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Organizational Practices of an IT Department?
fbg111 asks: "I've recently joined a company, a regional airline, with an IT department that has grown organically (ie in response to immediate, rapid-growth-driven need, rather than according to any organizational plan). In the past five years the company has come to rely on IT, specifically the web team, for about 3/4's of its revenue. However, this unstructured growth has caused some problems, like this one: the lack of defined career paths and clear promotion 'triggers' makes techs feel 'stuck' in dead-end situations, and we tend to lose good people who find more transparent advancement opportunities elsewhere. I've recently joined the new CIO's task force for putting together a plan that addresses the immediate problem of defining career advancement paths and payscales. Does Slashdot have any ideas on this subject?"
"I'm particularly interested in industry best practices that cover providing breadth and depth of experience and training, dual (or more) career tracks that allow techs to go the management route or the technical guru route, and aligning promotion triggers and career paths with IT department & corporate goals, and anything else relevant to the matter. Do any of you have anything in particular to recommend?"
Unionize! That always fixes things.
This ilk of article is a tired saw, but its frequent appearance here at slashdot may be a sign of the times, i.e., the problem may be getting worse (I doubt it's getting better).
The bottom line is you, as an individual, fend for yourself first and foremost. If IT is messed up, management doesn't seem to care, or know how to do their job(s) that's not something you can fix. Decide what you want and need, weigh those criteria against what you experience in your job and management. If it's bad, it's unlikely to improve (much).
You, as an employee, owe the company little other than doing the work expected of you. (I used to be much more gung ho pro-company... but that's another and long story.) Businesses today don't view employees as valuable resources, nor do they care what upheaval they toss employees' ways. If you want something from your job and they say okay, get it in writing. Be suspicious. Be paranoia. The next visit to your desk from your manager may be a stroll to the front door.
Most companies aren't interested in grooming, triggers, etc., they're interested in their bottom line. Unfortunately they don't (typically) associate healthy career paths and directions with business performance. That you've been "tasked" (hate that word) by joining the CIOs task force is scant evidence of addressing the problem (I know, people will ask "what else do you expect them to do?"). But a company that doesn't "get it" isn't going to "get it" by organizing some CIO appointed task force.
As I mentioned, I used to have more faith in business and companies. Under the auspices of cutting costs, improving the bottom line, "right-sizing", (and very little mention of better customer service), articles are popping up almost every day about companies "making adjustments", but if you read a bit closer and between some of the lines, there are a whole lot of bent-over employees being victimized in these scenarios.
I'd be inclined to be more sympathetic and say "business is business" and companies have to make hard decisions, but when a recent article showed the average ratio of pay for CEOs compared to their employees increased to 431 times (did you hear that?, 431 times!) the pay of their employees it started to feel wrong (actually it'd started to feel wrong quite a while ago). When CEOs are getting this disproportianately higher compensation than their employees, I expect better performance numbers from businesses. I haven't seen that. Aside: Heads up, since you've joined an airline... make sure you keep the jackscrews lubed!)
Talk directly with each and every member of the IT staff, first as a group and then in private. Find out what they want. Find out what they expect. Collect all the data you can directly from them. Then discuss your findings with the CIO.
After you come up with a preliminary plan, again, discuss it with the staff. Get their input. Don't just come up with a plan and then implement it. Use all the feedback you can get, so that you create something that benefits everyone (potentially).
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
There are plenty of compensation programs in the industry to copy. Find one that looks the most like your organization and copy it. Change whatever areas you feel don't suit your particular organization (how promotions are handled, vesting, etc.). Get a good HR professional in the discussion to avoid opening up a can of whoopass on your company by how you handle benefits.
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
Well how to feel like you not in a dead end job.
If you do good work you get better pay, also the longer you work the better you should get paid. This way we keep the most salt of the earth of the workers, if they can get better pay elsewhere then they will go there.
Titles and advantages to the titles. If the person doesn't want to go into management positions they still should get titles that represent their status. Sr. Programmer or whatever. Besides just giving the name there should be some benefits of earning the title, other then pay, they should have higher priority on what projects they want to do, depending on their status. If they have 10 years of experience and have done a good job for you in the past they should get earlier pick on the more fun jobs and leave the more mundane to the less experience people who need experience (But depending on the person you may be surprised what jobs are quickly taken up early)
Say in policy as people advance they say in company IT policy should have more weight.
Job Security, the higher position the more secure you job should be from layoffs.
Improved Benefits, Like allowing to work at home during normal hours, Flex Hours, More vacation time. With ¾ of the business they should also get some commission on their work.
Constant training, allow them if they choose to keep their skills up with modern technology, that way you are not stuck with software on a dead platform with a near dead language and IT staff who is afraid of changing because they don't have training on newer tech.
The main trick is to figure out what do you want in a job and break it into priorities and the higher you are the more you get.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
I hate to sound mercenary, but if you want your employees to feel valued and appreciated, say it with money. Other gestures can be very nice, but in the end most people come to realize that money is the only metric by which businesses measure value. If the IT department is as important to the revenue of the company as you say it is (which I find a little hard to believe, but let's assume you're right..) then the employees should share in the company's success.
