Question: How can we retain good IT people in the face of an improving IT job market?

Our Advice: Until recently, the post-bubble job market has been an employer's market. There were fewer IT jobs. Those out of work struggled to find employment. Job searches were difficult, and people were hesitant to leave one job for another. When a job was open, employers could offer limited benefits, work conditions, and pay levels and still easily fill the position.

Now the IT job market is beginning to turn around. More and varied positions are being created, and employers, especially those who took advantage of the employer's market of the past, should now reassess retention of their valued employees. People are beginning to have a more confident sense to look around for a better opportunity. So, how should managers look to retain their most valuable people with potential new opportunities knocking on their door? Here are several guidelines:

• First, establish a positive work environment. Lead by example, and be honest with your employees. Make them feel like they're wanted and valued as an integral part of a team that has direction. Make them understand that they're contributing and able to see that their accomplishments affect an end result. If good people are unhappy with what they see, they will look elsewhere when times get better.
• Second, show respect for your employees and their careers. Put in place sincere career-development opportunities. Don't just pay lip service to career development. Get to know what employees want. Offer employees a chance to undertake new technology training, college education, or certification training paid for by the firm. Offer your top performers a chance to be on choice, high-profile projects, where good people can be "noticed" and maybe promoted. Don't micromanage people.
• Third, offer employees the ability to "play" with new technologies, perhaps as part of a project implementing such technology. Again, the idea is to convey to the employee that you, the manager and the firm, value them and want them to expand their technical knowledge and understanding.
• Fourth, examine your current pay structure and be sure you're paying the prevailing rate or slightly above for all positions. No one likes to feel they're being robbed. If you hire people by low-balling their salaries, they'll look elsewhere when the market improves. Remember, employees can research salary levels, too.
• Fifth, have you considered flextime for your employees? Allowing employees to work a flexible schedule could provide a better balance between work and family life, and aid in overall employee work satisfaction. Another area worth exploring is offering telecommuting for positions that can accommodate it.
• Finally, be creative in the work environment. Make the workplace unique and interesting to be in. For example, offer free sodas and snacks, nap rooms, or an air hockey or pool table for breaks. Do things to contribute to employees wanting to be at work.

With the marketplace improving for job seekers, managers must remember that employee satisfaction is essential to employee retention. In the long run, it costs very little to do things to retain a good employee, but it can cost greatly to replace a good employee.

--Stephen Rood