Retaining staff during troubled times will provide economic
benefits in the upswing
It has been suggested that the economic downturn may alleviate the
skills shortage, but it has compounded rather than solved it.
The IT industry is fooling itself if it thinks that the recession
will relieve the situation. There will always be a skills shortage
regardless of the state of the industry, as technologies continue
to emerge that require new and different skill sets.
Companies that make "panic" redundancies to reduce costs during a
recession will suffer in the long term and will take longer to
recover.
Not only will they lack expertise, but staff morale will be low.
Many forget the old adage that it is more expensive to win new
customers than it is to retain the ones you have. The same applies
to employees.
The ability to retain skilled staff who add value to the business
is a key differentiator in the market and it is imperative for
organisations to regard staff retention and motivation as a
business-critical activity.
After some redundancies, there is often a sense of loss. If the
situation is not handled correctly significant numbers of skilled
and valued staff may be poached by rival companies. To overcome
this, it is vital to give the remaining staff a sense of
empowerment.
For example, employee relations could be reinforced by a staff
forum which would meet regularly to discuss issues of importance.
This could include anything from niggles about central heating to a
new office location.
A two-way discussion envisioning the future of the organisation
provides a clear understanding of company achievements and goals,
which is essential in lifting
employee morale.
This can be seen as a point of contact when major company changes
are forthcoming and gives staff a feeling that they are involved
and their concerns are being recognised.
The recent Computer Weekly/SSP Survey found that the number of IT
jobs advertised has fallen to its lowest level since the 1993
recession, but revealed that no firms are reducing departmental
workloads.
Companies will find that problems arise when staff are left to cope
with the stress of working under heavier workloads. This, combined
with the threat of further redundancies, will have a negative
effect on morale.
One solution would be to employ an occupational therapist to teach
employees stress management techniques and provide
counselling.
Many companies cannot afford to retain staff and do have to make
redundancies, but it is a short-term solution. Recruitment is
expensive, as is training new staff.
During difficult times, training is one of the first areas to have
its budget slashed. Also, companies poach staff from competitors
rather than invest time and money on training existing
employees.
Management and technical training skills need to be constantly
upgraded in a rapidly changing industry so cutting back on training
makes no long-term sense as training increases an employee's
feeling of worth, while aiding staff retention and
motivation.
An IT market compensation study by People3 recently found that the
use of new technologies, education and training initiatives and a
challenging environment are more effective retention tools than
salaries.
There is no doubt that firms face tough decisions during a
downturn, but the IT skills shortage means that the priority of the
company must be on staff retention.
It is essential to offer support by investing time and money on
improving staff relations, or risk losing employees to
competitors.
Julia Marsan is executive vice-president of human resources at
network specialist Interoute