staff member

Make employee perks count

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 06:59:57 -0500

You may not be Santa Claus, but you don't want to be Scrooge either. And one of the most important management tools you have is perks that keep your staff happy. It's a challenging idea because many managers don't have a clue. You could give a guy a pair of small binoculars or a bracelet for a female staff member at a five-year anniversary. But that really doesn't do much at all for morale, let alone loyalty. There are plenty of ways to enhance worker loyalty without trinkets. Here are a few of them. Reduce unplanned work. Allow teleworking instead of mandatory office attendance. Make liberal use of training, bonuses and vacation. Just think how you would feel if you got a goodie bag full of real goodies instead of fluff. Forget the free drinks at the bar and get real about what will make your employees a team.

For more on employee morale:
- See this CIOInsight Article

Using your IT staff to its fullest potential

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 20:01:39 -0400

With fewer IT experts available to hire and CIOs being asked to produce more with less staff, it's important to get as much value from each IT staff member as possible. Step back and honestly assess what your company needs in terms of people and skills. Don't be afraid to turn down a request if you don't have the manpower. Be honest about what you can accomplish and move resources to important initiatives. Hire the best of breed in any field of IT where you can find them. Don't look too narrowly, or the person that you hire will have limited value to the company. And provide real career paths for your people by finding a way to develop them, such as career rotation and training. Also, consider hiring entry-level staff and helping them grow.

Read more about making do with less:
- read the column at TechTarget

ALSO:
- read this on preventing employee turnover
- this on why competition for IT staff is fierce
- this on the need to retain valuable tech knowledge
- and this on the talent war

Email delivery demands work

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 20:01:37 -0400

When email emerged as a marketing and business communications tool, it was a free-for-all situation. But today it's anything but, with IT working harder than ever to get company email delivered past spam filters. Tech leaders also have to make sure that the company's email "rep" stays in good standing and that in using the digital messaging format it's not becoming a nuisance or spam organization itself. As several experts point out, there typically isn't a one-size-fits-all solution, but rather a combination of different strategies that are needed to keep email's return on investment strong. One company developed its own proprietary tools, brought on hired hands and put a dedicated staff member on the case to ensure that emails got delivered and that the corporate reputation wasn't damaged.

For more on making efficient use of email communications:
- read this News.com article

Joint effort boosts chemical industry security

Thu, 20 Apr 2006 20:01:35 -0400

Five years ago, after the terrorist events on 9/11, the chemical manufacturing industry and federal government joined forces to work on securing plants and factories that could be future attack targets. Now, the Chemical Sector Cybersecurity Program has begun issuing programs and advisories such as the "Guidance for Addressing Cybersecurity in the Chemical Sector." The 100-page document provides insight and guidance on network security for corporate LANs and databases. The biggest hurdle the group faced in moving ahead was communications, according to Christine Adams, an IT staff member at Dow Chemical and director of the Chemical Sector Cybersecurity Program.

For more on the industry's security effort:
- read this article at NetworkWorld

Good security practices that don't cost a dime

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 19:01:35 -0500

IT security leaders at small to midsized firms face a few heftier challenges that colleagues at larger and more financially secure companies typically don't have to deal with, yet they have to secure the enterprise just like their counterparts. Doing so requires some innovative and creative ideas, such as making sure that every security staff member has the skills and knowledge necessary to do their job, realizing the benefits value-added resellers can bring to the service provider relationship, and investigating potential ways to share insight and gain needed help and insight from external organizations and support resources. While security leaders at midsize firms may have less money and resources, they still have some creative ways to drive good security without killing their IT budgets.

For more on economical security strategies:
- read this CSO article