Seven Ways to Attract and Retain IT Staff

1. Decide what type of company you are

What will you expect your IT staff to do and what will they not do? What skills do you need?

Consider the following:

• The IT Company versus the IT Department

Technical experts find better career paths in IT companies than in IT departments.

• Development versus IT Management

Many companies are shifting away from development to management. Where there is development, systems support , networking & infrastructure support tend to be outsourced.

2. Career Management

Younger staff consider training a key issue at the beginning of their career – and rather than it increasing the risk of them moving on it can cement their commitment to their employer. However, employers need to be cautious about expecting raw recruits to fall in with the trend towards taking responsibility for their own development. Offering a high quality training programme is an effective way to attract good calibre recruits.

Older staff are frequently seeking more job security and can be keen to develop business skills.

Personal Development Plans can be a very constructive for any member of staff – e.g. Post Office’s competence centre certificate for SAP.

3. Keep Work Challenging

Boring routine assignments should be rotated.

Type of work – should match the promises made on recruitment.

Technology itself – the rate of change requires constant upgrading of knowledge and skills – ensure this remains a challenge (with training and support) and not a threat to your staff.

4. Compensation and Reward

Pay scales should reflect many IT specialists’ desire to remain on the technical side rather than move into management just to shift into the next salary bracket.

Be aware of current key areas of skill shortage. e.g. testing, networking; technical support; systems development; electronic commerce; databases; network security. These may attract a premium.

5. Recognition

A great motivator is to receive public acknowledgement that a team had done a good job for the company.

6. Leadership

The effect of good leadership should not be underestimated. This is especially critical where the technical experts and management have formed two different groups. Communication, co-operation and making the best use of technology are all improved where a leader can bring all sides to the party.

7. Physical work environment

Small regular improvements to the physical work environment can make disproportionate improvements to employee’s motivation – it is a great opportunity to show staff that they are appreciated and that they are "the most valuable resource".

Other Items to Consider

• Staff turnover in UK runs at 15%-20%
• Average cost of recruiting=£5000 (excludes advertising in a national paper!)
• Many of the top IT staff are joining IT outsourcing companies as this provides them with a better career path than can be provided in small and medium sized companies.