In an industry where most IT workers and companies are still waiting for the promised upswing, do companies still have to go out of their way to attract, and keep, the best staff?To kick-off its search for Australia's best IT employer, ZDNet Australia has been looking for ways to turn a good IT work environment into a great IT work environment.
According to Bob Olivier, director of e-recruitment advisors Olivier Recruitment, human resource departments are becoming increasingly aware of the need to improve workplace environments, despite the ongoing downturn in the tech sector.
-Greater initiatives are being taken," Olivier said. -Word spreads in an industry like IT, and employer branding is going to become an increasingly important point of differentiation between companies competing for staff."
While the economic situation has lead to less employee mobility generally, Olivier points out that it remains in the company's interests to maintain a strong reputation as a good employer.
-Some organisations sell themselves really well," Olivier said. -You have to ask the right questions in the interview, maybe even ask to meet with some of the people you will be working with, and make your own enquiries amongst people you know who have worked for the organisation."
Although organisations are often capable of creating a positive reputation in the market place, Olivier believes there are some tell tale signs that it is perhaps not all it is cracked up to be.
-The irony is that it is sufficient to create a reputation, which is not necessarily back up by fact," Olivier said. -Things like staff turnover are good indicators of what is really going on within the company but it is not something you can necessarily ask about in an interview."
And while the IT industry has a reputation for high-priced professionals lured into new roles by the smell of cold hard cash, Olivier says the work environment has more to do keeping them there than finding them in the first place.
Just three and a half years since its inception, Sydney-based software development company Presence of IT has grown from a staff of three to around forty employees, and has managed to avoid the high churn rates common to the IT industry.
David Brookes, Presence of IT's practice manager, believes it is important to continually challenge management practices, whilst maintaining some of the fundamentals.
-Things like reward recognition, which recognises the employee's participation in the successes of their team, or those of the whole company are always important," Brookes said. -At the end of the day every individual should understand how they contribute to the bottom line."
Brookes said the company has also purposefully steered away from employing contractors in order to build a stable in-house knowledge base. He describes the Presence of IT management approach as one based on high levels of trust and recognition of people's responsibilities within the company. And while he does not deny that money plays a role, he believes other factors are equally important.
-Salary is important but it is more important to offer a commercial salary rather than an excessive salary," Brookes said. -An incentive-based salary is also important so that all employees can share the success of the company."
Who are Australia's best IT employers?
ZDNet Australia wants your help to identify the country's best employers of IT talent.
If you work for or know of a company that goes the extra yard to ensure its tech employees are appreciated and rewarded, we'd like to hear from you.
Simply email your nomination for Australia's best IT employer to nominations@zdnet.com.au , along with a few lines giving your reasons why the company should make our list.
The organisation you nominate doesn't have to be a player in the IT industry. It can operate in any sector, including retail, finance, entertainment, government - just as long as it appreciates and fosters good tech talent.
Once we have collated the nominations, we will survey the staff from the top ten most-nominated companies. The results of these surveys will determine the ranking of Australia's top ten employers of tech talent.
So get moving now and send your votes to nominations@zdnet.com.au. Nominations close August 12, 2002.
The information you provide is for ZDNet Australia's research purposes only and will not be forwarded to any third parties. Individual names will be kept confidential.
ZDNet Australia's Best Tech Employer Award is supported by the Australian Computer Society.
