Unemployment in the Twin Cities area is so low, especially in IT, that companies are rapidly changing and expanding their hiring and workplace policies. They're developing recruitment and retention policies to reduce turnover and grappling with changes in hiring practices and cycles. Marc Gordon, CIO and senior vice president at Best Buy Co. in Minneapolis, knew that when he took the firm's top technology job more than a year ago. He arrived ready to face the recruitment and retention challenge head-on. Retention policies focus on flexibility and rewarding performance.
Flexibility is a two-way street.
So, the firm has given laptops to supervisors and introduced telecommuting, with employees making their own schedules. The firm even hires puppets and clowns for Family Fun nights. Best Buy isn't the only area company developing retention policies to support the IT professional. It also offers brown-bag lunches and tuition reimbursement, says Renee Bianchi, Carlson's IT human resources manager. All area companies, large or small, hot or not, are wrestling with recruitment issues and bending over backward to accommodate employees.