(US and Canada) Bojan Duric, Chief Data Officer, City of Virginia Beach, speaks with Denise Collison, SHI International SVP and President of Public Sector Sales, in a video interview about the data collective, getting people together, and the approach to talent acquisition.

Sharing his experience of gathering 300 people for the data collective, Duric says his first step was to open it to everybody in the organization regardless of job descriptions and roles. The overall purpose was to reach as many data users as possible within the organization.

The group was then deemed exclusive for employees committed to the collective. The next steps included starting additional upskilling discussions and hosting podcasts with city leaders, asking them about their businesses. According to Duric, IT professionals learn about challenges better once they get closer to the business units.

Sharing his views on the future of talent acquisition, Duric emphasizes building the fundamentals for students first. He urges employers to avoid the traditional functional or tenure hiring process, especially in the public sector.

Duric explains that business or liberal arts students can also take up information technology roles with training. On the skills front, he says that instead of tenure, the focus should be on soft skills such as collaboration and teamwork. Duric adds that collaboration is necessary because everything today is becoming more cross-functional. He advises organizations to look for good personalities, hire them, and teach them the required skills.

CDO Magazine thanks Bojan Duric for contributing his thought leadership to our global community.

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