Many IT departments are feeling the pinch of today’s shaky economy, especially when it comes to paying staff. Here are some ways to keep morale and retention up when salary budgets are tight.

According to Information Week’s annual Salary Survey, pay for IT pros has gone down for the first time since 2002. The median salary for IT staffers went from $78,000 to $76,000. (For managers, the average was $103,000, down from $105,000.)

Why the drop? Part of it’s the uncertain economy, which leads to shrinking IT staffing budgets. Other factors include an increase in offshoring and the replacement of retiring Baby Boomers with younger, less-experienced workers.

Whatever the cause, employee satisfaction has gone down along with pay. According to the survey, just 56% of IT staffers said they were happy with their compensation. That’s down from 63% last year.

So what can companies do to keep staff happy and hanging around when payroll budgets are tight?

Increasing skills

Since IT is a fast-moving field, one of the most valuable things you can offer technical staff is a chance to keep their skills up to date. There are number of ways to do so. For example:

• Tuition reimbursement - Only 30% of IT employees get help from their employers when they take classes or enter certification programs. But it’s a great way to increase loyalty and develop a more skilled staff.
• At-work training sessions - An IT manager or other speaker can give occasional lessons on skills the staff appears to be lacking. Holding sessions during lunch is a good way to get it done without taking up too much time.
• Job rotation - Having staff periodically switch roles is a simple way to expose people to knew challenges and help them gain knowledge.
• Mentoring - Pairing younger employees with more experienced colleagues is a good way help young folks learn and older workers feel more valued.

Training isn’t just good for boosting technical skills, either. These days, general business and industry knowledge is becoming increasingly important for IT pros, so those things should be incorporated into training programs, too.

Other tools

Aside from training and skills-boosting, here are some other low-cost ways to boost morale and retention:

• Empowerment - Asking for the opinions of talented staffers when decisions are made can be a key for keeping them on board.
• Flexibility - The option to do some work from home or set a flexible schedule can sweeten the benefits pot for many employees. A recent survey listed flex-time and telework as the most valuable fringe benefit for IT employees.
• Appreciation - Sounds corny, but it works. Taking the time to thank someone for a job well done can go a long way - especially if it’s with a handwritten note, or at a public workplace event.

And finally, of course, if you want to know what employees want, you don’t have to guess. Sit down with members of the IT staff and ask what benefits they care about.

Tags: economy, morale, retention, salary budgets