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Monday, May 17, 2004
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VOLUME 1
ISSUE 12
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Lessons from the Dot Com Era
When the economy heats up will employees stay?
by Carol Kinsey Goman
Last week the Labor Department reported that businesses added 288,000 new jobs, dropping the unemployment rate from 5.7 percent to 5.6 percent. Following the addition of 337,00 jobs in February, this represents a vast improvement over the snail-paced job growth of last year.
Since 9/11 when the economy tanked, retention concerns in most organizations have taken a back seat to bottom-line business issues. Now, as the job market heats up and employment opportunities improve, companies would do well to remember the lessons learned in the dot-com era about how to retain and engage talented employees.
While the most tangible lure for talent in the dot-com economy was money, the most important lessons were in the changing culture and work environment. Here is what that culture promised:
Jobs that had meaning
Technology companies were especially brilliant at letting new hires know that the work they were doing was exciting and important. Employees felt they were "changing the world."
A culture match
Technology companies quickly found out that employees wanted to stay with an organization whose culture reflected their own values. Organizations would "hire to the culture" and train skills.
Frequent feedback
The rapid pace of the dot-com industry didn't allow for drawn-out processes like annual assessments. Techies received fast, honest, and frequent feedback on their performance.
Freedom
Technical talent demanded (and got!) control over where, when, and how they got the job done. They were judged on results, not "face time."
Collaboration
It wasn't just the stock options that made the work force feel like they were "part of the action." In dot-com companies, information was shared openly and candidly, and the opinions of talented employees were sought and utilized.
The New Economy was not just about technology, but the relationship between individuals and their organizations. The number one lesson from the dot-com past is that top talent will stay and thrive in environments in which they feel they are supported, growing, and contributing. And they will leave more repressive environments as soon as the market enables them to do so.
Carol Kinsey Goman's book, "The Human side of High Tech" was published in 2000. Carol's latest book is "This Isn't the Company I Joined - How to Lead in a Business turned Upside Down." She can be reached by phone: 510-526-1727 or email: cgoman@CKG.com. Her website is: www.CKG.com.
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