“The State of Employee Engagement 2008″ study by Blessingwhite found that information technology (IT) workers are the least engaged of all the different staff areas studied.  And, this lack of engagement isn’t isolated to North America.  The study noted that IT workers across the world tend to identify more with their profession than with their company.  Further, IT workers are very interested in staying current in their field.  If their employer isn’t offering them opportunities for training and advancement, they probably aren’t all that engaged with their work.  Can you blame them?  IT workers know that the possibility of being ‘downsized’  is always there, regardless of individual performance.  And, if an IT worker’s skills (technical and non-technical) haven’t kept pace with the current market, they might have a difficult time finding another job.  And, when they do find another job, it will probably not be at the same level as the one they were forced to leave.

What can companies do to encourage the IT staff to get engaged and contribute more to the organization?  According to the Blessingwhite study, IT workers can be influenced positively by the following (in order of importance):

• Development opportunities and training
• Greater clarity about what the organization needs me to do and why
• Regular, specific feedback about how I’m doing
• More resources
• A coach or mentor other than my manager
• Better communication with my manager
• A better relationship with my coworkers

The most critical factor in retaining the best and brightest IT workers is to provide lots of opportunity for career development.  And, as you can see from the list above, it goes well beyond giving IT workers access to an online library of self-paced training courses.  CIOs and other technology managers need to actively engage their people, find out what they need to develop, and make an effort to provide it.