King of Prussia, PA, July 20, 1998  —CoreTech Consulting Group, Inc. announced today that it has launched a new business line to aid chief information officers and IT management solve some of the serious Information Technology resource challenges which currently exist in the marketplace. CoreTech’s Information Technology Human Resource Solutions, or ITHRS, was created to address the human resource issues plaguing chief information officers, IT directors and managers. "Attraction and retention issues have escalated to the top of executive management’s priority list. Currently, the number of open IT positions has sky-rocketed to nearly four times the available supply of qualified professionals. Average annual turnover of IT professionals is more than 40%, which indicates a significant retention problem" states CoreTech’s President, David Moore.

As a full-service Information Technology consulting firm with a full breadth of capabilities, CoreTech has long realized the importance of the ‘human factor’ in the successful implementation of technology change. For this reason, the addition of ITHRS to its existing service offerings was merely a formalization of the natural extension of its services. Recognizing the tremendous impact of human resource issues on its own organization, Chief People Officer, Robert Kirkpatrick, was brought on board in 1996 to lead the way in creating strong attraction and retention strategies for the organization. "As our clients began to communicate their frustrations and severe management challenges in this area, we realized that the information and expertise we were privy to could help many of our clients," states Kirkpatrick.

Karen Kirchner, a senior human resource and executive management consultant, was recently hired to join the CoreTech team and lead the ITHRS service line. Ms. Kirchner has over 20 years of experience in communicating and balancing the wants and needs of firms and their resources. Prior to joining CoreTech, Ms. Kirchner served as the internal consulting business partner to top management for CoreStates Financial Corporation, which linked human resource leadership directly to the core businesses.

Asked why CoreTech has entered this new consulting field, Ms. Kirchner stated, "In today’s human resource market, it is essential that companies bridge the gap between the needs of their IT departments and those of the professionals required to get the job done. In order to successfully manage, implement and support technology change, firms need to address the ‘all-encompassing’ human resource implications. The effects of change are most readily observed in the people who are asked to implement, support and adopt change. Constant turnover or understaffing will result in an inability to effectively manage that change and will thereby prevent firms from being able to reap the full business value of new technologies."

ITHRS has developed a "Life Cycle" framework to demonstrate the connections between recruitment, retention and redeployment of resources. This framework is used to assist clients with IT skills gap assessments, specific attraction and retention strategies, rewards and recognition programs, compensation re-designs, staffing programs and talent management strategies including downsizing, outsourcing and retraining.

When asked why CoreTech’s ITHRS deliverables are so unique, Ms. Kirchner explains," Human Resource functions and IT functions are still operating independently of one another in most companies that I know of. A firm may believe that compensation is the only issue, and spend great sums of money with very little results. Another firm may believe it has a recruitment problem, when, in fact, it may have a retention problem. IT organizations need to look at the human resource Life Cycle and tie that back to their business, technology, and sourcing strategies. This will allow a more complete understanding of the ‘big picture’ and enable firms to see the relationships between all of the critical aspects of the Life Cycle. CoreTech’s ITHR Life Cycle framework provides the current best practices for the entire industry."

About CoreTech Consulting Group
CoreTech Consulting Group is an Information Technology consulting firm that partners with clients to favorably manage the impact of new technologies throughout their organization. Solutions developed by CoreTech help companies reduce the risk, minimize the negative effects and ultimately provide greater business value by assisting their clients in understanding and managing the broad implications new technology may have on their organization, processes and people. CoreTech has regional offices located around the United States, including Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, and Atlanta. More information about CoreTech may be obtained from www.CoreTech.com, or by calling 800-220-3337.