By Chris Kenney, Vice President of Development,
myjobsearch.com
There is a new breed of employee out there- the information technology (IT) professional. They are all
the talk in management circles these days. While many in the HR and recruiting
fields bemoan the lack of IT talent available, their manager counterparts
scratch their heads about how to maintain them once they have been hired.
IT professionals are different. These employees are often introspective,
analytical, very focused and ultimately structured. Dealing with them from a
perspective of sales, marketing, legal or other common areas of business often
proves to be fodder for self-help books and TV talk shows. (Coping With MIS-
next on Oprah!).
For the better part of a dozen years now I have been managing IT professionals.
These people range in ability and function from customer technical support to
network design and implementation engineers.
All right-brain, left-brain arguments aside- a fundamental approach when dealing
with your high tech staff is to remember their logical minds. Everything is
'Spock' to them. There is very little emotion (as compared to the marketing
staff). Their lives are 'if, then, else,' -very logical and very structured.
Managers must understand this. Managers must be consistent in personal style and
avoid the extremes. Direct and informed decisions will avoid confusion and
debate. Managers should never be wishy-washy or they will get eaten alive by the
logical rhetoric of the technical mindset.
If they are not programming or designing they are not working. Anything that
prevents them from working is a hurdle or a roadblock. A big part of a
manager's job is to eliminate hurdles and roadblocks. This keeps staff members
productive.
Minimize the administrative burdens. What may be an everyday part of business
for most employees proves to be monumental distraction for those charged with
technical duties. Common and necessary tasks like company surveys, equipment
ordering, and receiving and sending mail proves to be detrimental overall to
the technical effort. Even annoyances like the moving of desks, enduring slow
network connections, scheduling training, and ordering books or office supplies
can add up to completely shut down the tech squad.
These may seem trivial to most. But to that walk in a world that revolves
around logic processes and how to accurately automate business, these minor
irritations are like the dumping of cold water. Find simple ways for requests
to be made. Get someone else to do these things for them. Be proactive in
eliminating these distractions. Let your IT staff focus on what they do best for
your company.
Flexible schedules allow tech people to work at times when they are at their
creative best. Many like to work through the night. Flexible schedules provide
your employees the ability to work long hours to get a project done, and recover
without guilt.
If you cannot allow them to work from home, then allow them to come and go as
they please. Establish core hours in which they all need to be in the office.
This allows focused interaction. The important thing is to focus on project task
completion and results, not the number of hours spent in the office.
Programmers are often compared to artists with all of their eccentricities.
Many of their behaviors appear strange to some folks. Some will work with the
lights off, some will work while listening to KISS CD's, while others work
completely oblivious to the world around them. In this high tech world that we
live in there is often no reason to make IT people come into the office. The
better wisdom may be to let them work from home. Be prepared to provide the
working conditions most suitable to an individual's personal tastes and ability
to get the desired results. Your top stars are worth it.
Because of your flexible schedules and working conditions, you must have
established and maintained communication channels. In most cases this is not in
one-on-one or group sessions. In fact, leave them alone to process things on
their own as much as possible. Make abundant use of email. Locate communications
in central areas like bulletin boards or resource centers. Establish meetings and
times that are consistent, short, to the point and infrequent. Be timely and
responsive to specific requests. Remember these are bright and intelligent people.
They have ideas they want to express (typically via e-mail and less frequently
in a brainstorming session). Use established communication channels to provide
them a voice.
Keep up with market pay scales. Many companies have policies that allow them to
give cost of living increases or maximum annual pay raises of five percent. That
may not be practical in the current IT environment. These policies may force
your high tech people to look for jobs elsewhere.
Too often the only way to get what you are worth is to change jobs. Job hunting
is a way to test your personal value in the market. A proactive approach to
compensation will gain loyalty from the high tech crowd. These are not people
prone to swallowing pride and asking for a raise. Typically the logical thing to
do in their thinking is to go elsewhere when anticipated compensation levels are
not met.
Following these principles builds loyalty and dependability in your staff. Do it
early. When possible, start by putting the principles in formal job descriptions.
Follow through by putting them in job offers. Make it uniform among similar job
functions.
I believe that if management and companies follow these principles they will be
able to keep their top IT professionals longer and avoid controversy with other
employees.
By Chris Kenney, Vice President of Development,
myjobsearch.com.
Chris Kenney has special expertise and experience in managing people and
delivering products to market. After obtaining degrees in Data Processing and
Information Management, Chris managed operations in customer service, sales,
marketing, and engineering for various technology companies. Mr. Kenney is a
member of the National Speakers Association, the Society for Human Resource
Managers, and the American Management Association. He is also a member of the
International Brotherhood of Magicians.
