Why IT Sucks, and How to Make it Better

A recent study on employee engagement shows that of all the departments in a company, people in IT are the least engaged. Given that 60% of capital expenditures now are on IT related projects, this suggests a major problem in the making. So what gives?

According to data from the consultancy Blessing White, about 33% of employees on average are truly engaged in their work. But only 26% or so of IT workers are really into their jobs. We asked Blessing White CEO Chris Rice to explain what's going on and what managers can do about it.

Does the research show any difference in engagement between those who work on location and those who work remotely?
Perhaps surprisingly, there wasn't a significant difference in engagement levels when we compared employees who work on location with those who work remotely. In North America, for example, 33% of on-location employees are engaged versus 34% of remote workers.There were, however, differences in engagement drivers.

19% of on-location employees cited "more flexible job conditions" as the factor that could most increase their job satisfaction compared to only 8% of remote employees. Job satisfaction is the first component of engagement.

When it came down to job contribution, which is the other component of engagement, both sets of workers cited "more resources" as the factor that could most have an impact. Remote workers were slightly more likely to choose resources (32%), however, than on-location employees (26%).

So what's with IT workers?
There are a couple of factors at play. IT workers â€" especially at the helpdesk and maintenance level â€" are seen by many organizations as necessary but commodity-like functions that are not critical to the organization's mission or strategy. As long as the email server is running, little thought is given to keeping this group informed, excited or otherwise committed to the organization's success.

Personal growth and career development are important engagement drivers for IT professionals. However, organizations can't always match the demand for training, especially in a tight economy. And new projects to build skill sets aren't always available, leaving these expert employees to work on maintenance projects as opposed to more exciting development assignments.

Finally, we've seen that technical staff are ill-prepared to move from the role of expert employee to the leader of experts. They often hold tight to their comfort zone of project, not people, management. Although well-intentioned and technically competent, they may not provide the type of coaching and support needed to align and inspire their teams.

What can individual managers do (especially with remote workers) to up their engagement level?
We found that strong relationships are often more important than the skills. To build strong relationships, managers need to focus on becoming known as people behind their titles and knowing their individual team members.

Of course, the virtual workplace doesn't provide all the informal opportunities to exchange information that exist on location (e.g., an impromptu lunch, chance meeting in the hallway, or classic water cooler conversations). So managers of remote workers need to be more purposeful in their interactions.

All managers need to look for opportunities to share their personal motivation: When are they most engaged at work? Why did they join (and stay with) the organization? What are they most excited about? This type of information feeds a more trusting work relationship.

They should also conduct what we call Engagement Reviews with each team member. These aren't performance coaching conversations. They should focus on clarifying the employee's point of view on job success, providing clarity on the most pressing work priorities, understanding work challenges, demonstrating support, and recognizing the role the employees plays in the company's success.

They also need to:
• Discuss expectations, if they haven't, for communications and "give permission" to employees to call them. (Some workers assume a phone call to the manager equals escalation and they founder on their own.) Inst
• Conduct regular check-ins by video or phone with a loose agenda of catch-up that allows for tangents and relationship building.
• Bring individuals in from the field or have them meet in clusters whenever practical to boost a sense of community.

What are some of the tools and best practices companies should implement to increase engagement?
It's important to go beyond action planning to make employee engagement a daily priority and shared responsibility across the workforce. So the first best practice is to get individual employees to understand that it's their job to know what drives their job satisfaction and what conditions support their best work.
Managers need to facilitate and coach â€" to align individual employees' aspirations and talents with the organization's goals. And executives (or broadly speaking, senior leaders) need to be the keepers of a culture that fuels engagement. It's up to them to be trustworthy leaders, remove barriers to high performance, and reinforce the message that engagement is about a thriving workplace and a successful business.

Read more:

• Keeping your geeks and analysts engaged when working remotely
• Engaging remote teams: top ten tips to make great connections
• 4 Reasons managers need to commit to one on ones