Employees working in IT and technology are more valued
than they think they are, probably thanks to encouragement from
senior management, according to a new study.
The study, carried out on behalf of global online learning
provider SkillSoft, shows that the managers of IT professionals are
also more likely to encourage them to develop their skills. Over
half of IT professionals surveyed thought their bosses led by
example against an average of 44% across other occupations. Only
27% thought they could do a better job than their bosses. And IT
professionals are 10% more likely to think their bosses are
competent than those working in other disciplines (83% as opposed
to 73%).
The survey also shows that IT professionals are more strategically
aware than colleagues working in other areas of the business. 84%
knew what their organisation’s business objectives were compared
with an average of 69% of employees working in other job roles. Yet
70% didn’t believe that their job reflected their true potential
and only 45% felt valued at work.
SkillSoft suggests that such findings go some way to explaining
why IT professionals change job more often than others within their
organisations: 24% had worked for their current employer for less
than six months against an average of 11% across other
occupations.
Another factor affecting IT staff churn may be that IT
professionals feel more discriminated against at work.
Three-quarters of those interviewed believed they were
discriminated against because of their age; 43% because they were
too young (average 31%) and 32% because they were too old (average
32%).
SkillSoft argues that, contrary to received wisdom, IT workers
are actually more likely to be promoted than their colleagues
outside the IT function. 23% had been given a promotion at work
within the last six months against an average of 11%.
The managers of IT professionals were also more likely to
encourage them to develop their skills: 73% against an average of
60%. And 28% of IT workers claimed to receive a lot of support for
from their managers in relation to their professional development
against an average of 19% across other job roles.
IT professionals were also more likely to be allocated time to
develop their skills during working hours than their non-IT
colleagues (43% against an average of 35%). Professional
development was clearly important to this group. More than a third
would be prepared to do all their training and development in their
own time if necessary whereas only 25% of other employees would
consider giving up their own time to learn.
And an overwhelming 82% of IT professionals said they would
happily invest a proportion of their personal time in training if
their employers would do their part and give them more time to
develop at work.
When asked what sort of skills they felt would help them to
achieve their full career potential, 45% of IT professionals said
general business skills; 40% wanted more management and leadership
training and 55% were looking to hone their IT-specific
competencies.
Considerably fewer than average felt they needed training in
desktop skills: 20% against an average of 35%.
Not surprisingly, IT professionals made much greater use of
online learning such as e-learning and virtual classrooms (41% as
opposed to 23% generally) and referenceware such as Books24x7 was
popular with these employees too (43% used online books and
reference materials against an average of 20%).
A further 45% could see the benefit of having access to a
multi-modal search facility allowing instant access a variety of
online learning resources by topic/role – and said they would use
such a service either daily or at least two to three times a week
if it was available to them.
Perhaps because they are more comfortable using such informal
learning methods, when asked which they would prefer if they had to
choose one or the other; the response was equal: 31% opted for
formal and 31% for informal learning. However, as with employees
working in other job disciplines, a clear majority (59%) would
prefer to have access to both formal and informal learning methods
through a blended learning approach.
In terms of where the responsibility lies for professional
development, 94% of IT professionals were more likely to want
control of their own learning, but currently only 35% of the
respondents had the autonomy to choose their own training, which
was only slightly higher than their non-IT colleagues (29%).
IT workers are generally happier about their working environment
and more realistic about their value as well. 69% felt that their
working environment allowed them to keep up to date with the latest
technology, which was 30% higher than the average across all
occupations. And 43% thought they were paid enough for their job
against an average of 32% of people working in other
disciplines.