While talk of an IT skills crisis may have subsided lately, senior
IT managers are still faced with the challenge of retaining their
most talented staff
In an environment where there is no longer a guarantee of steadily
rising pay, promotion or even a job for life, organisations must
look at offering a "new kind of psychological contract", argues Tim
Osborn-Jones of the Organisational Behaviour faculty at the Henley
School of Management.
Osborn-Jones has formulated the details of this new kind of
contract based on the results drawn from the responses of 476
high-flying business executives who are attending courses at Henley
College.
"In addition to the traditional demands for pay, conditions and
benefits, key talent within organisations are now driven by more
qualitative factors. They feel more of an emotional attachment to
an organisation and employers must get the balance between the old
and new types of incentives right," says Osborn-Jones.
This is borne out by the answers given in the survey. To the
question: "What is the most important thing you want out of life?"
respondents placed "self-fulfillment", "a sense of accomplishment"
and "fun and enjoyment" at the top of the list. At the bottom of
the list were "excitement", "a sense of belonging" and "the need
for security".
"It used to be that the top people wanted to go and work for Ford
and other blue-chip companies, but now they are less concerned
about the reputation of a company and more interested in the sense
of community and the self-development opportunities that an
organisation can offer, says Osborn-Jones.
"If a company is asking its people to take risks and be innovative
then it must do the same in the way that it treats them. Offering
more money isn't enough. There is always an employer up the road
that can offer more."
The report also shows that the top people within an organisation
have a very high level of self-esteem - they are good and they know
it. According to Osborn-Jones, this can work for employers. "Rather
than seeing this self-confidence as a threat, companies should see
it as something positive that they can harness and encourage," he
says.
"It's a question of communicating with your top people and managing
their ever-changing expectations." This, he says, is a vital part
of any self-development programme that organisations offer their
key talents.
"If you send your top people on an MBA course, for example, they
will become different people as time goes on. Obviously, this will
mean that their expectations will change through time. Companies
must be aware of this and keep in touch with what their achievers
are thinking so they can respond."
The acid test, concludes Osborn-Jones, of whether your company is
responding to this new way of thinking is to ask yourself if you
would recommend your organisation to your friends as a place they
should consider working.