AITP of Southern New England

September 1998 Meeting

Retaining IT Professionals

Speaker: Mary Silva Doctor

CIO Communications and ICEX recently completed a landmark survey into the human resource practices of IT organizations in leading companies. Omega Point Consulting participated as the research director of this study and provided the underlying analytical framework that was used to structure the survey. The 50 companies completing the survey were selected on the basis of their excellent human resource management practices.

Using the survey as a foundation, this presentation will open with a discussion of the most prevalent and effective IT HR retention practices, such as deferred compensation, salary adjustments, and contracts for individuals in key roles. The retention practices will be discussed within the context of an IT organization's overall HR strategy and process, since one of the study findings is that companies with lower turnover in the IT professional ranks use a broad range of IT HR practices. These practices span the recruiting, development, and performance management activities of the organization.

One of Omega Point Consulting's founding partners, Mary Silva Doctor works with companies in improving their information technology effectiveness. She advises CIOs and business executives on IT effectiveness issues such as IT organization design, IT strategy formulation, and works with implementation teams to create high-performing IT organizations. In addition, Mary currently leads Omega Point Consulting's research projects in IT-enabled business innovation and emerging practices in IT human resource management.