6 Secrets to Hiring and Retaining Great Employees

I ran across this article inc.com..... I think it's perfect for what is needed in in IT industry.... Specially in Chile.

Drupal Connect's founder John Florez drives the fast growth of his company by stacking his team with top tier talent. Here’s what he looks for when hiring for his Drupal development company and how he keeps them excited about coming in each day.

1- Hire Awesome Personalities
Hire people who are not only awesome talents, but awesome to be around as well! You're building a team; each member has to be able to work well within a collaborative environment. Hiring someone who is talented but a "lone wolf" is a risky and potentially costly endeavor.

2- Positive People Are Contagious
Hire cool people who have a positive outlook on life. The employee you want to take on is someone you can share a beer with at the end of the day. Positive attitudes spread, and ultimately come to define your company as a whole.

3- Keep People Excited About Work
Be a leader who is welcoming and positive, and sees the best in each of their employees. This attitude will trickle down and make for a more positive work experience overall. People want to wake up each morning excited about coming to work. It's important for a leader to create an environment and culture that people are proud and excited about.

4- Don’t Nickel-and-Dime Your Employees
Be mindful of the bottom line – but not at the expense of nickel-and-diming! These are tough times for a lot of people out there. But let's face it: no one wants to work for a cheap boss.

5- Coach Your Leaders
Coach your leaders, but don't manage them. If you find yourself managing your top people, you're doing something wrong. You're not inspiring, and you're therefore not bringing out the best in your lead employees. If you properly coach your leaders by bringing out their best qualities, they will in turn coach those reporting to them.

6-Avoid Stagnation
Make constant growth a priority, and encourage your team to contribute to this evolution. Your company is a living, breathing organism that needs to be fed and nurtured, and employees need to be able to contribute to this growth process. For example, six months ago, a team member suggested we create a support and maintenance program to offer to our clients. Today, this program is a thriving and growing part of our company, accounting for 20% of our overall business!

Want to succeed in IT? Five tips from the top

Again, this is not mine. I got if off techrepublic.com and it seems that this is where IT is going. More and more IT Managers (CIO, CTO, and other IT management positions) are having the same problems. How to deal with the shift that the organizations are having. Where is this shift going to? Well.... to where it has always been.... THE BUSINESS.

This text belongs to Paul Coby IT director at UK retail giant John Lewis and former technology chief at British Airways.

1. Connect to your business customers

Coby’s experiences have led him to develop a simple maxim: “There are no IT projects, just business projects.”

Coby concedes he has become well known for this mantra: “That phrase resonates,” he says. “People just get it.”

The explanation for the strength of that response is simple: success in modern IT is all about using technology to support new business opportunities. IT professionals looking to support the organisation along that development path must be engaged. “You always need to connect to your business customers,” says Coby.


2. Don’t talk jargon

Coby’s advice to other CIOs is to avoid falling into the techno-babble trap and ensure the organisation is alert to the business benefits of technology.

“Don’t talk jargon,” he says. “We know that’s important but anything that makes IT sound obscure will make people switch off. And IT is too important to modern business for you to allow that to happen.”


3. Remember that IT is a team sport

Good CIOs have a strong personality and are not afraid to lead from the front. But those character traits in isolation will not be enough. A good CIO is only as great as their supporting cast, something that Coby is keen to recognise.

“Always remember that IT is a team sport,” says Coby, who says success does not necessarily start and end with the appointment of a CIO.

For example, Coby says a lot of the good things he has achieved since joining John Lewis began before he arrived. As ever, IT is in flux - and the speed of the digital transformation means great CIOs must lead their team through choppy waters.

“Everyone’s technology environment is going to continue to become more complicated,” says Coby. “The people supporting IT have to deal with very complex systems. And the ongoing digital transformation means the CIO sits at the very top of a very large iceberg. The role of the CIO is to enable the transformation.”


4. Never put innovation before day-to-day operations

Most IT leaders come from a technical background. But CIOs looking to get ahead are often warned not to just concentrate on the bits and bytes of technology.

While technology provides the backbone to modern business operations, it is no longer a dark art. The digital age is all about being able to plug and play different systems, and to draw on applications and information on-demand. CIOs looking to help the business make the most of digital technology must get strategic.

However, Coby issues a word of warning. “Operations really matter,” he says, stressing that good IT leaders do not prioritise innovation at the expense of day-to-day systems.

Coby is looking at how to transform IT at John Lewis and working out how to make the most of innovative technology, such as the use of tablet devices on the shopfloor. “We want to deliver great things,” he says. “But if tills go down, no one will listen to me about innovation.”


5. Enjoy your job

The final piece of advice from Coby is simple: “Try and enjoy it.”

