Techs Getting Happy Feet

First, bad news that will be good news for some people: 75 percent of technical employees want a different job. Some seek actively, some pine away wistfully while looking at Monster.com, but three of four wish they were elsewhere.

Bad news if you're involved in keeping your technical team together. This bit of holiday cheer comes from the 2005 U.S. Job Recovery and Retention Survey from Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM.org) and the CareerJournal portion of The Wall Street Journal.

Of course, if you're in Human Resource Management, employees flying in and out the door means job security. Whether employees come or go, HR people stay busy.

Old ideas about retention don't work well enough any more. Everyone wants more money, but money alone won't turn a crappy job magnificent. A competitive salary heads the list of good retention carrots, but following close behind are promotions, career development opportunities, and flexible work schedules. The last two options generally cost less than the first option, but old-style management doesn't always see the opportunities among the discontented workers.

My extensive research (I talked to one data services manager at my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary) contradicts the SHRM and CareerJournal survey. People at her company, a financial services arm spun off from a major retailer a few years ago, are still glad to have their job. If they're actively looking, they haven't told my friend, and she swears she's not looking to change companies, either.

Improved economies mean employee movement, so seeing people come and go means good things in the long term. But watching your critical employees disappear causes short term pain.

Timing for this announcement fits, because the holidays include "shopping" time when employees shop for new jobs. The new year is always a good time for change. Any of your crew had several dental appointments during office hours lately?

Employees who always draw the short straw and get stuck with boring jobs look for excitement by changing employers. Do your team members always do the same things? Would it cost you any money to shuffle those assignments around and cross train everyone? It may save you the cost of hiring replacements for your team who believe the CareerJournal survey and get a new job, so consider ways to provide some excitement in the assignments within your control.