career mobility
for IT professionals
career paths and training:
keys to engagement
By Douglas R. Paulo
introduction
When it comes to career mobility, you may think the only direction is up.
But contrary to what many employers believe, climbing the corporate
ladder is not the main objective for the majority of IT and technical
employees—at least, not as a near-term goal.
Recent research indicates that as an immediate career goal, workers,
globally, would rather gain a broader skill set than get promoted to a
higher level. It’s possible that by offering IT employees a roadmap for
navigating their careers at your organization, and by layering in career
development discussions, you may successfully prevent them from
leaving for other job destinations.
In today’s economy, talent—not capital—is the real basis of global
competitive advantage. Talent fuels innovation, especially in highly
technical disciplines. These talented individuals have strong opinions
about where and how they want to work. While the size of their paycheck
matters, other intangibles are important.
Fortunately, given some insight into what IT workers think about career
mobility, there are fundamental steps you can take to improve your
approach, and help your IT professionals view your organization as
a viable, ongoing career destination—at a time when the brightest IT
professionals are recruited by dozens of companies on a regular basis.
/02
IT professionals and the quest for advancement
The stakes are getting high
According to the 2014 Kelly Global Workforce Index™ (KGWI), an
annual worker opinion study that gathered responses from more
than 10,500 employees in IT this past year, many are reporting
mixed experiences with career mobility.
The advancement factor
Even happily employed workers search for better job opportunities—many on a daily
basis. This is true of about half of all IT professionals. A large percentage (84 percent) of
those who actively look for better work test the market at least twice a month. A significant
percentage of IT workers (73 percent) feel they are in a good bargaining position to
change jobs, compared to 61 percent of other professional or technical workers.
Employees want to gain new skills to get ahead of—or just stay with—the curve. In fact, as
an immediate career goal, workers would rather gain a broader skill set than get promoted
to a higher level. Upskilling is viewed as a short-term career goal by 62 percent of workers,
and a possible “golden ticket” for future career advancement opportunities. The desire to
advance to a higher level pales in comparison at just 38 percent.
/03
Here’s what IT
professionals are
reporting from recent
KGWI results:
62%
consider new
skills as an
immediate
career goal
38%
want to advance
to a higher level
take steps to improve and engage
Upskilling is progress
Your first step is to take a look at the existing training and
development resources available to your IT employees, and go
from there. Be aware that any incremental improvements you
make to your skills development programs—whether in formalized
coursework, online libraries, or mentorship—could result in
increased talent retention.
Incorporate conversations about upskilling into your employees’ progress reviews and
career objectives; include goals for development/course completion and application of
new skills into the work environment. Utilize internal team communications to recognize
employee accomplishments—this can inspire other team members to set and reach
their own goals.
/04
/05
Coming soon:
the IT talent shuffle
a closer look at career mobility
The IT talent shuffle
With 65 percent of IT professionals intending to look for a new job
in the near future, it’s clear that workers are feeling empowered
to spread their wings and explore job options. On the surface,
this would appear to be good news for hiring managers seeking
to expand their IT talent pool. But with as many IT professionals
possibly leaving your organization as are becoming available—you
could be facing a continual IT talent shuffle.
Why are they leaving?
A “lack of advancement opportunity” is the second most cited reason IT professionals
leave a company. Limited opportunities for training, development, and advancement
are factors that cause 41 percent of employees to leave their organizations or change
jobs. It seems an employer’s existing training and development programs, or lack of
development programs, play a big role in the decision to leave.
On a positive note, 38 percent of IT professionals are more likely to say they have
advancement opportunities with their current employers than counterparts in science
(28 percent) or finance (34 percent). And a greater number of IT and engineering
professionals (31 percent each) say they have clear career options where they are,
versus professionals in science (22 percent) and finance (29 percent). But this still
leaves room for improvement.
/06
offer a career roadmap
From a path to a roadmap
Many employers fail to provide the growth opportunities employees
are seeking: a clear path for development; opportunities within an
organizational framework; and the chance to advance, rather than
change jobs. By offering your employees a career roadmap, you
may keep them from leaving your firm for other job destinations.
Conduct this checklist:
• W
hich of your departments could benefit from lateral talent moves?
• C
ould these moves, in turn, help you execute better?
• H
ow are internal opportunities communicated within your team?
• W
hat is your plan to highlight opportunities for team members?
/07
Here’s what IT
professionals are
reporting, according to
recent KGWI results:
58%
rate their companies low in
career mobility
47%
perceive a lack of opportunity
for advancement with their
current employer
• W
hich team member is a prime fit for a new role that’s opening up?
31%
say they have clear career path
options available with current
employers
career development discussions
/08
Bridge building with
IT professionals
Here’s what IT
professionals are
reporting, according to
recent KGWI results:
One way that employers can boost IT employee engagement and retention is to have
a planned career development discussion. Such conversations can easily segue into
48%
pathways for advancement or skill enhancement for employees.
Yet only 38 percent of workers say they’ve discussed their career aspirations with their
had career development
conversations last year
current employers in the past year. At 48 percent, significantly more IT professionals
had career development conversations with their employers—but this leaves 52 percent
of employers of IT talent who can build worker satisfaction simply by having career
development discussions in the coming year. Which camp are you in?
