Recruiting, retaining, and developing IT professionals: an empirically derived taxonomy of human resource practices

1. ABSTRACT What practices do successfiri organizations follow for recruiting, developing, and retaining IT staff? To answer this question, data on human resource (HR) practices were gathered from 56 senior IT and HR executives in thirty-two organizations with demonstrated excellence in business and/or IT performance. Four recruiting categories were found: sourcing, skiiis sought, competitive differentiation elements, and one-time inducements. Eleven development and retention categories were found: performance measurement., compensation and benefits systems, work arrangements, employability training & development, longer term career development, opportunities for advancement, opportunities for recognition, quality of leadership, sense of community, life-style accommodations, and organizational stability and employment security. Managers may use these categories to identify gaps in their current practices. Future work could investigate what human resource strategies are being followed for IT professionals, and how

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