But Moody's office just doesn't have the time. As far as creating retention programs and conducting studies, she thinks it would have to come from top executives at the company because IT recruiters, at least at US West, are far too busy. This is where Mitchell comes in. Through her consultation and speaking engagements, she said that she hopes to motivate IT recruiters to come up with retention ideas and go to their HR directors or IT project leaders who they may be recruiting for. If a proposal is carefully and intelligently worded regarding cost per hire, turnover and a program to save the company lots of money, Mitchell said others will often stand up and listen.
Recruiters have to be able to speak knowledgeably about the costs of losing an IT employee.
The costs beyond the financial are staggering. There is a ripple effect down the line. The director will then, whether in a meeting with staff or in communication directly with superiors, bring up the issue. But Mitchell said the key is to talk numbers. This article was reprinted with permission from IT Recruiter , a monthly newsletter that contains benchmarks and strategies for hiring, compensating and retaining information technology professionals.