Retention and the career motives of IT professionals

ABSTRACT

Motivated by organizational concerns related to the recruitment and retention of IT professionals, the objective of this paper is to develop and investigate an explanatory model of IT professionals' joining and staying/leaving behaviors. The underlying conceptual base for the model draws upon recent work on psychological contracts. A key dimension in this work is the preferred duration of the employment relationship. We elaborate the theory of psychological contracts with additional constructs representing an IT professional's career motives. In particular, our version of the theory suggests that, in addition to preferred length of the employment relationship, important individual factors that help form the psychological contract are the career stage of an individual and the individual's personal career anchor or orientation. Specific hypotheses related to the effects of these variables on staying/leaving behavior are presented. Empirical data gathered from a field study of 130 IT professionals were used to test the research hypotheses. Results indicate that the hypothesized variables exhibit significant effects on IT professionals' intentions to stay with their current employer. In addition, results point to directions where fruitful future research is warranted.

REFERENCES

• 1: Agarwal, R. and Ferratt, T.W., Coping with Labor Scarcity in Information Technology: Strategies and Practices for Effective Recruitment and Retention, Cincinnati, OH: Pinnaflex, 1999.
• 2: Allen, N. and Meyer, J., "Organizational Commitment: Evidence of Career Stage Effects?" Journal of Business Research, Vol. 26, No. 1, 1993, 49-61.
• 3: Bluedom, A.C., "The Theories of Turnover: Causes, Effects, and Meaning," in Research in the Sociology of Organizations, Bacharach, S. B., ed., Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, Vol. 1, 1982, 75-I28.
• 4: James C. Brancheau , Brian D. Janz , James C. Wetherbe, Key issues in information systems management: 1994–95 SIM Delphi results, MIS Quarterly, v.20 n.2, p.225-236, June 1996 [doi>10.2307/249479]
• 5: Cohen, A., "Career Stage as a Moderator of the Relationships Between Organizational Commitment and its Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis," Journal of Occupational Psychology, Vol. 64, No. 3, 199t, 253-268.
• 6: Cole-Gomolski, B., "Y2K Work Ending Won't Ease Labor Needs. Study:Need for iT workers to climb," ComputerWorld Online, July 26, 1999.
• 7: Computerwofid, 1998, 12~h Annual Salary Survey, September 7, 1998.
• 8: Raymond G. Crepeau , Connie W. Crook , Martin D. Goslar , Mark E. McMurtrey, Career anchors of information systems personnel, Journal of Management Information Systems, v.9 n.2, p.145-160, Fall 1992
• 9: Cron, W.L. and Slocum, J.W. Jr., "Career-Stages Approach to Managing the Sales Force," Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Vol. I, No. 1, 1986, 51-60.
• 10: Cron, W.L. and Slocum, J.W. Jr., "The influence of Career Stages on Salespeople's Job Attitudes, Work Perceptions, and Performance," Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 23, No. 2, 1986.
• 11: Dalton, G.W., Thompson, P.H., and Price, R., "The Four Stages of Professional Careers: A New Look at Performance by Professionals," Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 6, No. 1, 1977, 19-42.
• 12: DeLong, T.J., "Reexamining the Career Anchor Model," Personnel, Vol. 59, No. 3, 1982, 60-61.
• 13: Festinger, L., A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1976.
• 14: Gould, S., and Hawkins, B.L., "Organizational Career Stage as a Moderator of the Satisfaction-Performance Relationship," Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 2I, No. 3, 1978, 434-450.
• 15: Hayes, F., "Wanted: True believers," Computerworld, Vol. 34, No. 4, Jan 26, 1998. p. 8.
• 16: Huselid, M.A., "The Impact of Human Resource Management Practices on Turnover, Productivity, and Corporate Financial Performance," Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 38, No. 3, June 1995, 635-672.
• 17: Magid Igbaria , Jeffrey H. Greenhaus , Saroj Parasuraman, Career orientations of MIS employees: an empirical analysis, MIS Quarterly, v.15 n.2, p.151-169, June 1991 [doi>10.2307/249376]
• 18: Igbaria, M. and Baroudi, J.J., "A Short-Form Measure of Career Orientations: A Psychometric Evaluation," Journal of Management Information Systems, Vol. 10, No. 2, 1993, 131-154.
• 19: Magid Igbaria , Jack J. Baroudi, The impact of job performance evaluations on career advancement prospects: an examination of gender differences in the IS workplace, MIS Quarterly, v.19 n.1, p.107-123, March 1995 [doi>10.2307/249713]
• 20: Magid Igbaria , Sidney R. Siegel, The reasons for turnover of information systems personnel, Information and Management, v.23 n.6, p.321-330, Dec. 1992 [doi>10.1016/0378-7206(92)90014-7]
• 21: Levinson, D.J., Darrow, C.N., Klein, E.B., Levinson, M.H., and McKee, B., The Seasons of a Man's Life, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1978.
• 22: MacDuffie, J.P., "Human Resource Bundles and Manufacturing Performance: Organizational Logic and Flexible Production Systems in the World Auto Industry," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 48, No. 2, January 1995, 197-221.
• 23: Mowday, R.T., Porter, L.W., and Steers, R.M., Employee- Organization Linkages: The Psychology of Commitment, Absenteeism, and Turnover, New York: Academic Press, 1982.
• 24: Orlikowski, W., and Baroudi, J.J., "The Information Systems Profession: Myth or Reality?" Office, Technology, and People, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1989, 13-30.
• 25: Pfeffer, J. Competitive Advantage Through People, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School, 1994.
• 26: Rosseau, D.M., "New Hire Perceptions of the Their Own and Their Employer's Obligations: A Study of Psychological Contracts," Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 11, 1990, 389-400.
• 27: Rousseau, D.M., Psychological Contracts in Organizations: Understanding Written and Unwritten Agreements, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, I995.
• 28: Schein, E.H., Career Anchors, San Diego, CA: Pfeiffer, Inc., 1990.
• 29: Schein, E.H., "Career Anchors Revised: Implications for Career Development in the 21st Century," Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 10, No. 4, 1996, 80-88.
• 30: Schneider, B., "The People Make the Place," Personnel Psychology, Vol. 40, 1987, 437-453.
• 31: SIM International, Addressing The Information Technology Workforce Shortage: Position Statement, Chicago, IL: Society For Information Management, October, 1998.
• 32: Sandra Slaughter , Soon Ang, Employment outsourcing in information systems, Communications of the ACM, v.39 n.7, p.47-54, July 1996 [doi>10.1145/233977.233994]
• 33: Smallwood, N., "A Career Stages Approach for Computer Professionals," Infosystems, Vol. 33, No. 2, 1986, 70-72.
• 34: Super, D., The Psychology of Careers, New York: Harper, 1957.
• 35: Thompson, P.H., Baker, R.Z., and Smallwood, N., "Improving Professional Development by Applying the Four--Stage Career Model," Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 15, No. 2, 1986, 49-62.

INDEX TERMS

Keywords:
IT professionals, career anchors, career motives, psychological contracts, retention