We've spent a lot of money in the past two to three years on employee development. We also encourage our people to speak their minds. My staff is very active in our long-range plans. But for IT employees on the fast-track, long range plans are short by comparison and getting shorter. Now someone doing web pages for three years is an expert and is compensated as such.
Competitive salaries are critical for retaining staff, but IT employees want more.
The market is so compelling that you have to make a commitment to the staff that you'll train them and keep giving them projects to work on. If you don't they'll go where they can have this. For firms that aren't able to attract the help, outsourcing some or all of the IT capabilities is an alternative. Parsons Corp., Pasadena, Calif., totally revamped its IT department last year, says Daniel Kelly, the firm's chief technology officer. From CIO John Thomas on down, the approximately 200-member group are employees of Perot.