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A recent Technisource survey found that IT Employee Confidence Index has dropped from 56.2 to 47.3 in the third quarter of 2011. Only 13% of IT workers believe the economy is getting stronger. But, 32% of IT employees are still likely to look for a new job while in their current position, and their confidence in their ability to find a new job has not declined.
What does this mean to your company? Are you seeing disengaged IT workers in your organization?
Here are four ideas to retain your high-performing IT workers:
Engage them in meaningful work–help them see the big picture of how their work fits in with your company’s overall strategy and mission. Teresa Amabile of Harvard Business School and coauthor of “The Progressive Principle” found that the most important driver of employee engagement is for employees to feel that they are making progress in meaningful work. This could mean employees feel they are contributing something of real value and something they really care about to their team, their organization, or the community they live in.
Empower them to improve their skills–provide opportunities for employees to keep up with the latest knowledge and skills to keep them employable. This may sound counter-intuitive, but our survey results consistently show that employee learning and development is one of the top three key factors of employee engagement. By investing in employee development, you can reap the benefits of a better skilled workforce and higher level of employee loyalty.
Provide flexibility for employees to have a good work/life balance–many IT professionals need to work during weekends or late hours to update company systems or to ensure that the system runs smoothly. Recognize that these employees may not have the luxury of weekend time-off with their family or friends, design people practices and guidelines that enable their managers to facilitate a healthy work/life balance for these employees.
Pay equitably–design your compensation strategy such that high performers are rewarded accordingly. Best employers consistently reward their high-performers with base pay that is 3x or more compared with the average employees. Get more insights on pay equity and consistency from our friends at Compesation Cafe.
What activities or people practices do you find helpful in engaging and retaining your IT professionals? Share your feedback with us!
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- The Crisis of Meaning (charlesthrasher.wordpress.com)
