Forbes.com (01/05/12) Gardner, Dave

Management consultant Dave Gardener notes that the relationship between information technology and a company’s human resource department is more important than ever. Chief information officers now have to take an active role in employee satisfaction and staffing, recruiting new talent, and retaining existing talent.

The demand for mobility is increasing. By 2013, 1.2 billion people are expected to be in the mobile work force, an increase of 35% from current figures. A Dell employee survey indicates that remote employees are the most satisfied employees, due in part to employees being able to time-shift events in their days.

The real challenge CIOs face is to harness the power of information technology to supercharge productivity and to enable the social enterprise, connecting employees and customers. CIOs directly impact the happiness of employees by enabling the mobile work force, while information technology plays a critical role in enabling more effective and efficient collaboration.