Coby says any job has its challenges and IT leadership is no different. He is pulled in a number of directions, as John Lewis continues to pursue an ambitious growth strategy that over the past decade has led the retailer to bring regional shops under a single brand and open new stores.

Yet Coby relishes the fast pace of change in retail, which he says is different to other sectors. Across back-end operations and front-end innovations, he is concentrating on the things that staff and customers will expect as standard in the next few years

“I like this job because it’s a lot of fun,” says Coby. “The business continues to change and people in the organisation really need the IT team to deliver.”

The 5 Qualities of Remarkable Bosses

First I want to say that this is not my work. I got it off the web and it’s from Jeff Haden, but I feel it is so true that I have to let others reed it.
 
1. Develop every employee. Sure, you can put your primary focus on reaching targets, achieving results, and accomplishing concrete goals—but do that and you put your leadership cart before your achievement horse.

Without great employees, no amount of focus on goals and targets will ever pay off. Employees can only achieve what they are capable of achieving, so it’s your job to help all your employees be more capable so they—and your business—can achieve more.

It's your job to provide the training, mentoring, and opportunities your employees need and deserve. When you do, you transform the relatively boring process of reviewing results and tracking performance into something a lot more meaningful for your employees: Progress, improvement, and personal achievement.

So don’t worry about reaching performance goals. Spend the bulk of your time developing the skills of your employees and achieving goals will be a natural outcome.

Plus it’s a lot more fun.

2. Deal with problems immediately. Nothing kills team morale more quickly than problems that don't get addressed. Interpersonal squabbles, performance issues, feuds between departments... all negatively impact employee motivation and enthusiasm.

And they're distracting, because small problems never go away. Small problems always fester and grow into bigger problems. Plus, when you ignore a problem your employees immediately lose respect for you, and without respect, you can't lead.

Never hope a problem will magically go away, or that someone else will deal with it. Deal with every issue head-on, no matter how small.

3. Rescue your worst employee. Almost every business has at least one employee who has fallen out of grace: Publicly failed to complete a task, lost his cool in a meeting, or just can’t seem to keep up. Over time that employee comes to be seen by his peers—and by you—as a weak link.

While that employee may desperately want to “rehabilitate” himself, it's almost impossible. The weight of team disapproval is too heavy for one person to move.

But it’s not too heavy for you.

Before you remove your weak link from the chain, put your full effort into trying to rescue that person instead. Say, "John, I know you've been struggling but I also know you're trying. Let's find ways together that can get you where you need to be." Express confidence. Be reassuring. Most of all, tell him you'll be there every step of the way.

Don't relax your standards. Just step up the mentoring and coaching you provide.

If that seems like too much work for too little potential outcome, think of it this way. Your remarkable employees don’t need a lot of your time; they’re remarkable because they already have these qualities. If you’re lucky, you can get a few percentage points of extra performance from them. But a struggling employee has tons of upside; rescue him and you make a tremendous difference.

Granted, sometimes it won't work out. When it doesn't, don't worry about it. The effort is its own reward.

And occasionally an employee will succeed—and you will have made a tremendous difference in a person's professional and personal life.

Can’t beat that.

4. Serve others, not yourself. You can get away with being selfish or self-serving once or twice... but that's it.

Never say or do anything that in any way puts you in the spotlight, however briefly. Never congratulate employees and digress for a few moments to discuss what you did.

If it should go without saying, don't say it. Your glory should always be reflected, never direct.

When employees excel, you and your business excel. When your team succeeds, you and your business succeed. When you rescue a struggling employee and they become remarkable, remember they should be congratulated, not you.

You were just doing your job the way a remarkable boss should.

When you consistently act as if you are less important than your employees—and when you never ask employees to do something you don’t do—everyone knows how important you really are.

5. Always remember where you came from. See an autograph seeker blown off by a famous athlete and you might think, “If I was in a similar position I would never do that.”

Oops. Actually, you do. To some of your employees, especially new employees, you are at least slightly famous. You’re in charge. You’re the boss.

That's why an employee who wants to talk about something that seems inconsequential may just want to spend a few moments with you.

When that happens, you have a choice. You can blow the employee off... or you can see the moment for its true importance: A chance to inspire, reassure, motivate, and even give someone hope for greater things in their life. The higher you rise the greater the impact you can make—and the greater your responsibility to make that impact.

In the eyes of his or her employees, a remarkable boss is a star.

Remember where you came from, and be gracious with your stardom.

What? more than a year?

I can not belive this! It has been more than a year since my last post..... Ok... promise that in the next 48h I will post something.....

Are you ready for your next job?

Well, I wasn’t, and I should have been.

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t see my last employment as what would get me my next job, but after being unemployed for 2 months I think different.

Don’t get me wrong, I like stability, but whatever you do at your work place must help you get your next job. Lets go over a few tips.

