3 strategies for finding and keeping talented IT employees

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Read any trade magazine or professional services blog, and everyone's talking about the competition for talent, especially in information technology (IT) jobs.

About 41 percent of IT leaders said it was more difficult to recruit key talent compared with one year ago, according to an annual survey by Computerworld. On the employee side, 60 percent of IT pros were hunting for a new job last fall, according to the Computing Technology Industry Association, which surveyed 1,000 IT industry members. About a quarter of those were actively searching, and half were "somewhat actively" looking. The majority reported that they were looking for a bigger paycheck. In many cases, they're finding it. Research by Robert Half Technology shows that average starting salaries are expected to climb 3 percent this year with greater increases for positions like IT auditor (11.2 percent), lead application developer (5.3 percent), and network security administrator (5.2 percent).

For consulting firms, it's not just a search for IT talent but for "brainpower," according to Adrian Wooldridge of the Economist. Organizations are looking for IT employees who can solve complex problems or invent new solutions. Wooldridge praises the widespread use of "up-or-out" practices employed by most successful professional services organizations. These practices emphasize the willingness of many to compete for a few top positions as a sign that this kind of winner-takes-all competition among talent is the best approach to ensure high performance.

But how do companies motivate and maintain job satisfaction for their superstars? The truth is many don't, according to Ed Michaels, a director of McKinsey and Company Inc. and head of its War for Talent Practice.

Here are three strategies for finding and keeping talented IT employees.

1. Don't rely on salary alone

Despite the rise in salaries, companies that are getting the most talented IT professionals attract and retain top talent who are flexible and technology-savvy without significantly raising salaries. According to a study by Accenture, which interviewed some 500 senior executives, organizations attract and retain talented IT professionals by offering a comprehensive range of opportunities to further their career and develop the skills necessary to do so.

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2. Create incentives

Organizations can improve retention rates and employee performance by making it easier for their people to find new opportunities within an organization. According to the Accenture study, organizations can also develop the skills and knowledge of all talent, regardless of their position in the company. Some of these strategies include involving employees in company decision-making processes, a practice used by 60 percent of executives surveyed.

Other organizations empower employees by giving them the opportunity to work on diverse, limited-term assignments, rather than in one department or function. Some organizations develop a talent exchange. This connects employees and other resources with appropriate projects, roles, and positions across the company. Real-time goal setting, performance measurement, and skills-development programs ensure that people always know how well they're doing their job. They can then address performance issues and skills gaps before these become a problem.

Successful firms also recommend embracing a wide range of emerging information technologies—including personalized employee Web portals, business simulation, and relearning—to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their training and development efforts.

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3. Manage employees' progress

To create successful incentive programs, it's important to manage each employee's progress. This is most easily done with an automated human resources (HR) management system.

HR management solutions can help companies fulfill the potential and increase the loyalty of its workforce while minimizing the cost and complexity of administrating salaries, benefits, recruiting, and performance management.

Company decision-makers must be able to assess and drive their peoples' performance to ensure that they align with business goals. Human resource management tools can show which employees are doing which jobs and the percentage of employees in each position, define opportunities for improvement and growth, and organize the teams and business groups that have the highest potential for success.

Automated HR management systems also give each employee control of their personal information and career path. Your people can easily access contact records, time-off tracking, performance review files, individual payroll data, benefits updates, and other information that matters to them. At the same time, in taking care of many basic needs and functions without assistance, employees help streamline human resources administration.

There's another benefit to automating HR management. Automation and the smart use of software tools can greatly simplify administrative tasks and help control costs. The software can streamline payroll processing, improve the efficiency and fairness of recruiting, hiring, and performance reviews, help ensure full compliance with government regulations and industry standards, and facilitate consistent, productive access to information and collaboration.

"Clients want work done faster and cheaper," says David Hofferberth, managing director of Service Performance Insight, a Cincinnati-based research firm covering technologies that impact the services sector. "The fact is you have to have the resources available to do the work faster."

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