Tweet

Straightening Ties

Guest post by: Jennifer Loftus

Article Overview: As employers compete to hire information technology (IT) professionals in this sellers' market, many are seeking help to develop and implement strategies for staffing their organizations that are more productive and cost-effective and less aggravating. by Kenneth R. Cohen and Ross Reinhold September 2000 - Healthcare Informatics

Straightening Ties

As employers compete to hire information technology (IT) professionals in this sellers' market, many are seeking help to develop and implement strategies for staffing their organizations that are more productive and cost-effective and less aggravating.

Charles Faron, former Vice President of Operations for a national consulting and outsourcing firm, explains that traditionally organizations have kept strategic functions in-house and outsourced those that were not strategic. That approach no longer automatically applies, because the IT department is now viewed as a strategic partner of the senior executive team. If outsourced, IT strategy and execution need to be a core competency of the outsourcing company. Many of his clients consider the following criteria in deciding whether or not to outsource IT, says Faron:

· Quality of service. Will outsourcing ensure the quality of service required to achieve company goals? Will it support the overall business strategy?

· Time required. How long will it take to staff an IT department that satisfies the organization's needs?

· Privatization. This can be an emotional roller coaster for both management and staff and requires careful change management.

· Direct and indirect costs. Donald Friel, Senior Vice President and CIO of Holy Redeemer Health System, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., states that such costs include search firm fees, negative consequences of delayed or uncompleted projects and lost training revenues.

If you decide to keep IT in-house, you may want to consider some basic issues: the ability of your organization to attract and retain IT professionals and the lessons learned by other organizations facing the same questions.

Current attractions

Stepping back and seeing your organization as employees see it can be a real eye-opener. The aspects of your organization and its compensation packages that you assume are most desirable aren't always what determine why talented people come, perform well or leave. Taking an impartial look can help you identify your best selling points and key areas of concern, and it can give you the chance to come up with constructive ideas about how to enhance your hiring and retention effectiveness.

Brad Mousseau, Vice President of Human Resources for PC Connection, Merrimack, N.H., and former Vice President of Global Workforce Strategy at a national IT consulting and outsourcing firm, explains how he helped his former company measure certain management practices that are found in the most productive, profitable and desirable workplaces. He conducted an anonymous survey of his workforce to determine if they had experienced any of the following:

· Received recognition or praise for doing good work within the last week;

· Had the opportunity to do what they do best every day; or

· Had their direct supervisor or another co-worker show that they care for them as people.

· By measuring responses to this survey and making recommended changes, Mousseau reports that his organization cut the annual turnover in developer, IT operations and network administrator positions in half (from 30 to 15 percent) and saved at least $750,000 per year. In addition, he was able to promote team synergy and strengthen employee commitment to the organization's mission and vision (as reflected by their comments, actions and the lowered attrition rate).

Retention quotient

If you aren't satisfied with your organization's current retention rate, consider some of the tips of others who have been there: Don't overreact to information obtained in exit interviews. While you should be aware of feedback from various sources, it is more productive to focus on why your best performers stay on board than why other employees abandon ship. Even the most competitive salaries, benefits, perks and training won't keep top IT talent if managers don't treat them with dignity and respect.

To help him identify the personality and behavioral traits of the top IT performers in his organization, Mousseau developed a success profile for each individual. The profiles examined various job-oriented dimensions, including leadership and interpersonal style, performance ratings, length of service and technical competence. The knowledge gained from this process identified which employees would probably have the interpersonal skill sets to succeed and grow with the organization.

Lessons learned

Summarized in the following text are some insights of industry leaders regarding their selection, recruitment and retention initiatives:

· Be careful to not oversell positions, but rather, share the real challenges and opportunities available to prospective candidates;

· Be clear about what you want and need from your new hires regarding their previous education, experience and expertise;

· Don't offer everything under the sun to new hires. This may get you more bodies in the short term but may not produce the long-term loyalty and productivity you need;

· Consider offering equity in the company. Increasingly this is proving to be attractive to prospects and effective in building a committed workforce. It is also becoming the norm, especially among pre-initial public offering firms;

· Reward current employees for referring new employees to the organization;

· Reward existing personnel for staying on board with retention incentives;

· Provide employees with ample training opportunities so they can stay on the cutting edge and ahead of the technology curve.

The bad news is that every company wants to attract and retain the best and the brightest. The good news is that proven strategies exist to accomplish these goals. Taking an honest and objective look at your organization can help you build the most important foundation of any organization--loyal employees.

Related Articles
  Lesson #2: Do Not Try to Please Everyone All the Time
  Dunbar's Number V/S Satyam's Number
  Fashion Forward: The Early Years of Ralph Lauren
  Using A Free Marketing Webinar To Give You A Postive Rolling Launch
  How to Prioritize
  A Return to Elegance
  Ghanian mechanics bring cars back from the dead
  Wearing Proper Attire, Mostly for Men
  FORMALDEHYDE IN F MINOR: DOWNPLAYING DISCORD WITH POSITIVE SPIN
  Is the Customer Always Right?
  How to provides buying incentives without discounting
  What are the 3 biggest challenges faced by supply chain/purchasing professionals today? (Survey Result 7)
  I Dont Want To Be Sold I Want To Buy
  Do You Make It Easy For People To Buy From You
  Design!
  CONCLUSION: What Drives China’s Growing Role in Africa?
  Is Having Your Ad Agency Also Doing Your PR a Good Idea?
  Seasonal Values
  Mystic Cures Ltd’s Foray into Spa Franchise
  A-Z of sales success!

Article Tags: business strategy, company goals, compensation packages, core competency, direct and indirect costs, emotional roller coaster, eye opener, faron, former vice president, holy redeemer health system, huntingdon valley pa, national consulting, negative consequences, outsourcing company, quality of service, search firm, senior executive team, senior vice president, strategic partner, vice president of operations



Related Forum Posts


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

LEARNING TO HAVE FUN – EVERYDAY!

The Substance Abusing Employee

3 Pointers to Recruiting and Retaining Good Staff

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.