1- Stay up to date with what is out there: It doesn’t matter if your organization is small, budget constraints, you hate Microsoft/Linux, your boss is happy with the 486sx PCs you have or your are just overwhelmed with the day to day IT stuff, you still need to stay in touch with reality. You can go to vender events, online webinars, blogs, create a lab or whatever you can think of, you have to know what is out there, and not just technology, but also things like PMI, CMMI, or ITIL. Most likely you have been working at the same place for a few years and the next job will require some of the things I just mentioned. Just because you don’t use them at your current job doesn’t mean others don’t use it.

2- Have a good network of colleagues: A good way to get a job is by referral, and to do that you need contacts in other companies. Most likely you already have friends, schoolmates and colleagues in other companies that can help you. Another way is at the vender events, there you can make acquaintances with other people in the industry. You can also use social websites like LinkedIn, this site is the largest professional network on the Internet with more than 90 million members in over 200 countries. Its Facebook, but for professionals. Lots of recruiters look at candidates profiles, they can see what you have done, recommendations, what others think about you, etc. The more people you know, the better chance to get a job.

3- Try not to fall into a very specific niche: It may be that you are working in Development linking to a weird application that no one uses, or support a platform that is used by 1% of the industry. If this is the case, you may be in trouble. Yes there is some sort of job security, but you never know. Most likely, the very specific skill you have learned will not be used on your next job, for instance, I know how to integrate TAXWare with .NET, but can I use it down here in Chile? I don’t think so… so why even put it on the resume. You just might dig yourself into a hole if your niche is to specific, so keep up to date with other technologies and development trends. I heard an ex colleague mention this as the reason why is was changing jobs. What he was doing was so specific that the integration of this product he worked with that none of what he learned over the last year or so was used elsewhere.

4- Certification is a must: Ahhh…. Certification…… This should be seen as a long term investment in yourself. If you are working as a helpdesk tech, its more than clear that you most likely know by now most of the problems with Windows 7, or if you are a Network Admin, you know by now how to create a user account or email account in Exchange. So why get certified? Will my current employer pay me more? Not likely so why bother? Well, the next time you look for a job, that certification will make your resume stand out a bit more than the other 150 candidates! That’s why. Have you ever seen on a job posting ITIL certification desired? Well, the guy that just got certified yesterday will have a better shot for that job over you that have been leading projects for 5 years and have no certification. So, see what is being asked for, and get certified in it. And by the way, you might be able to sell the certification pitch to your boss and have the company pay for it!

5- Look for a job once ever year or two: I was told a long time ago to put your resume online every 18 months and apply for a few jobs just to see what your are worth. I did that in 2000 just before the .com bubble bust in the US and in a few weeks I got calls from DELL, Disney and Pandesic, all wanted to interview me… Keep in mind that you always think you have some sort of an advantage over all the rest, but why wait until you need a new job to find it out? Some good sites are http://www.careerbuilder.com and http://home.monster.com in the US; http://www.trabajando.cl/ and http://www.laborum.cl/ in Chile

6- Validate your references: I have heard a number of times (and this happed to me) that people seem not to understand why they cant get a job. Well don’t be surprised that you are getting bad references. Have a friend call your last boss and see what references you get. The best you can do is to get a Letter of Recommendation, that way you have it in writing and it will avoid or at least minimize calls to your last employer.


Don’t think just because you do your job well you will be at your post for ever, even Admiral Kirk got benched for a while. Be prepared! As a good friend once told me “prepare for the worst and hope for the best”, once you are on the street, there is not much you can do, so do it while you are in a position where it can be done.

Please feel free to comment on any of this, or add more job search web sites.

George,
The Captain.

I am back!

It has been a while... and lots of things have happend in IT and in my life.... so in the next few days I will update the site with a lot of news!
Stay tuned!

The Captain.

IT = Mr. Fix and know everything that has a button or makes a BIP sound?

Is it just me or does this happen to everyone in IT? I was once call a PDTA or Permanently Designated Technical Advisor by an ex girlfriend and from that day it seems to fit so perfectly. I think this is worse than being a mechanic or a Doctor. The get ask only things related with the car or the body, but me? I get hit with every thing in the book, from how to get that old VCR to work, or how to set a watch, to how to buy some thing on the internet. It just never ends. This is with family and friends, but at work!? Help me Lord!

Apart of knowing how all the computers, FAX, Xerox machines, work, I some how have to know how all cell phones work, how to program the Satellite Dish, how the A/C units works, or why the coffee machine is not working!

Don’t get me wrong, its nice to be the one that everybody comes to…. But come one……are IT the only ones what can figure things out?

I would love to hear some stories or what you think and deal with this “super hero” status.

George.
The Captian