Managing the Human Resources Capital in the IT Arena: Challenges for HR and IT Leadership

摘要

Challenges for managing the human resources capital in information technology departments are explored and strategies for attraction, retention and motivation of qualified employees are examined in this research effort at Wake Forest University. The purpose is to propose a set of management best practices for chief information officers and central administration for utilization in strategic human resources initiatives. In recognizing the importance of IT staffing in academia, universities have tried to remain competitive in attracting IT staff in a marketplace dominated by corporations that offer super perks and benefits, as well as higher salaries. While competition for IT workers has been reined in due to the economic slowdown, the IT professional is still a sought after commodity in terms of human resource capital in the corporate and academic arenas. While academic institutions are accustomed to dealing with faculty, tenure and collective bargaining, they recognize that there are certain challenges inherent in attracting, managing and motivating a workforce that is professionally loyal, rather than institutionally loyal. The challenge is to strategically manage an IT workforce which is critically necessary to maintaining the technological infrastructures at academic institutions. This study identifies efforts at a major university in attracting, hiring, retaining and motivating an IT staff over the past five years. This study explores those issues within Frederick Herzberg's Motivator-Hygiene Theory of Motivation, and uses survey research to examine the job satisfaction of IT employees at Wake Forest University.