Keeping IS people was Certification

The  conversations seems to have shifted to the IS Market place and  what
it takes to satisfy  IT talent today  It appears salary  alone is not the
driver  but  perks  such as location,  stable hours, a nice place to live
etc, have  been brought up.

Now, if you  have to get you a segment of your IT group into some less than
desirable  project for a time what might you offer to keep their loyalty
and participation? 

Obtaining & Training  new staff is costly  Vs keeping the ones  you have.

>In a message dated 4/3/98 10:14:09 AM Central Standard Time,
>CORNELLS@MERCYHEALTH.COM writes:
>
><< Thus, it make perfect sense to me that "10% just ain't
> enough..." to switch permanent positions and definitely isn't enough to
> jump into the consulting area.  At least not for me, maybe not for
> David's client, and maybe not for a lot of people.  It's a "sellers"
> market for IT talent these days, and people can afford to be
> choosey, especially if they're not in all that much of a hurry to bail
> out of what they're currently in.
> 
> FWIW
> Scott Cornell
> Mercy Information System >>
>
>Bradley V. Stone <bvstone@taylorcorp.com> wrote:
><<Funny thing about this.  There is more than money, as you point out.  I
>have turned down offers well over 20% just because of the area the jobs
>were located.  I enjoy the security of the town I live in now.  When the
>time comes, I will make a move.  Many things will be taken into
>consideration to figure "the right time", money is one of them.
>
>Bradley V. Stone       
>
At 04:22 PM 4/3/98 EST,  HAVEAJOB <HAVEAJOB@aol.com> wrote:
>Not to beat a dead horse but that was exactly my point.  Actually, this
>candidate would have gone to a company with more stable hours due to the type
>of business), a raise, and with NO relocation.  The company was literally
>located a few blocks over from her current employer.
>
>Granted, losing the placement fee really hurt...but you sure can't win them
>all.  My disgust comes into play when this lady, who was a talented
>programmer, used the excuse of "10% is not enough" when the real issue was
>that she would be facing new technology for her - she would have had to move
>outside the lines of her comfort zone.  I think what Dean may have been
>alluding to was the failure to see the big picture here - as I mentioned,
>based on her existing salary level and what I've seen and had several other
>JDE positions go for, she could have dramatically increased her marketability
>and salary after only a year or two.  As for the the client in this case,
they
>were going to invest $14-18K in training for her during her first year of
>employment.  While the 10% was somewhat below the norm, I thought it was
quite
>reasonable in this case.
>
>Perhaps not so much the JDE certifications but the training and exposure was
>to be the advantage.  There comes a time in most careers where the decision
>has to be made whether or not your skill development needs to be vertical or
>horizontal.  Vertical skill development makes sense for consultants where it
>is important to be known as "heavy hitters" when working for established
>customers.  Most AS/400 gurus I know,  I suspect, would rather not work on
>BPCS, Lawson, MAPICS, JDE, and homegrown RPG3 code all within the same
year...
>
>However, not every branch can reach the top of the tree.  It makes much more
>sense to broaden skills for most permanent employees, where knowing about
more
>stuff equals more job opportunities outside the company and certainly more
>career path flexibility within the company.  And, that's where the
>certifications come in as a benefit - whether practical, earned, resume
>padding, or whatever.  Bottom line - a certification will never hurt with the
>max pain to be the loss of your time taken if it never amounts to much.  If
>your company will pay for the certification, it would be foolish to pass up
>the opportunity.
>
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