Staff turnover – How to keep geeks?
Posted by Felix Enescu on October 23rd, 2006
Usual staff turnover for white-collar workers is around 3%. In Romania for IT professionals (geeks 
) is much higher. I just reviewed figures for my team (120 people): 0,18% for the last 12 months. Not bad, isn’t it?
What makes geeks tick? Are geeks different? Do we need special skills to manage geeks?
I always said that a good people manager can manage any team: geeks or not.
Take a look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (quote from Wikipedia):
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is often depicted as a pyramid consisting of five levels: the four lower levels are grouped together as deficiency needs associated with physiological needs, while the top level is termed growth needs associated with psychological needs. While our deficiency needs must be met, our being needs are continually shaping our behavior. The basic concept is that the higher needs in this hierarchy only come into focus once all the needs that are lower down in the pyramid are mainly or entirely satisfied. Growth forces create upward movement in the hierarchy, whereas regressive forces push prepotent needs further down the hierarchy.
Read Linus book “Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary“:
There are three things that have meaning for life. They are the motivational factors for everything in your life – for anything that you or any living thing does: The first is survival, the second is social order, and the third is entertainment. Everything in life progresses in that order.
The higher the abstract level of a job the higher is the importance of the upper level motivational factors. Geeks happen to work at a very abstract level: computers and anything around them are highly abstract.
After basic work needs (reasonable salary and job security) are fulfilled, geeks place an inordinate amount of importance to other factors: environment, colleagues, management style, type of work, and many other factors.
If you work a lot on other factors can obtain significant savings in his payroll budget: within the right environment you can pay below the market and still enjoy very low turnover.
Do you think this is achievable?
October 23rd, 2006 at 10:09 am
… “The basic concept is that higher needs come later after lower down needs are satisfied”, is contra-balanced by the being needs which make the creative peoples “to make the most of their unique abilities and to strive to be the best they can be”. … http://blog.360.yahoo.com/onofreiciuc?p=340
November 4th, 2006 at 10:08 pm
I completely go for applying Maslov’s theory like this. Also for “turning” the pyramid upside-down for IT professionals, especially in Romania (very good point, Felix!).
The decisive factors are interesting to be found out: does age, social and economic environment contribute to this? And to what extent?
I have seen a clear tendency to follow Maslov’s original theory (the order of the levels to be respected) in older staff, staff that just got married or having kids. Less in younger staff (newly grads) or geeks “by the book” (isn’t the “not well dressed” geek with high creativity and an innovative way of thinking all too common?).
I personally expect the coming years to force a change in the way IT staff retention is being done in Romania. And as for the 20%, I would say it is clearly achievable.
November 5th, 2006 at 12:34 am
I think you are right.
Companies, facing the shortage of resources, will pay attention to staff retention.
June 20th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
I was leaving couple of weeks later after this post.
And I am somwhere in the middle of a longer queue.
Cheers
June 20th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Eugen & Mircea, long time no see!
Welcome!
Numbers depends also on methodology. We can talk if you want.
June 21st, 2007 at 9:47 am
We could arrange something, and maybe involve more people. Something informal…
June 21st, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Anytime! I am available.