How Not To Attract and Retain High-Tech Employees
By Nick at 5 April, 2007, 12:17 am
.Sprint has decided to impose a more ‘corporate’ dress code on all its employees. Read the article in the July 7th issue of The Kansas City Star at the URL below:
http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/business.pat,business/3773abf3.707,.html
I don’t get it. First the high tech companies - such as Sprint - complain about not being about to attract and retain high-tech employees. Now, they decide to impose an antiquated and pointless dress code on the very employees they claim to want to retain. According to Sprint even Dockers are not ‘dressy’ enough. While I normally pride myself in being loyal, I’d quite my current job as a webmaster and go elsewhere if my employer ever decided that what I wear is more important than how I do my job. Many Sprint employees will likely do the same. It makes no sense to impose such an old-fashioned mandate on what people can wear to the office - especially in the middle of a major heat wave. Let’s see how much time passes before Sprint complains about not being able to attract enough qualified employees.
A casual dress code is often a strong selling point for attracting and retaining high-tech workers as well as those in other industries.
It doesn’t seem like there’s really that much of a labor shortage when corporate America decides to end an employee benefit that costs nothing.
Many businesses claim that they are losing potential income because they can’t hire enough people fast enough. This is yet another propaganda scheme. There are plenty of unemployed and underemployed skilled programmers, network administrators, database administrators, and webmasters in this country.
As for dress codes: I was suggesting that businesses that are having trouble attracting candidates try relaxing their corporate environments a little. Or, is the ‘shortage’ of talent really not so bad after all?
If American businesses were really suffering because they can’t attract and hire enough skilled candidates, they would have already changed their hiring practices in a heartbeat. Businesses still take an incredibly long time to even acknowledge receipt of a candidate’s resume – if even at all. I have sent my resume to numerous companies and haven’t even gotten a simple phone interview. I am skilled in network administration (Windows NT), PERL, C++, ASP, MS Access, HTML 4, and JavaScript. I am also a fast learner. While I feel that I gained most of my experience as a hobby and through work, I even have that all-important piece of paper: a B.S. in Computer Science. My resume has been reviewed, critiqued, and reengineered following the advice of several recruiting agencies and other career professionals. Despite all this, I get almost NO response for any businesses in the San Diego area.
I have loved working with computers and technology all my life. I even ran a BBS (an electronic forum for communication similar to what is here on Workforce Online, but covering different topics) for several years strictly as a nonprofit hobby. I often work 9 to 11 hour days – on salary – and HAVE been verbally praised by my superiors for both the efficiency AND quality of my work. The bottom line, however, is that I have yet to make even the supposed ‘starting’ salary of $47,000.
This “starting salary†figure is another area of propaganda that they industry is spreading. Are existing employees actually worth LESS than somebody just out of college? Is 27 too old for the technology industry?
If there really is a shortage – and skilled technical labor is in such high demand – my colleagues and I certainly aren’t seeing any proof.
Here’s my list of now NOT to…..
1. Lie in the interview. Make promises you can’t keep.
2. Do all the talking and don’t listen to the employee/potential employee
3. Ask only technical questions and forget about the whole employee
4. Get them for the lowest price you can. If they are earning below market now, take advantage of it.
5. Hire in new folks at market rates but don’t bother reveiwing the salaries of the existing, loyal employees
6. Forget about training.
7. Say you have an open door policy, but keep your door closed and your phone on “do not disturb” and don’t return calls
8. Lose everyone in the mire of bureaucracy
9. Show how important you are.
10. Don’t keep up on industry trends yourself.
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