It’s always helpful to get along with your boss, particularly in the world of IT departments, but many of those relationships need work, a survey by Web-based IT employment specialist Dice indicates. The company found when it comes to developing talent, IT managers are falling short of the mark, however: The survey found a majority of IT professionals judge their current managers as graders (61 percent) versus teachers (26 percent). Eight in 10 tech professionals say their boss plays an important role in the decision to stay or leave their current firm, the survey found.
“There will always be a need for some grading, but the emphasis should be on teaching. Tech professionals do their best work when it’s a safe environment to try new solutions, explore alternatives and fail. Over time, wisdom gained equals fewer mistakes, cutting quickly to the best solution and increasing production,” Dice’s North American senior vice president Tom Silver wrote in the corresponding report.
Silver wrote that managers should demonstrate to tech employees that they are valuable to the organization and worth the investment. While turnover among businesses remains high, it is below average for 41-straight months, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nearly 60 percent of the 346 tech professionals in the survey said their relationship with their boss was a very important factor in staying or leaving the firm, while 23 percent said it was a somewhat important factor. Just six percent said it wasn’t a factor at all.
“Today, if companies are losing talent quickly – it may be your managers, not the market. Frankly, companies haven’t felt the repercussions of subpar workplaces in the last three years,” Silver concluded. “But, the gap between the importance of the employee-manager relationship and the way it’s developing is unacceptable. Both sides need to remember this is a lasting connection and one worth the effort.”
As part of the company’s monthly report, Dice also included IT employment statistics based on its listings, finding 84,911 available tech jobs as of May 1. Full-time positions constituted 51,614 of the listings, while there were 36,387 contract positions and 1,679 part-time positions. The New York/New Jersey area held the top spot for Dice’s Metro Areas report with 9,005 positions listed, an uptick of 1 percent compared with the same period last year. The Washington DC/Baltimore metro area placed second, boasting a 10 percent rise in listings from the same period last year for a total of 8,063 listed positions. Silicon Valley (5,620 positions and a 21 percent rise in listings), Chicago (3,731 positions and a 10 percent rise) and Boston (3,290 positions and a 15 percent rise) rounded out the top five.
The report noted a single job posting may reflect more than one skill, location or type of position and therefore, total figures for these attributes may be greater than total jobs posted.
To read the original eWeek article, click here: IT Managers’ Relationship With Staff of High Importance: Dice