Are you finding that this newsletter doesn’t arrive every month? We get a lot of ‘bounces’ after each transmission, some due to accounts which are now invalid (and which we delete from our mailing list), some because of full mail boxes, and some because of server time-outs. Do you know if our newsletter is being rejected as unsolicited mail?
I would like to achieve near 100% delivery. So if you do not receive this newsletter regularly, please click on reply to let me know this, giving a reason you suspect is the problem, if possible. Many thanks for your help with this.
Loyalty – to Career or Employer First?
Over the years, I have often heard the lament from employers that I.T. people have no loyalty to their jobs. They get trained at the company’s expense and then move on to better paying jobs within two years or so. It is costly to replace them and disruptive to the company to lose their system knowledge and expertise.
Are I.T. people being disloyal to their employers or are they simply progressing their careers? Consider what Shelly-Anne has to say:
“Anyone, with skills that are more than three (3) years old , i.e. unused for the past 3 years, has some big problems if they are looking for a new job. Most businesses want the new skills, not necessarily because that’s where they are at technologically, but because that’s where the IT industry says they should be.
So, keep those skills up-to-date, take a new course here and there (not at your employer’s expense though or you will be stuck there until you pay it off via actual money or time)…. and don’t forget to keep your resume updated.”
In other words, if I.T. professionals don’t keep their skills and experience up-to-date, then they risk becoming unemployable. This is because employers are demanding these skills from recruits, whether or not they are really needed for the job. Employers prefer not to train recruits in these skills because they could lose the investment should they leave in a couple of years.
Therefore, employees have to keep shifting jobs in order to get the skills to get those jobs in the first place. This is a ‘chicken and egg’ situation – which comes first, the employers’ demands or the employees’ need to be marketable?
I have found that those companies who retain I.T. staff are generally those that invest in them by giving them training, experience in interesting work and the opportunity to learn new technology from time to time. In this way, their need to be marketable is being satisfied without them having to leave their job. They just want to feel that they have the freedom to leave if they decide to for some personal reason, but otherwise they will stay put.
Another thing I have noticed is that I.T. people will shy away from those companies that impose very strict conditions on training, such as having to pay back the full cost if they leave within 3 years. Again, there’s a psychological fear of being trapped in a company for so long, when in practice, the person may happily stay there for many years.
When employees have to invest heavily in their own training, then they feel obliged to look for a better paying job to justify this cost. Perhaps employers should consider training/education as an investment and not a cost. They should also consider the fact that they often hire people who have been trained/educated by other employers or the recruits themselves, so they get this benefit for free! It all evens out in the end.
My conclusion is that I.T. people are loyal to their careers first and they will be loyal to an employer who caters for this fact. It comes down to satisfying the employees’ need to have the freedom to leave if they want to. It’s up to employers to find ways to make the employees want to stay. But that’s another topic altogether.
Tell Us What You Think
We would love to hear what you think of this issue of CRS News. And of course, if you have any suggestions for upcoming issues that you would like to share with us, please send those too.