The third risk listed in the Six Key Risks a CIO Must Avoid post is
Losing key people can create a lot of risk for an organization, especially when these people are in mission critical support roles or where you have minimal depth for key skills.
Keeping your good people is not all about money. Leaving a company for more money always ranks around 7th to 9th in the studies I’ve seen. There is usually something else that causes an employee to start looking for another employer.
However, when an employee gives you a resignation letter, they usually tell you they are leaving for more money. Don’t believe it, , , that’s typically not the real reason.
In a competitive market where companies are competing for quality employees, the challenge is to find ways that will help you keep your good employees.
Which employees are the most vulnerable for you to lose?
Your best people are the ones who will probably leave you if you aren’t doing things to keep them with you. That’s right, , , your best people.
The average ones are fairly content and the poor performers will stay with you forever if you allow them to. The best people will be the ones to walk into your office and hand you a resignation letter.
A few keys to help you retain your good employees include:
- Challenge them
- Being part of a winning team
- Investing in them with training and education
- Strong communication
- Recognition and appreciation
- Empowering them with real responsibility
- Motivating events that keep it interesting
- Having some fun
Training and education are powerful motivators
One of the top motivators in every survey I’ve seen that identifies reasons IT employees stay with their company is training and education. It is always in the top one or two positions.
What this says is that you need a training program that focuses the development of each employee on your staff, , , believe me, it will pay dividends. Not only will the staff become more capable, you will find people understand and appreciate the fact that their manager is investing in them.
Don’t underestimate how important showing appreciation for a job well done is. IT people are not the most appreciated work group around, , , much of what we work on is either a problem, fixing something, or changing something. We don’t get lots of accolades from our client. It’s up to the IT manager to ensure his team receives appreciation and a “pat on the back” for their hard work and accomplishments.
What I’ve seen is that keeping your good employees is a lot about paying attention to them and doing things that show you appreciate them. It does not take a lot of money to do this, , , it simply requires you to pay attention and do things every now and then that appreciates your employees’ hard work.
Need help motivating your employees? Take a look at IT Staff Motivation and Development: build a world class team
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