Indeed, it sounds like the problem may be more a case of there just not being anywhere for the staff to advance to. It would be pointless, and probably more problematic than beneficial, to artificially create managerial positions just to make the staff feel better.
Rather than waste money on useless managerial positions, give each staff member a raise. They'll get the financial benefits of having a higher position within the firm, while at the same time keeping a structure that is currently fairly functional, and without the overhead of excessive management.
Cyric Zndovzny at your service.
And then there's the oral sex.
*shudder*
We think there's some sort of hierarchy with an advancement/promotion plan involving a Lovecraftian quagmire of Thunderdomes and quatloos, but scientific instrumentality can only accomplish so much.
Take it with whatever size grain of salt you want, but it is interesting food for thought for those in your position.
I interviewed for a position in the web team of a regional airline that gets 75% of its revenue from the web, has grown organically, and where their guys feel 'stuck'. You don't happen to work for Jet Blue, do you?
When they didn't call me back for a second interview (I had almost no IIS experience) I was somewhat relieved. The biggest reason was that I knew it would be a rough few years working for them while they worked out their issues. Their problem (which sounds suspiciously like your problem) is not just that you don't have a clearly defined organizational plan, but that you let the business drive the department. With three-fourths of your revenue coming out of the web site, *everyone* watches the daily and even hourly sales numbers. When there's glitches in the system, *everyone* from the sales guys to the CEO knows about it and *your* butt is on the line. Structure a business plan for the IT group. Lay out simple and clear lines of responsibilty, disaster mitigation plans, and (to get to the heart of your question) career paths. Make sure that all layers of managment understand that IT can be subject to forces outside of its control (network/power outages and acts of God anywhere in the world affect everyone else). Have set goals for each employee and set rewards for meeting them. Yearly bonuses, raises, and other perks will go a long way to the retention you seek.
I know it isn't the specific advice you were looking for, but you're not going to find that kind of answer on Slashdot. You know your business better than us. You know your IT needs, and only you can fix it. Start with the basics (career paths, goals/rewards, clear lines of responsibility) and the rest will fall into place. Good luck!
ASCII tastes bad dude.
Binary it is then.
The first thing is to definite what jobs you have there. Web designer vs network engineer vs help desk level 2 or whatever you have. List out their responsibilities and required skills. Do this like HR, but make it seem important, don't over do it It's important to define the role as best you can and identify if the job that person is either completely unique or can be taken over by someone else. For example, if you have one DBA who manages the database for your system, and no one else really has his responsibilities or his skills then that's a specific job. If some guy is responsible for keeping an eye the email server but 5 other guys could do it, then his role is more broad, that of a generic IT tech.
Once you have a definition of their jobs, then create levels. Four levels is typical. Each position has levels for which for which the level gets both more responsibilities and more pay. First level is entry level. Second level is "certified" in that they've proven themselves over months or even up to a year as being good employee. 3rd level is senior in that they know the processes well, are fairly independent, and have high quality of work. 4th level are those few shining examples of great employees who do outstanding work on many different levels and would be very hard to replace.
Create paths to different groups to. For example, in a lot of IT departments, the path from a department that helps with desktop leads to network or server support as advancement.
Create requirements for each level to move from level 1 to 2. Some people use written tests to grade someone skills, others simply use management review. Some require a specific certification in a computer technology.
Finally, make sure everyone in IT starts out as level 1 and create a short term plan to have everyone move through the levels. This will help you figure out who's worth holding onto, and reward them appropriately. Be Prepared for a little backlash from those who don't warrant promotion, but if they don't warrant it, you have documentation as to why not.
And make sure you have guidelines for how managers should document everyone under their pervue so that they have a more standardized way of grading people and don't go off doing their own thing. When one manager grades easy and one grades hard, the people under the harsh manager feel left out while the easy guys get the money.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
What you said is what's leading to my question. How many companies are "good" with the IT dept. example valuing the employees, realizing the importance of IT etc compare to the bad IT shops? Since I'm a semi newbie, I only have one job to go on, my current job and I say its more negative than positive. My company sees the importance of IT in saying but doesn't do anything about it 'cause were just a cost burden to them and the uppers don't understand much about computers. Looking into my career future, I'm curious to know if the bad out numbers the good and if so what incentive is there to stay in this field?
Advancement doesn't really have to be attached in work -- it can be outside of work. I started my position as a systems administrator, and was promoted within a year to systems administrator II. The change in title was arbitrary, as I was doing the same work, however I had a few bonuses that were department specific. The biggest bonus for me, was a bigger and more flexible training budget for me. That means if I wanted to learn something and it was IT related (not job related), I had a budget I could use to do what I wanted. So we are a Windows only shop... I have chosen to learn Linux even though it has no bearing on my job.
:)
The rationale behind this is pretty simple -- a person gets complacent, and especially in IT, because they feel they are going to be outdated, or they aren't performing duties that will get them noticed in a future job. While your employer's job is to keep you working at THEIR company, they can't remove the possibility of you working somewhere else -- and the career 'path' at a company has to take this into consideration else there will be a lot of turnover in your IT department. Web programmers that are doing one thing, constantly and not being able to use and learn new technologies (because if it ain't broke, don't fix it) they won't feel the need to stay at that company, even though they are stellar at their jobs.
