Turnover and retention in the information technology workforce

Die Fluktuation von Mitarbeitern in der Computerbranche ist im Vergleich zu anderen Tätigkeitsbereichen besonders hoch; sie kann bis zu 20% pro Jahr betragen. Die Fluktuationsraten von Frauen sind dabei in der Regel höher als die von Männern. Der Anteil von Frauen in den USA, die in der Computerbranche arbeiten, ist dabei von 41% im Jahr 1996 auf 29% im Jahr 2004 zurückgegangen. Hohe Fluktuationsraten von gut ausgebildeten Mitarbeiter/innen können für Unternehmen sehr teuer und im Betriebsablauf sehr störend sein. Der Verlust von gut ausgebildeten Mitarbeiter/innen bedeutet, dass Unternehmen hohe Kosten für die Aufnahme bzw. Ausbildung von Personal aufbringen müssen. Dazu kommen versteckte Kosten, die z.B. entstehen, wenn Projekte nicht abgeschlossen werden können und sich Zusammensetzungen von Arbeitsteams verändern. Die Analyse von Ursachen von Fluktuation im Bereich von IT-Arbeitskräften und ihre Kontrolle durch entsprechende HR-Maßnahmen ist daher ausgesprochen wichtig für die Unternehmen. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist die Analyse von Ursachen von Fluktuation in der IT-Branche. In der vorliegenden Dissertation wird beschrieben, wie ein Fragebogen zur Erfassung der Ursachen von Fluktuation, arbeitsbezogenen Einstellungen und Fluktuationsintentionen entwickelt wurde (Beitrag 1). Es wird die Durchführung der Implementierung des Fragebogens als Online-Tool vorgestellt; dabei wird auf Überlegungen zum Fragebogendesign eingegangen, um den Rücklauf zu erhöhen (Beitrag 2). In weiterer Folge wird ein Modell zur Vorhersage von Fluktuation literaturbasiert entwickelt und pfadanalytisch überprüft. Zusätzlich wird dabei auf Geschlechtsunterschiede eingegangen (Beitrag 3). Im vierten Beitrag wird beschrieben, wie dieses Modell in einer transnationalen Vergleichstudie (mit Daten aus Österreich) überprüft wurde. Abschließend werden im fünften Beitrag Empfehlungen zur Verhinderung von hoher Fluktuation dargestellt. Im ersten Beitrages kann gezeigt werden, wie ein reliabler und valider Fragebogen entwickelt wurde. Vergleiche zwischen postalischer Versendung einer Papier/Bleistift-Version und einer Online-Version zeigen ähnliche und akzeptable Rücklaufraten; die Ergebnisse dieser Studie (Beitrag 1) können auf die gesamte IT-Branche übertragen werden (Beitrag 2). Die statistischen Analysen erbrachten einen guten Fit zwischen den Modellüberlegungen und dem Datensatz. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass eine Reihe von Prädiktoren auf organisatorischer Ebene sowie im Bereich von Personal-entwicklungsmaßnahmen mit Fluktuationsintentionen einhergehen. Dazu gehören z.B. fehlende Herausforderung in der Tätigkeit, (zu) hohe Anforderungen, Arbeit/Familien-Konflikte, fehlende Karrieremöglichkeiten und die Wahrnehmung eines ungerechten Belohnungssystems. Die Analysen zeigen, dass die Beziehungen zwischen diesen Prädiktoren und der Zielgröße durch arbeitsbezogene Einstellungen (Arbeitszufriedenheit und Burnout) mediiert werden. Es kann weiters gezeigt werden, dass das Geschlecht als Moderatorvariable auf die Beziehungen zwischen den Prädiktoren, den arbeitsbezogenen Einstellungen und der Fluktuationsneigung einwirkt. Die Ergebnisse können herangezogen werden, um die Bereitschaft zum Verbleib zu erhöhen (Beitrag 3). Die Robustheit des postulierten Modells wurde in einer transnationalen Vergleichstudie mit österreichischen Daten überprüft und bestätigt (Beitrag 4). Die Ergebnisse der Vergleichsstudien zeigen, dass ein optimiertes Modell einen zufriedenstellenden Fit in beiden Datensätzen (USA und Österreich) erbringt. Die Stabilität des Modells kann so bestätigt werden. Zusätzlich konnte gezeigt werden, dass die postulierten Modellbeziehungen auch für Frauen und Männer, für Altersgruppen sowie unterschiedliche Gruppen in den Unternehmen (Betriebszugehörigkeit und Qualifikation) bestätigt werden können. Als Abschluss der Studienreihe konnte auf der Basis der amerikanischen Daten gezeigt werden, dass eine familien-freundliche