Interview with CEO, Mike Jenner on the Real Cost of Hiring an IT Person

TekBlog: What are the most important things to consider when hiring in the IT market today?

Mike J: What we are seeing in the market is a high demand for IT talent  — be prepared to look beyond your local area to find the right talent. Because demand is high for these employees, understanding what is important to them is a critical component to attracting and retaining them long-term. Turnover can be very expensive and can put your business at risk.

TekBlog: In your experience, what are today’s IT industry candidates looking for?

Mike J: For companies in the SMB space looking to hire support in-house for IT, they have some real challenges ahead for not only finding but hiring and managing this new hire in the local market. Today, given the fact that there is a shortage of candidates and the demand is high, you have to be able to offer something more to compete for the skilled job seekers that will stay with you long-term.

As for needs: The IT pro is a problem solver. They have a deep desire (and need) to find solutions to technical problems. Today’s IT industry pro is looking for more than just a paycheck and benefits. They want an opportunity for advancement, the tools to do their job efficiently and effectively, projects that will offer the experience they need to build on their skills, and a chance to learn more given the ever-changing field of technology.

TekBlog: You say that the SMB has some real challenges in managing that resource. Can you elaborate on that?

Mike J: We see the SMB’s struggle with more than simply finding and hiring. For many SMB’s, information technology is the backbone of the companies operations.

Your network environment must be up-and-running 24/7/365. Today, downtime can cost you more than just short-term revenue loss. It can also have a long-term impact on customer satisfaction. We are seeing breaches critically impact the reputation of a business and in a customer-centric market, this can be devastating.

Your IT manager is on-call and if you are a one-man show, you’re talking “sweatshop” environment because that individual will often have to fix something after hours to avoid affecting operations. They are responsible for your company’s operations any time of the day or night. This is one of the most difficult issues for an SMB to manage — meeting the needs of the business without burning out their employees.

It’s also a challenge for managers with little or no technical background to effectively manage and develop technical employees. It can be almost like a language barrier – understanding what they need to be successful in their career and in supporting your business without speaking their language is tough.

TekBlog: That brings up a good point. If a company hires a consultant, wouldn’t that consultant have a plan in place for backup in the case of vacation or sick days?

Mike J: They may or they may not. An outsourced provider will have a team of engineers and investment in the tools to automate infrastructure management as much as possible. This is something an independent or SMB simply cannot afford to have. This is another misconception – that this “investment” is costly for the SMB. That is not the case. When you factor in all the costs to hiring, we offer more in monitoring services and we have the flexibility to fit the needs of our target market.

This investment also gives NexusTek the foundation to find the best in the business, the tools to support their work, and a career path by making training available for our tech pros. This is a differentiator for NexusTek and a critical component in managing an IT employee today that most SMB hiring managers miss. We have the flexibility to address this need in the market.

We regularly have to educate our target market of the misconception that outsourcing costs more than an in-house resource. When you gather all of the factors that often get overlooked, it typically not the case. NexusTek considers all of the costs of hiring and retaining IT talent.

Being in the business for twenty years has taught us to listen to our clients, understand the market and provide the viable solutions that enable businesses to grow profitably.

TekBlog: We thank Mike for taking the time to share his experience and for making NexusTek’s Employee Cost Calculator available to our readers!