Bonuses are good too. Stock options, Christmas bonuses, paid holidays, and a big one that's often overlooked -- gym memberships -- are all very important. Little expenditures can reap huge rewards for an IT department because it keeps employees happy. As IT personnell, I have personally found working in environments that are laid back (let me wear a backwards hat, t shirt and shorts to work!) are the best. With hours being spent in front of the computer, they should be comfortable, and sitting in the best chairs, have the best keyboards and mice, nice monitors, etc. It's something that other departments SHOULD envy because let's face it -- if your company is relying on them to make the money, then your company is going to want to make them feel wanted. It works much the same for sales people in ANY field -- do your job well and you get more perks than you can imagine.
So if your company can offer title changes, personal training budgets, maybe some catered food once in a while, free tickets to see some ballteam playing, the best equipment, ergonomic chairs, etc... these small expenditures will go a long way to keeping the staff you have happy and working hard for YOU and not somebody else.
I should mention one piece of advice I learned from a friend that is a manager, and that is exceptional in his field and his employees love him. What he said is something like this:
"Your job as a manager for your employees is to assign them the work to do, see they do it satisfactorily, take the blame FOR them if they fuck up, and then tell them to stop fucking up in PRIVATE. And when time comes, you fight tooth and nail to get every penny you can out of the higher ups to make sure they get the best raises they can get."
There is no faster way to lose employees when if they make a single screwup, the world comes crashing down on them, believe me they are going to look to leave fast. It makes me regret leaving MY last job, because it's the situation I'm in right now. So on a side note... if anybody's looking for a Windows SysAdmin....
Good luck to you.
The price is always right if someone else is paying.
It's been my experience that this type of thing is simply a talking point. By organizing a committee/task force/other_buzzword, it gives the impression something is happening since all these wonderous ideas will get floated around a nice stack of papers in the form a report will end up on someone's desk and floating around by email. Unfortunately, 1/5 of the people who should read it won't because they have too many other things to be working on and of those 1/5 who do it will be very unlikely that someone in that bunch will do something or has the power to do something. All the while your CIO/high level manager can tell all other high level managers "We have a task force charged with reporting to us $XYZ analysis. Aren't I doing a good job".
If this were a high priority to your CIO, he/she would interview some key folks, including a few of you developer/admin types and then take action immediately instead of forming some bureaucratic committee who generates a report that gets debated on by management for months.
My 2cents at least. Sorry if I sound negative, but I just find committees to be an utter waste of everyone's time and really just a facade for the person who calls for it.
I think what he was getting at is that the CIO's main job is to provide "vision" to the company. Any "C" level worth their salt should already know what the department should look like. Pulling together a "task force" to address the issue is in my experience:
1) a smokescreen to make you believe they care and make you feel "empowered" so you do more work or not quit
2) The CIO is an idiot and looking for "vision" from subordinates
3) a "shiney thing" to distract you from something unpleasant on the horizon.
"C" levels set the tone for the organization, and there is very little that the guys/gals in the trenches can do to fix poor management. Keep your parachute handy at all times, and realize there is no such thing as a 20yr job anymore.
Pessimists.net - as if life wasn't depressing enough.
... lots of things are helpful. Here's 12...
1) Fair pay and good raises.
2) Certification / Education re-imbursement/paid by company.
3) Bonuses based on company's profits (Quarterly or Half).
4) Work from home for jobs where it's appropriate as long as they are meeting goals.
5) Listen to them
6) A small gym and recreation area is nice... computer work is mental, sometimes helps to be physical to work off stress.
7) Free Food Friday (God, I miss this!) (Different restraunt each week...)
8) Tie any holidays possible to "long weekends" or "multiple days off" so employees can get good R&R and enjoy home life.
9) No NDA. NDAs just pisses people off and is largely unenforceable against MOST employees.
10) Good Severance Package.
11) Good Medical/Dental/Vision.
12) Talk to individual employees. Find out what is important to them.
Those are all things I've seen done to good effect that improve moral and make the employees more likely to stay.
Basically in our society today, techs are finding out the hard way that most companies don't value you, they don't care one bit... no matter what you put into your work they're gonna screw you first chance. If the company tries to show it DOES care and provides for the employees you would be surprised how far the employees will go for you. I got layoff notice at one company I worked for 3 months in advance of the layoff, I got 2 months worth of pay as severance, and I busted my ass the last 3 months I was there for them because they weren't just trying to do me from behind at the last minute trying to milk all they could. They gave me a fair shake so I gave them the same in return... even though I knew I wouldn't be there in a couple months.
Treat your employees as a valued asset and they'll do your company right. Sure you'll get some duds, but for the most part the good ones will return any ammount you invest into them in effort many times over if they feel the company is doing its best for them.
But hey what do I know, I've just been through 3 buyouts, 2 department closures, 3 company closings... since 1997. You do your best for the ones who do their best for you, you do the minimum possible and jump ship asap on the ones who treat you like a disposable commodity.
Shadus