60%
said the conversations lead to
acquiring new skills
IT professionals who discussed career development with their employers agreed that it
proved to be beneficial in terms of:
64+36+K
60%
The chance to
acquire new skills
47+53+K
49%
49%
Future advancement
opportunities
The opportunity bridge
Employees see these conversations as bridges to opportunities. Those who had a
career discussion within the last year say it was beneficial in terms of potential or future
advancement opportunities and acquiring new skills. The latter fares well in light of the
empowered workers’ interest in acquiring new skills—both will drive engagement.
said the conversations
were beneficial for future
advancement
/9
Build IT worker
satisfaction
through career
development
discussions
flexibility as a factor in career mobility
/10
Combine flexibility
with upskilling
Of those surveyed, 46 percent of IT professionals are interested in
non-traditional or flexible employment—such as working as a
freelance employee, temporary/contract employee, independent
contractor, or entrepreneur/business owner. And more than 76 percent
would consider a physical move for the sake of career advancement.
In fact, at least one-third would favor an increase in flexibility over compensation:
62%
would give up higher
pay for new skill sets
55%
would give up
higher pay for greater
work-life balance
40%
would give up higher pay
for schedule flexibility
Employees rely on employer-provided resources for career and skill development,
yet they feel just marginally satisfied with current options. With only 29 percent
of employees satisfied with the career development resources provided by their
employers, IT employers may consider a “fitness test” to ensure they are wellequipped to attract and retain talent.
a failure to plan…
/11
Plan to succeed
Ask yourself: What is your plan for high-effort projects postmortem? Do you track when key team members regularly put
in a 60-hour week as a result of a major project wrap-up or
catch-up? Do you offer workers time off or work-from-home
opportunities; or encourage them to attend special industry
events to refresh after burning out?
Partner up: The KGWI showed that 48 percent of IT employees used a third party to
apply for their most recent job. A workforce partner like Kelly can now offer you access
®
to this hidden pool of talent, plus:
• Flexibility to engage IT talent for contingent, direct-hire, or SOW-based project work
• The capability to quickly execute just-in-time recruitment campaigns with short notice
• Expertise in hosting effective job fairs and customized recruiting events for top IT talent
• The ability to micro-brand, and let candidates know what your specific IT group is
all about
conclusion
Communicate your
ramped-up action plan
A key to having impactful talent management and development
solutions is to ensure that the talent within the organization is
aware of what is/what will be offered in the way of development
opportunities. It’s also vital that company leaders are aware of
individual career aspirations.
Otherwise, flexible work options with skill development are key levers for ongoing
attraction, retention, and engagement of IT professionals. While employers are
accommodating their workers with opportunities for employer-provided training, there is
still a need to ramp up efforts to provide satisfactory career development resources and
devise an action plan to help employees achieve career goals.
The execution of activities recommended here can also contribute greatly to your
organization’s brand; your brand’s strength can be leveraged into increasingly better talent
acquisition results. While some actions may require an investment of time and effort,
they can yield a significant improvement in your process—resulting in your organization
retaining a more engaged and productive IT workforce.
/12
/13
Douglas Paulo is a director for the Americas Information Technology (IT) product
group, an IT staffing solutions business unit of Kelly Services, Inc., (NASDAQ:
KELYA, KELYB) a world leader in human resources solutions headquartered in Troy,
Michigan. He is responsible for solution development, product strategy, pricing,
brand messaging and positioning, as well as service development for the IT product
services portfolio.
Prior to joining Kelly Services in April 2012, Mr. Paulo spent 18 years with HP Enterprise
Services (formerly EDS), progressively advancing his management and leadership skills through
experience in ITO & BPO operations, business development, project and client management both
domestically as well as internationally. In his previous role Mr. Paulo developed an offering that
enabled clients to maximize return on customer value as well as the management of the overall
end-to-end customer experience.
Mr. Paulo received the Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP), Information Technology Infrastructure
Library (ITIL) Foundations and the Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture (ZIFA) certificates,
along with completing the Cornell University - S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management
Executive Education for Product Management. He is multilingual in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
About the Kelly Global Workforce
Index (KGWI) global report
The annual KGWI brings together work and
workplace insights sourced from more than
230,000 respondents from 31 countries across
the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions. It takes
the form of an annual survey that canvasses a
wide spectrum of opinions on issues impacting
the contemporary workplace, with a particular
focus on the perspectives from different
generations, industries, occupations and skill
sets. Topics covered include:
• C
areer development and upskilling
• W
orkplace performance
• E
mployee engagement and retention
About Kelly Services : a strategic IT supplier
Kelly Services is a leader in workforce solutions with specialization for numerous industry sectors,
combined with leadership in the placement of IT talent. We have both the expertise to meet your
full spectrum of talent needs—plus the technologies and tools to prepare your organization for
the challenges to come.
®
• S
ocial media and technology
Want more information? Visit kellyservices.us/IT today.
Source: Kelly Global Workforce Index, 2014
Kelly IT Resources® is a registered trademark of Kelly Services
An Equal Opportunity Employer. © 2014 Kelly Services, Inc. Z1053
kellyservices.us/IT
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