ICT leaders can overcome the skills shortage

Is the ICT industry's staff retention issue due to the poor quality of leadership in our sector?

Recent research by Davidson Trahaire Corpsych (DTC) is quite startling.

Interpersonal issues between managers and staff account for the greatest incidence of work-related stress. Forty-two percent of people in the ICT industry presented with problems nominated clashes with management (as opposed to 38 percent for all industries).

Yet, work-related stress is just a small part of the problem. The survey found that personal problems -- relationship, health or psychological -- accounted for 77 percent of ICT employees' wellbeing issues. In fact, ICT employees were more likely to experience:

• Marital/relationship discord (52% ICT compared with 47% of all industries)
• Separation or divorce (17% compared with 15%)
• Alcohol addictions (16% compared with 14%)
• Gambling addictions (12% compared with 8%)
• Smoking addictions (12% compared with 4%)
• Depression (28% compared with 23%)
• Self-esteem issues (10% compared with 6%)

While there are some personal problems that an employer cannot possibly fix, we know that healthy employees are more productive, and that mental health and stress issues significantly impact absenteeism.

And yet, these statistics suggest that there is much to be done by Australian ICT leaders to improve staff morale and well-being.

The DTC report is further strengthened by work done through research and consulting firm WRDI Institute, which conducted employee opinion research at the behest of a number of ICT organisations in Australia. The Institute found that many of the stressors and the reasons why employees leave organisations could be traced back to unreasonable expectations of managers.

I remember from my younger days being told "people join an organisation and leave a manager". It has certainly been true for me, personally.