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Creating Opportunities for Your IT Team

In today’s business context, where most—if not all—critical functions are mediated by technology, it’s not an exaggeration to say that your IT team literally keeps your business running. As we grapple with the ongoing trend of increased turnover across industries and job types, the unfortunate reality is that the chances of losing some of your top IT talent are high. The financial costs of turnover are staggering; a conservative estimate is that the costs associated with losing and replacing a single worker come to about 33% of the employee’s salary1. Losing key members of your IT team, however, can have far-reaching consequences that extend beyond the financial costs. Turnover within the IT department can be unsettling to remaining team members, resulting in increased workloads, fatigue, and mistakes. This type of disruption can ultimately create ripple effects across all departments, reducing organizational productivity and performance. Clearly, holding onto your top tech professionals is an urgent business priority.

Predictors of Turnover for IT Employees

Stemming turnover of your IT talent requires a solid appreciation of its root causes:
  • Stress due to excessive demands: Work overload can cause IT employees to feel lower levels of commitment to their organizations, which increases the chances that they’ll submit their resignations2. Many IT professionals—especially in smaller businesses—are a “one-stop shop” for any and all technology-related processes and administrative tasks.On any given day, this may include maintaining technology infrastructure, managing updates, and troubleshooting technology issues. Compounding IT workers’ stress levels are the after-hours tech support calls that can adversely impact their work-life balance. These conditions set the stage for burnout, which is a common cause of turnover.
  • Lack of opportunity for growth: One of the most important factors IT professionals seek in a job is the opportunity for stretch goals—those that challenge them to develop their skills and abilities in new ways3. Many IT employees may have valuable strategic insights into ways to better utilize technologies to achieve business goals. IT staff who are run ragged managing service calls and administrative tasks all day, however, may be deprived of the chance to apply their technological acumen more strategically. If this is the case, they may look elsewhere for better opportunities.

Supporting Your IT Team Via a Managed Services Provider

Working with a managed services provider (MSP) can be a great way of addressing predictors of turnover in your IT team. Partnering with an MSP reduces demands on in-house IT staff, making their workloads more manageable and decreasing the likelihood of burnout. The nature of MSP support can vary depending upon an organization’s needs and priorities:

  • Help desk support from an MSP provides employees with guidance and instruction to resolve a variety of IT issues that arise during the workday.
  • On-site technical support from an MSP provides a dedicated engineer to help with troubleshooting and planning when an in-person presence is important.
  • Full MSP support involves system monitoring and technical support on both a remote and on-site basis.

Freeing up IT professionals’ time gives them the opportunity to grow and expand, ideally into more strategic roles. A robust IT strategy that aligns with the overall business strategy is essential to maximizing your organization’s performance.

Creating opportunities for IT employees to contribute to strategy not only creates a stimulating environment where they can thrive, but it also furthers the company’s capacities for attaining its overall business goals. This is the definition of win-win.

As technology occupies an increasingly pervasive role in the business realm, leading thinkers suggest that all businesses are now essentially technology businesses4. Recognizing this fact, we must acknowledge that our IT employees are no longer solely technicians who help us get through the tactical elements of our days. IT professionals now represent an essential voice in strategic planning conversations.

Partnering with an MSP such as NexusTek can ensure that you stay on top of day-to-day IT needs, while also giving your in-house IT staff the opportunity to contribute in strategic ways to your business.

Would you like to learn more about using MSP services to create opportunities for your IT team?

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References:

  1. Avogino, T. (2019, February 23). To have and to hold. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/all-things-work/pages/to-have-and-to-hold.aspx
  2. Harden, G., Boakye, K. G., & Ryan, S. (2018). Turnover intention of technology professionals: A social exchange theory perspective. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 58(4), 291-300. https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2016.1236356
  3. (2021, June 23). New research finds that stress and burnout are the main reasons more than half of leaders plan to leave their jobs in the next year. https://www.qualtrics.com/blog/labor-shortage-study/
  4. Rakesh, N. (2018, December 7). Every business is a technology business—some just don’t know it. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/12/07/every-business-is-a-technology-business-some-just-dont-know-it/?sh=566e6677360e

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