Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and
Retention in a Changing Landscape
Carol McDonald
Iowa State University
Information Technology Services
[email protected]
Copyright Carol McDonald 2008. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material
to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Recruiting and Retention Topics
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Current landscape
Developing the landscape
Future landscape
Wrap up and questions
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Declining interest in IT
Source: http://www.cra.org/wp/index.php?p=139
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Fewer undergraduates
Source: http://www.cra.org/wp/index.php?p=139
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Fewer degrees granted
Source: http://www.cra.org/wp/index.php?p=139
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
IT enrollment at ISU
Source: www.public.iastate.edu/~registrar/stats/
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Current landscape – retiring boomers
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that 43
percent of the U.S. labor force will become
eligible to retire before 2012
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be
nearly 1 million more IT jobs in 2014 than exist
today
• Impact of “gray drain” on IT – institutional
knowledge, business integration skills, broad
skill sets including knowledge of older
technologies
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Current landscape – hot and not
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IT need is pervasive
The dot-com bust hurt us all
IT security, gaming, & network management are hot
Software development, particularly administrative
application support and development, are not
• Long hours and 24x7 responsibilities are out
• Work/life balance along with compensation are in
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Current landscape – ISU challenges
• University policies and procedure can make it
difficult to compete
• Compensation is always an issue, especially as
student debt rises
• Pull from the Des Moines metro market
• There is a regional exodus of young professionals
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Current landscape – regional issues
• Generation Iowa Commission
• Iowa is a top 10 importer of college students but
struggles to retain college graduates
• Iowa’s relative low cost-of-living is offset by
lagging wages and high student loan debt
• Iowa lacks after hours entertainment alternatives
Source: www.iowalifechanging.org/generation
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Current landscape – reality check
• Recruiting and retention must be a priority
project for IT
• Recruiting and retention is a continuous cycle
Recruit
Retain
Evaluate
Hire
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Developing the landscape – in Iowa
Generation Iowa outcomes
• Bridge gap between wages and student debt
• Improve state image through effective marketing
• Generation Iowa – best practices manual
Source: www.iowalifechanging.org/generation
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Prepare the groundwork
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Consider internships and mentorships
Focus on total compensation
Create career advancement opportunities
Identify future needs
Create a recruitment strategy
Source: www.iowalifechanging.org/generation
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Accentuate the positive – at ISU
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Greater good vs. bottom line
Culture and beauty of the campus
Encourage full compensation comparison
Working with HR – HR liaison group, LEAN
projects, classification/compensation review
• Academic units are also changing – Software
Engineering, Bioinformatics and Computational
Biology
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Change Recruiting Strategies
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Build your brand
Advertising – on-line vs. paper
Career fairs – even if we don’t have openings
Student employment and internships
Networking and outreach – find a way to reach
the passive candidates
• Explore new options – Open houses, pizza
night, MySpace, YouTube
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Define your dream hire
• Strong analysis skills, understands the business process
and needs, understands the needs of the user community
• Strong technical skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Recognizes that change is part of the game - past success
only breeds the desire and demand for more innovation
• Collaborates - listens to the ideas, challenges the solution,
often suggests and delivers a better solution
• Is part of the team with the ability to lead vs. follow
• Is proactive - makes the first move
• Participates, contributes, anticipates
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Steps for evaluating, interviewing, hiring
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Evaluate core skills and look for potential
Seek contrary evidence but don’t cross examine
Make a good impression, sell the organization
Remember that you’re also being interviewed
Help improve the process – work with HR
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Sustaining success – first impressions
• Create an environment in which people feel
valued, wanted, needed, and appreciated
• The first day of work matters
• New employee orientation and training
• Peer adviser
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Sustaining success – staff development
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Role of the manager
Identification of career goals
Technical skills – many choices
Soft skills – communication, collaboration, time
management
• Project management
• Leadership development
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Sustaining success - retention
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Career advancement opportunities
Collaborative projects
Tuition reimbursement
Flexible work hours
Wellness programs
Big food Friday’s
Cookies and technology seminars
Recognition and celebrations
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Future Landscape
• Our day-to-day actions determine the
sustainability of our organization
• Engagement
• Outreach
• Evaluate effectiveness and adjust
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Keys to success
• IT is an essential resource
• People are essential to the success of every IT
organization
• Recruiting and retention is every bit as important
as keeping systems up and running
• We must begin today to build our sustainable
future
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Sustainable Futures – Recruiting and Retention in a Changing Landscape
EDUCAUSE Midwest Regional 2008
Discussion and Questions
• What are your recruiting and retention
challenges?
• Do you have a recipe for success you’d like to
share with the group?
• Questions?
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