Enterprise communications professionals kept businesses running during the pandemic, and now the job of supporting the shift to the next model of work is proving more nuanced but no less demanding. That’s why IT/communications specialists’ work is more critical than ever — and why Enterprise Connect is again recognizing the best of the best, those professionals who will make this transition succeed and then pave the path to the future for their enterprise and end users. And we need your help.
Nominations are now open for our third annual
IT Hero and Women in Communications Spotlight awards, which recognize outstanding work by enterprise IT/communications professionals. The Spotlight award focuses on the especially critical issue of advancing women in the IT/communications field, while the IT Hero nominations are open to all who work for enterprises in an IT/communications role.
We’ve long known that the tech industry needs to do a better job of fostering women’s careers in general. In the many studies on the subject, women are consistently shown to hold less than 30% of IT jobs. And a recent
Information Week survey showed the pay gap between men and women in IT actually grew in the last year.
Enterprise Connect has a robust Women in Communications program, and this year we’ve added a General Session on the keynote stage Monday, March 27, to elevate this topic to the level it deserves. We’ll also have opportunities for women to network and engage in a town hall-style session as part of our Women in Communications luncheon for conference attendees, just preceding the General Session.
We could use your help with the Spotlight award. Anyone can nominate an outstanding woman working for an enterprise IT/communications organization by filling out our brief form
here. We are asking that nominations be limited to those working within the enterprise, as opposed to vendor companies (though vendors are strongly encouraged to nominate their customers). Our goal with this award is to bolster women’s careers and pathways specifically within IT departments.
Similarly, anyone can nominate any enterprise IT/communications professional for our
IT Hero award. What makes someone an IT Hero? Past winners have earned praise for their hard work, leadership, and collegiality, but one citation in particular caught my eye as I was re-reading them. This IT Hero “has spent countless hours providing 1x1 and group trainings to hundreds of employees across all our employee bases and at different time zones. She never once complained about the number of hours or time zones. She has a team of people that work under her guidance and leadership. But she still rolls up her sleeves and does whatever it takes to help the program succeed,” according to her nominator.
That example shows one of the most important new skills that IT/communications professionals will probably need to continue developing: prioritizing and allying with end users. IT/communications pros need that sense of advocacy and (an overused word) empathy to help users make the most of the technology that continues to evolve and transform. Though it’s not the only way to be an IT Hero, having a diligent end-user focus will make any IT/comms professional stand out.
The deadline for
nominations for both awards is Friday, Dec. 9. You can nominate yourself as well. Winners will be announced in January 2023 and will be recognized at Enterprise Connect 2023 the week of March 27. I’m looking forward to hearing about the great professionals you know.
