Keeping Good IT People Is Becoming Part of the Job

One responsibility that seems to be growing for IT directors is keeping good people engaged.

Retention has always involved both HR and IT leadership, but the operational demands of running an IT department can make it increasingly difficult to invest in the people doing the work.

Finding skilled people can be difficult enough.

Replacing them once they've left can be even harder.

The impact isn't limited to recruitment costs or the time it takes to fill a vacancy.

Every experienced member of an IT team carries knowledge that doesn't appear in documentation.

They understand the history behind certain decisions. They know which systems require special attention. They remember previous incidents, supplier issues and lessons learned from projects that happened years ago.

When somebody leaves, that knowledge leaves with them.

You may have experienced this at some point.

A key team member moves on and suddenly a project slows down, a support issue takes longer to resolve or a system nobody has thought about for months becomes far more important than anyone realized.

That's one reason retention is closely connected to operational performance.

When operational demands push development aside

People leave organizations for many reasons, but an accumulation of small frustrations can contribute to the decision.

• Projects keep being delayed because operational work takes priority.
• Training budgets become difficult to justify.
• The same people end up carrying responsibility for the most demanding work.
• Opportunities to learn new skills get pushed back because there isn't enough time available.

IT directors may genuinely want to invest more in their teams but find themselves trapped by competing priorities.

A major infrastructure project arrives.

A security initiative needs attention.

The service desk becomes busier than expected.

Development plans get postponed because operational demands feel more urgent.

The difficult part is that these decisions are usually reasonable.

The immediate business need takes priority.

Yet repeatedly delaying development, mentoring or project involvement can have a cumulative effect on the experience of the team.

The challenge for smaller IT departments

This becomes particularly noticeable in smaller IT departments.

When capacity is limited, there are fewer opportunities to rotate responsibilities, involve people in strategic work or create space for professional development.

Talented individuals can spend large portions of their time responding to operational demands rather than expanding their skills or contributing to longer-term initiatives.

It's simply what can happen when workloads continue increasing while team capacity remains unchanged.

Make room for what's next.

Your IT team's responsibilities are evolving, but the day-to-day work isn't going away.

Our guide, The Next 3 Years of Internal IT: What's Changing and What Isn't, explores what's ahead and how additional capacity can create more room for strategic work.

Get your free guide

Creating room for professional development

Retention can benefit when people can see opportunities for progress.

That doesn't necessarily mean promotions or new job titles.

It might mean involvement in an interesting project or exposure to a new technology. Greater responsibility in an area they care about or time to improve a process that's been frustrating them for months.

Those opportunities require capacity.

Without capacity, operational work fills every available space.

It's one reason IT directors are looking at co-managed support.

They're trying to create enough breathing room for their existing team to focus on higher-value work, participate in projects and continue developing professionally.

The immediate benefit may be additional operational support.

The longer-term opportunity is creating more space for your team to develop and contribute to strategic work.

Is day-to-day IT keeping your team from moving forward?

If operational demands are making it difficult to invest in your people and move important projects forward, let's talk about where additional support could make a difference.

I'd be happy to spend 15 minutes discussing your team's priorities and where co-managed support might help create more capacity without giving up control of your IT environment.

Schedule a 15-minute IT capacity conversation with Adam

Prefer to call? 912.634.1691