Politik im Unternehmen sowohl bei weißen Mitarbeiter/innen als auch bei den unterrepräsentierten Minoritäten geeignet ist, um Bleiberaten im Unternehmen zu erhöhen (Beitrag 5). Die Ergebnisse zeigen aber auch, dass es keinen einheitlichen Ansatz für alle Unternehmen gibt. Um Fluktuationsraten möglichst gering zu halten, müssen die organisatorischen Praktiken an die jeweiligen Bedürfnisse der Unternehmen und Mitarbeiter/innen angepasst werden.Employee turnover in the Information Technology (IT) workforce is high: it can reach more than 20% on an annual basis. Turnover rates of women are higher than turnover of men, and the percentage of women working in IT fell from 41% in 1996 to 29% in 2004. Turnover of highly skilled employees can be very expensive and disruptive for firms. Losing highly skilled staff members means that companies incur substantial costs associated with recruiting and re-skilling, and hidden costs associated with difficulties completing projects and disruptions in team-based work environments. Determining the causes of turnover within the IT workforce and controlling it through human resource practices and work system design is imperative for organizations. The goal of this study is examine antecedents of turnover in IT. In this dissertation we describe how we developed a questionnaire to examine antecedents, work-related attitudes and turnover intention in IT (Paper 1); the process of questionnaire implementation through a web-based survey system and the survey design factors that play a role in achieving high response rates (Paper 2). Further, we describe the development of a turnover model for IT based on the literature, how we tested the model with path analysis, and how we tested the model for gender differences, using data collected in the USA (Paper 3). In the fourth paper we describe how the turnover model is tested with data collected in a transnational (Austrian) study. Finally, recommendations are made for retention of IT personnel (Paper 5). Results of the study show that we developed a reliable and valid questionnaire (Paper 1). Further, results of our comparison between postal mail and Internet surveys show that the web-based survey we used to collect the data in the American study generated response rates that are comparable to postal mail studies; and that the results --in principal-- can be generalized to the whole IT population (Paper 2). Results of our statistical analysis show that there is a good fit between the turnover model that we developed for IT, and the data. Results show that there are a number of job and organizational factors and human resources practices that are related to turnover intention, such as lack of challenge in the job, high job demands, work-family conflict, lack of career opportunities and the lack of fairness of the reward system. Results show that most of the relationship between the antecedents of turnover intention is mediated by work-related attitudes such as job satisfaction and burnout. Results also show that gender moderates the relationship between antecedents of turnover, work-related attitudes and turnover intention. These results have an impact on retention of IT personnel (paper 3). We tested the robustness of the turnover model in a transnational study, using data collected in Austria (Paper 4). Results of the transnational studies show that the optimized turnover model fits both databases (American and Austrian) and thus confirm the stability of the model. Moreover, the model relations were found to be similar not only in the two national samples, but also for gender, age groups, groups with different tenure at their organizations, and groups with different educational backgrounds. Finally, using the American sample, we examined what family-friendly practices are effective in retaining white men and women, and underrepresented minorities in IT (Paper 5). Results show that there is not a “one size fits all” approach for retaining IT personnel. Retention practices have to be tailor-made to in order to be effective

