Have you taken a look at the results of Summit’s most recent survey results of IT workers?
We asked over 1,000 respondents about their roles in the workplace and biggest pain points on the job. Representing various job titles and levels in their organizations, a significant number of respondents identified their top pain points as issues that leadership could improve with the right approach to the work environment.
Regardless of role or level, employees do their best work for a company when they’re set up to succeed.
Below, we list three of the biggest pain points our respondents told us about. We also talk about ways that leaders and managers can reduce these issues in your company by focusing on the work environment you’re creating for your people.
23% Limited opportunities for advancement:
Almost a quarter of our respondents identified “limited opportunities for advancement” as a top complaint. Solid workers don’t just want to show up and do their jobs. They want to learn, grow, and be able to take on more responsibilities as their skills improve.
One way to address this is to improve communication (also a top pain point in Summit’s survey) about what kinds of opportunities may exist in the company that employees don’t know about or see coming down the pike.
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5 Simple Ways to Improve Team Communication
In smaller companies, there may always be a limited number of top positions to which employees can aspire to be promoted. However, motivated employees will be more loyal and happy in their roles if given the chance to develop their careers through ongoing education or increased responsibilities.
Not everyone needs to be the VP, but it is possible to cultivate an environment that encourages and incentivizes growth and leadership in other ways.
29% Work-life imbalance:
Almost a third of our respondents cited work-life balance problems as one of their top concerns. Burnout is real, and it can sometimes sneak up on a team or employee that was once performing well. The guy who used to be the first one in the office every day? Suddenly, he seems to be having a harder and harder time getting in when everyone else does.
The woman you could always count on to create the best presentations when you needed them? For some reason, they seem to lack the spark that they once did. These small reductions in performance may be minor or temporary, or they may be signaling a team in need of better balance – otherwise, expect a more significant performance hit down the road.
Humans are humans, which means they don’t do their perfect, best work all the time. But if you’re constantly leaning on your employees and demanding just a little (or a lot) more than they can fit in in a day, performance will eventually suffer.
You can’t always control the workload, but there are still things that managers can do to reduce the risk of burnout – like being mindful about how work is distributed, encouraging vacations and mental health days when possible, allowing for flexible work schedules, and improving communication. Check out this additional list of ideas from experts on how to prevent employee burnout.
63% Budget constraints:
You’re probably not surprised that this one topped our responses as the #1 reported pain point for IT workers. Obviously, budget constraints can cause a cascade of effects on all aspects of your work environment. One of them is that workers end up making do with tools and technology that’s subpar. This doesn’t only contribute to frustration and burnout. It also sends a subtle message to IT workers that their contributions are not a high priority for the company.
IT professionals usually love new technology, don’t they? If management isn’t taking that into account when making budget decisions, they may not realize the level of impact it’s having on the IT work environment.
Budget issues are often contentious and tricky, but don’t underestimate the practical and motivational value you can create by implementing the right tools and the latest (or latest you can afford) technology.
IT managers have the power to positively influence the work environment by creating growth opportunities, promoting work-life balance, and giving people the right tools and technology for their jobs. If you’re interested in learning more about what our survey respondents had to say about their roles and pain points, take a look at our post on the full survey results.
