Taking a six month sabbatical

ANZ CIO Peter Dalton thinks the bank may have an answer to improve retention of key IT staff -- send them to other companies.

Dalton revealed the bank was trying to get the idea off the ground at a conference in Sydney this week.

"Vendor sabbaticals", as Dalton called them, would be offered to talented staff as an opportunity to develop (new) skills in a different environment. Only key vendor partners of the bank would host employees, typically for six months.

Kudos to the ANZ for thinking of ways to keep work entertaining, but surely some of its vendor partners must be thinking the sabbaticals present great opportunity for them too; not all of it good for ANZ.

I'm reminded of one of probably many cases of a vendor poaching a key customer employee. In this case it was EDS nabbing the Commonwealth Bank's technology sourcing chief.

Experience working for a major corporate like ANZ is always highly sought-after by vendors' recruitment arms, as it positions the new recruit more as an end-user rather than a product hawker.

With the chance to see their target in action for six months, ANZ's sabbatical idea must sound like great headhunting to the big vendors.