Recruiting and Retaining
Library IT People
- What We Learned -
A panel presentation by
Kelly Sattler, Bill Helman,
Erin White, and Aaron Dobbs
eDUI Conference
Oct. 25, 2016All meeple images by Caig, modified under CreativeCommons
I’m glad
I’m here!
Should I
stay?
Why we’re here & Who we are
Here today in person:
Kelly Sattler (@ksattler)
Head of Web Services at Michigan State University Libraries
Bill Helman (@thinkpol)
Information Technology Librarian at Towson University
Erin White (@erinrwhite)
Rest of the team:
Wenjuan Ma
Michigan State University
Mark Dehmlow
Notre Dame
Janet Crum
Sharing results from a survey with 531 respondents
concerning recruiting and retaining library IT.
What about Social Media?
For those who found their job within the past 3 years:
1. LinkedIn (45)
2. Facebook (36)
3. Twitter (26)
4. Glassdoor (22)
Top 3 factors by age after salary...
35 - 44 years old:
1. Paid time off
2. Job security
3. Insurance benefits
45 - 54 years old:
1. Insurance benefits
2. Job security
3. Opportunities for promotion/growth
Over 55 years old:
1. Location
2. Insurance benefits
3. Job security
Under 34 years old:
1. Location
2. Opportunities for promotion/growth
3. Paid time off
Top 3 factors by time in position after salary...
Less than 3 years:
1. Location
2. Paid time off
3. Opportunities for promotion/growth
4 years or more:
1. Job Security
2. Insurance Benefits
3. Location
What keeps people onboard?
It’s more than money, but money’s really important.
Compensation
Benefits
Work-Life Balance
Why do they jump ship?
For respondents planning on leaving in the next two years.
Lack of opportunity for promotion
Not involved in decision making
Insufficient resources to do the job well
Lack of mentoring programs
Not enough interesting projects
Mind the gaps.
Some of the gaps between what they want and what they get:
Telecommuting and flexible hours
Opportunities for promotion
Insufficient resources
And mind the gaps in leadership too.
Or where the boss “does not meet expectations.”
Trust in senior leadership
Clear expectations
A leadership that “understands IT work”
Should I stay or should I go now?
Here why respondents said they’re tempted to leave
Salary (offers of ~40% more salary elsewhere)
Demanding (many only-loosely related tasks)
Poor management (unrealistic expectations / lack of understanding)
Technology refresh rate / legacy technology (how old is this technology?!)
Lack of IT integration into organizational goals (out of sight out of mind)
Lack of advancement path (if there is only a few people, how to advance?)
Should I stay or should I go now?
Here why respondents said they would rather stay than go
Teleworking options (skip the commute a couple days a week? sign me up!)
Customer focus (care about the customer & technology will (usually) follow)
User Experience Focus (higher ed & libraries help student/faculty success)
Integration of IT into strategic planning (IT knows what’s realistic, let us help)
It ain’t a huge salary, but…
...what can we offer instead?
Tuition remission and other non-salary bennies and discounts
Support for conference travel, webinars or other training
Work/life balance: *only* a 40-hour workweek, lots of leave, flexible hours
Options to telecommute regularly
Ability to work on fun projects/20%-time projects
Inclusion in organizational decision-making
Working directly with stakeholders
Where are my competent managers at?
Good managers = happier employees
Not much training for managers in libraryland or higher ed
Peter Principle
What motivates people: “autonomy, mastery,
purpose”
- Daniel Pink, Drive
For managers
Trust your people. Document, cross-train, delegate, and let it go.
Communicate. Make sure folks know why their work matters.
Don't roadblock. Street sweep. Take yourself out of workflows to avoid
bottlenecking. Spend your time getting rid of obstacles for your team.
Support employees’ growth. Ask “how do you want to grow?” then follow
through.
Advocate. Find ways to let employees’ voices be heard. Use your position to
push for humane policies and practices for all employees - not just faculty.
Be open to new ideas and technologies. Folks want to learn and your
organization will benefit.