CIO Magazine Staff Writer Simone Kaplan "wants her bosses to know that her morale is just fine, thank you." She's kind enough to provide an Executive Summary for this extremely interesting article.
Morale is a business issue. Low morale increases turnover, and turnover (when unplanned) is bad for managers, the department and the bottom line. Low morale in the IT staff is the CIO's responsibility to fix, even if the cause is external, like the economy. CIOs with experience at troubled companies in retail and airline industries say identifying a morale problem is the first step toward fixing it. A CIO must listen for clues that lie in what employees are not saying. Look for a drop in energy level. Are people no longer contributing to discussions? Are they talking but being pessimistic? CIOs can bolster morale by communicating openly and honestly through the bad times. They should keep training programs in place to solidify a sense of commitment to and investment in the staff. When morale is low, CIOs should treat employees as if they're volunteers, not paid workers.
This article is long -- nine pages when printed -- and offers many suggestions to identify and fix the problem of low morale in an IT organization.
Here are some quotes.
Before the problem of morale can be tackled, a couple of ground rules need to be understood. There are no easy fixes or blanket solutions. Morale isn't like a buggy software program-there are no service packs or patches. It can't be fixed in one day or one week, and it won't be solved by pizza parties, free mugs, or wacky Hawaiian shirt day.
"Lack of communication and bad management, or lack of confidence in management, are the two biggest causes of low morale," says Rick Chapman, CIO and chief administrative officer at Kindred Healthcare in Louisville, Ky. "It doesn't matter what the economy is like."
"You have to treat your staff as though they're volunteers, not paid workers," explains Monte Ford, CIO of American Airlines in Fort Worth, Texas. "You have to do something every day that will make them want to come to work. IT people are smart; if you treat them badly, particularly during tough times, they'll remember. If you treat them well, they'll be loyal and stick around. If not, they'll leave for a better place as soon as they can."
Now move on and read the whole story: this is a must-read article.
Source: Simone Kaplan, CIO Magazine, May 1, 2002 Issue
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