Don’t Burn Out Your IT Stars on consultis.com

Don’t Burn Out Your IT Stars

How to keep your IT staff at their best.

“Loss of drive, determination, and enjoyment.” Those are the retiring words of one of the greatest running backs the NFL has ever seen, Barry Sanders – in the prime of his career, no less.

Regardless of how amazing our jobs are, we’re all vulnerable to burnout. Considering the long hours often required of the IT workforce, if you’re in tech, it’s smart to get out ahead of the burn.

5 ways to keep your IT stars bright and shiny

Fortunately, keeping your tech crew full of gumption isn’t as tricky as it might seem. Here are five ideas to keep your IT employees motivated and in-love with their job.

  1. Annual reports. Sounds terrible, right? Hear us out – this isn’t a report on the employee. Rather, it’s a report on what their department achieved that year, including photos of the IT staff, so they garner recognition for their hard work throughout the company.  Knowing their appreciated can help make those long hours more inviting and less stressful.
  2. Encourage vacation time. According to a 2017 study conducted by CareerBuilder.com, 33% of those surveyed were skipping vacations entirely this year, and 1 in 5 had unused vacation days from 2016. Vacations recharge, and can even be creative endeavors – stepping away from a persistent problem often reveals the solution. The busy schedule of most IT pros can make vacation time seem like an impossibility: it can also lead to burnout. Remember, vacation time is as much about performance as it is fun, so making sure your IT crew knows it’s okay to take time off.
  3. Lighten up. Of course their work’s important, and you want them to take it seriously, but being so darn serious all the time, well, frankly, simply isn’t the nature of most healthy human beings.  Laughter is a stress reliever; plus, unwinding together at a department lunch, or on-going office dart tournament, gives your staff a chance to bond. Again, fun can be productive, in more ways than one!
  4. Public recognition. Sometimes IT staff can feel isolated. Showcasing the accomplishments of their work either on your website, through a social media, or a company newsletter can help remind your team how much their work matters to the company.
  5. Understand their professional goals. When IT talent knows you respect their career agenda, the alliance aspect of your relationship grows. Whether it be through an annual meeting, or personal lunch with their supervisors, deepening your professional relationship helps reinforce the fact that they’re working for themselves as much as they are you, which in turn, can provide a nourishing flow of gumption.

Consult with IT ambassadors

In today’s IT talent drought, keeping your IT crew happy has never been more important. After 33 years of recruiting in the tech world, the recruiters at Consultis understand the special interests of the IT workforce. For more information on attracting an amazing IT team, and keeping them, contact one of our IT recruiting experts today.