Data collection challenges in community settings: Insights from two field studies of patients with chronic disease

Purpose Collecting information about health and disease directly from patients can be fruitfully accomplished using contextual approaches, ones that combine more and less structured methods in home and community settings. This paper's purpose is to describe and illustrate a framework of the challenges of contextual data collection. Methods A framework is presented based on prior work in community-based participatory research and organizational science, comprised of ten types of challenges across four broader categories. Illustrations of challenges and suggestions for addressing them are drawn from two mixed-method, contextual studies of patients with chronic disease in two regions of the US. Results The first major category of challenges was concerned with the researcher-participant partnership, for example, the initial lack of mutual trust and understanding between researchers, patients, and family members. The second category concerned patient characteristics such as cognitive limitations and a busy personal schedule that created barriers to successful data collection. The third concerned research logistics and procedures such as recruitment, travel distances, and compensation. The fourth concerned scientific quality and interpretation, including issues of validity, reliability, and combining data from multiple sources. The two illustrative studies faced both common and diverse research challenges and used many different strategies to address them. Conclusion Collecting less structured data from patients and others in the community is potentially very productive but requires the anticipation, avoidance, or negotiation of various challenges. Future work is necessary to better understand these challenges across different methods and settings, as well as to test and identify strategies to address them

A sociotechnical systems approach toward tailored design for personal health information management

We used a sociotechnical systems approach—which conceptualizes a system of interacting people, technologies, and tasks, to identify individual differences in personal health information management (PHIM) that can inform the design of patient-friendly environments, tools, and technologies. We conducted a secondary thematic analysis of data collected as part of a parent project, vizHOME. The goal of vizHOME was to improve health and health outcomes through identifying key features in the environment that will inform the design of consumer health information technology HIT. We analyzed interview data collected from 20 individuals with diabetes. We found seven dimensions of PHIM: (1) level of privacy preferred for PHIM; (2) amount of engagement in PHIM; (3) extent of guidance preferred for PHIM; (4) level of documentation preferred for PHIM; (5) degree of physical distribution of PHIM; (6) amount of flexibility in PHIM routine; and (7) use of external cues to manage PHIM. Our results suggest that each dimension exists as a continuum, which are anchored from low to high. Exploring the interaction between PHIM and the sociotechnical system in which PHIM is performed revealed key dimensions of PHIM as well as individual differences in those PHIM dimensions. Identification of individual differences in PHIM can support the creation of human-centered design considerations for tailored environments, products, processes, and technologies that support PHIM. Future research will seek to validate PHIM dimensions in a larger population and develop a PHIM-typing measure to identify PHIM types toward tailoring processes, products, and to individual needs in context. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Innovation & Technology lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework. (http://bit.ly/ExperienceFramework) Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this len

Effectiveness of interventions for preventing injuries in the construction industry: results of an updated Cochrane systematic review

Various interventions to prevent occupational injuries in the construction industry have been proposed and studied. This continuing updated Cochrane review systematically summarizes the most current scientific evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to prevent injuries associated with construction work. Search terms that covered the concepts of ‘construction workers’, ‘injury’, ’safety’ and ‘study design’ were used to identify intervention studies in five electronic databases up to April 2017. Acceptable study designs included randomized controlled trials (RCT), controlled before–after studies (CBA) and interrupted time series (ITS). In total 17 studies, 14 ITS and three CBA studies, from the US (6), UK (2), Italy (3), Denmark (1), Finland (1), Austria (1) Germany (1) Spain (1), Belgium (1) met the inclusion criteria. Most studies were at high risk of bias. There is very low-quality evidence that introducing regulations as such may or may not result in a decrease in fatal and non-fatal injuries. There is also very low-quality evidence that regionally oriented safety campaigns, training, inspections or the introduction of occupational health services may not reduce non-fatal injuries in construction companies. There is very low-quality evidence that company-oriented safety interventions such as a multifaceted safety campaign, a multifaceted drug workplace programme and subsidies for replacement of scaffoldings may reduce non-fatal injuries among construction workers

Interventions to prevent injuries in construction workers

Background Construction workers are frequently exposed to various types of injury-inducing hazards. A number of injury prevention interventions have been proposed, yet their effectiveness is uncertain. Objectives To assess the effects of interventions to prevent injuries in construction workers. Search methods We searched the Cochrane Injuries Group’s specialised register, CENTRAL,MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO,OSH-ROM(including NIOSHTIC and HSELINE), Scopus, Web of Science and EI Compendex to September 2011. The searches were not restricted by language or publication status. The reference lists of relevant papers and reviews were also searched. Selection criteria Randomised controlled trials, controlled before-after (CBA) studies and interrupted time series (ITS) of all types of interventions for preventing fatal and non-fatal injuries among workers at construction sites. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently selected studies, extracted data and assessed study quality. For ITS, we re-analysed the studies and used an initial effect, measured as the change in injury-rate in the year after the intervention, as well as a sustained effect, measured as the change in time trend before and after the intervention

Using the Job-Demands-Resources model to predict turnover in the information technology workforce – General effects and gender

High employee turnover has always been a major issue for Information Technology (IT). In particular, turnover of women is very high. In this study, we used the Job Demand/Resources (JD-R) model to examine the relationship between job demands and job resources, stress/burnout and job satisfaction/commitment, and turnover intention and tested the model for gender differences. Data were collected in five IT companies. A sample of 624 respondents (return rate: 56%; 54% males; mean age: 39.7 years) was available for statistical analyses. Results of our study show that relationships between job demands and turnover intention are mediated by emotional exhaustion (burnout) and relationships between job resources and turnover intention are mediated by job satisfaction. We found noticeable gender differences in these relationships, which can explain differences in turnover intention between male and female employees. The results of our study have consequences for organizational retention strategies to keep men and women in the IT work force