Abstract
MBA
The Information Technology (IT) industry is currently faced with a shrinking pool of
IT professionals as a result of the increasing demand for these professionals. One of
the major contributors to the increasing demand is the rapidly advancing
technological markets, which have resulted in a widened gap between the availability
and demand of IT professionals. The increasing demand for skilled IT professionals
has resulted in the war for talent as organisations fight to attract and retain individuals
who possess the types of skills that are scarce. The war for talent is pressurising
organisations to start devising strategies for attracting and retaining targeted
employees.
Standard Bank South Africa Group IT (SBSA GIT) has also been affected by the war
for talent. This study was conducted in order to understand some of the challenges
facing the SBSA GIT leadership regarding employee retention. This study was
conducted using the interpretive, case-study research design which was conducted
through interviews held with the SBSA GIT leadership. The sample of interviewees
comprised of four directors and thirteen senior managers. The interviews also
revealed that SBSA GIT is affected by the shrinking pool of IT professionals. The
interviewees indicated that there is a shortage of the skills set for which the leadership
team is looking in the industry.
The research findings indicate that high employee turnover is the main contributor of
the skills shortages in the SBSA GIT department. The interviewees stated that the
non-existence of a proper retention strategy for SBSA GIT has made it difficult for
them to identify the type of skills that are critical to the organisation and which must
be retained. The absence of this strategy has made it difficult for the department to
come up with the standardised way of retaining employees. As a result, there is no
consistency as to what managers do in their individual units. The issue of salaries
was also raised as contributing factor to high turnover of employees. The
interviewees stated that employees who have been with the organisation for a long
time are not paid market related salaries, and end up leaving the organisation. This
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study also identifies some initiatives that can be implemented by SBSA GIT to reduce
employee turnover.
The recommendations provided in this study are the proposed solutions as to how the
defined objectives can be realised. These recommendations include implementing the
talent management process, creating dialogue with the employees, designing the
employee value propositions that will be specific to SBSA GIT, and identifying the
methodology that will be implemented by SBSA to implement the employee retention
strategy.