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Although Dimension Data and Coles Myer initially
made it on to the list of finalists, the companies decided not to participate
in the wake of mass layoffs they experienced during the week the surveys
were being conducted.
Riding the pendulum
In an industry known for high salaries and short-term contracts, working
environments have traditionally played second fiddle in IT recruitment
circles. However, as IT settles down and gradually matures into "just
another sector" status within the economy, tech employees are beginning
to take a more long-term view of their working environments and requirements.
Employers, on the other hand, are finding themselves gaining the upper
hand in negotiating employment terms and conditions. Nonetheless, given
the costs associated with empty seats and recruitment procedures, it remains
in their interest to retain highly skilled or promising staff.
When ZDNet Australia asked its readers to nominate Australia's best IT
employer, we received suggestions from all manner, size and shape of companies.
As we worked out way through the list, the trends became clear: IT employees
want open, flexible, informal workplaces they want to be paid fairly,
and they don't want to get bored.
According to Bal Gill, managing director of IT recruitment specialists
SoftWork People, these requirements are increasingly the norm, despite
the current downturn in the tech sector.
Gill said the last 12 months have witnessed the almost total demise of
the once lucrative contract market--and with it, the astronomical hourly
wages paid to contractors. He also described a distinct shift towards
university-educated professionals with diverse experience.
"These days the employers want to start with the best, and make sure
they stay," Gill said.
Gill believes this renewed emphasis on staff retention has led to an
increased awareness of the need to maintain a competitive working environment.
"Employers are now far more aware of the need to create an overall package,
and foster the right kind of climate to keep people interested and keep
morale high," Gill said.
While some of the changes he attributed to the dot-com boom, he believes
others have emerged from across the industry.
"To attract and keep good people these days companies need to foster
a culture which is team oriented, they have to excel when it comes to
communicating the company's overall direction, and they need to maintain
high morale generally," Gill said. "They also finally realised that techies
are driven by learning, and making sure they keep up with this need."
Tim Fleming, CIO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, which tied for second place,
says the industry is changing from one which sought ready-made talent,
into one which focuses on a more developmental culture.
"There are some positions which call for specialist skills and a person
who can essentially hit the ground running," Fleming said. "However, we
are more interested in finding people who can work across the company,
so we are focussing on recruiting people with good potential and encouraging
them to develop a diverse range of skills internally."
Second-runner up in the ZDNet Australia award, Yambay establishes a flat
hierarchy in an office without walls, and instigates regular employee
reviews to ensure people within the company are able to steer their career
in appropriate directions.
Yambay corporate services consultant, Ellen Dodd, believes that as the
contract work has gradually been replaced by permanent positions the industry
has struggled to provide the right kind of climate for highly skilled
and energetic employees.
"We put our employees through a particularly arduous initial recruitment
process, but once they become part of the company we make sure they are
aware that they are key assets in the company's operations," Dodd said.
"Remuneration is important, but at the end of the day it goes way beyond
that. You have to provide a workspace that is cutting edge in terms of
technology, team work and flexibility."
Dodd also points out that while many employees in the sector are contracted
for their initiative, poor communications and a lack of opportunities
can lead to the same people becoming disillusioned with their day-to-day
working environment.
According to Gill mid-size IT organisations in Australia have been the
most adept at creating the right kind of atmosphere.
"The bigger the company the more difficult it is to change, generally
techies are looking for opportunities in mid sized companies because they
have access to their team leader, and can see how their role relates to
the overall successes of the company," Gill said. "They feel they can
instigate change."
These ideas have certainly been borne out in the results of the ZDNet
Australia survey. The award for Australia's best IT work place was received
by a small software developer, eClinic, which attributes its success to
a workplace without walls, and regular interactive gaming sessions between
staff.
Methodology - How we got there...
After weeks of sifting through nominations, speaking with HR directors
across the country, surveying staff and management ZDNet Australia has
finally uncovered Australia's best IT workplace.
When we initially called for nominations--companies of all shapes, sizes
and persuasions were suggested. When we asked people why they decided
to nominate their company the explanations ranged from extensive lists
of perks--like free ice cream and high tech equipment--through to professionalism
and development opportunities.
Those companies with the most votes made it on to our shortlist--which
turned out to be a motley crew of companies from a range of sectors. The
shortlist included: software developers Yambay and eClinic, search engine
Yahoo, services giant Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, professional services
provider and integrator Datacom, software monolith Microsoft, broadcasting
service Austar, soon to be merged vendor HP, integrator Dimension Data
and retail giant Coles Myer. The telcos came in not far behind with honourable
mentions going to Telstra spin-off Advantra, and Optus' now defunct online
content service Excite@Home.
The next step in the process was to survey staff from the short-listed
companies to find out what they really felt about the company they worked
for. Surveys were sent to a series of IT employees from each company,
covering areas like career and development, atmosphere, communication
and technical environment.
This is where we began to hit a bit of a snag. Popular nominees Coles
Myer and Dimension Data felt the squeeze of a slowing economy and announced
staff cuts, while Excite@Home went belly-up a week later. Caught between
a human resources dilemma and a deadline ZDNet Australia soldiered on,
collecting the surveys from the remaining shortlist.
Rather than just focusing on general work environment, the surveys also
attempted to discover how important different elements of the workplace
were to staff.
Not surprisingly "appropriate remuneration" was far and away the most
important element within job satisfaction, followed by "a challenging
working environment", "flexible work conditions", "team spirit", "access
to training", "open communication", "a relaxed working environment", "assistance
with career direction and performance reviews", "a flat hierarchy" and
"technical superiority". Interestingly, "mentoring programs" came in at
the bottom of the list, with most of those surveyed placing little importance
on peer-based training programs.
When it came to comparing these results with the results of the HR directors'
survey, the only real anomaly occurred with respect to the perceived importance
of remuneration. While it scored highly on the employee survey, a snap
shot of the HR directors' responses showed an overwhelming rejection of
remuneration as a key element to attracting and maintaining good staff.
On the other hand, HR management appears to be bang-on the money when
it comes to the importance of mentoring programs, with most responding
that while informal mentoring was common, most were not interested establishing
formalised mentoring relationships.
Australia's best tech employer--1st place: eClinic
eClinic Established: 2000
Staff: 10
Based: Carlton North,
VIC. Score: 10/10
Founded in 2000, the eClinic Web site went live in February 2001. Founders
and executive directors Saurabh Mishra and Sanjiv Puri created a Web site
designed to facilitate the secure transfer of medical results over the
Internet. The service is currently only available in Victoria, with rollouts
planned for other states.
According to Mishra the key to eClinic's HR policies is a rigorous recruitment
process which sees candidates sit through multiple interviews, dealing
with a mixture of their technological and personal skills.
"You have to be sure that people are right for the job on a technical
level, but they also have to fit in with the team, that is the most crucial
part," Mishra said.
When it comes to the selection process Mishra places specific emphasis
on flexibility and raw talent, and relies on open communication rather
than regular employee reviews.
"We tried having a formal review process, but in an industry like this
it is a bit like putting a line in the sand and having it washed away
when the industry changes," Mishra said.
According to the staff, eClinic's recipe for success includes access
to high bandwidth, a casual work place, flexible hours, stock options
and last but not least--a weekly gaming ritual which sees the company's
staff square up against each other on the company intranet.
"It's good for morale to give everyone in the company the chance to beat
the crap out of the boss at the end of the week," said Mishra. "It really
helps to let off some steam."
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