Staffing challenges in the IT department can cause problems across the office. Despite being part of the back-office, staff that isn’t interacting directly with clients and customers, IT staff manages emergencies both major and minor on daily basis. There’s simply no IT department where IT staff sit around waiting for something to do.
Here are a few common IT staffing challenges and options for solutions:
IT Staff Departures
IT employees tend to have incredibly specialized knowledge, not only about technology and systems, but about the particular technology and systems that your office uses. Replacing an IT staff member can require a long training period and a slow catch up as problems which are particular to your office are re-learned and re-solved.
In order to avoid losing IT staff, it’s best to ensure that they remain engaged and don’t feel overwhelmed or undervalued. Plan to show appreciation on a schedule and pay attention to workload.
Workload Management
Far from the lazy and bored staff member, IT departments are often under staffed and over worked. This can cause both frustration and disengagement from IT staff that feel they can never get on top of their workload.
IT staff should be given opportunities to voice concerns about workloads and the solutions that they feel would make a difference. Because of the specialized environment they work in, IT staff will probably have suggestions for how to change things to be more efficient which management wouldn’t have thought of. Make time to listen and implement changes and improvements which are suggested.
Skills and Training
Because the nature of IT is to innovate and change constantly, it can be hard for busy IT employees to keep up-to-date with training and technological improvements. You don’t want your firm to be at a disadvantage and you want to ensure that your employees have the time and opportunity to stay on top of changes.
IT associations can be a resource for great courses and seminars as well as a way to help fund additional training. Training opportunities not only help your company to stay at the cutting edge of current technology, they also serve as a great engagement opportunity for staff members. IT staff that is given the chance to grow and learn will see that their employer values them and is willing to invest in their future at the company.
