. “What used to be 90 days that individuals would make a decision on whether they're planning on staying in an organization has been reduced to 60 days. A lot of them are even happening in the onboarding experience. So it becomes critical that you think through this part of it.”

She emphasized the necessity of clear frameworks regarding the use of AI within organizations. Moore remarked that many employees feel uncertain when their organizations do not communicate effectively about these technologies.

Using an AI readiness framework in the workforce is part of skill development, she said.

“It really can be sold on preparing the team for the future, but you can’t do that without emphasizing augmentation, not replacement. You know, if you don’t go in and you’re not saying that, I can assure you that it’s going to fail,” said Moore.

In discussing workforce changes, particularly with the introduction of new technologies like AI, Moore encouraged participants to reflect on Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’ five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, as they relate to the adoption of AI and overall change in the workplace.

“What if I told you that this is the same as when the organization goes through change?” questioned Moore. “Then you would understand and appreciate change because people go through these different phases, and it’s not that they’re going against it when they could start in the middle of the changes described to the very middle and revert back to this very beginning. So that’s why the ability to communicate changes and recognize that you really are dealing with people is critical.”

*The Florida IT Leadership Forum is hosted by Government Technology, a sister publication of Industry Insider — Florida. Both are part of e.Republic.