What Makes Talent Stay? - Enhancing the Retention of IT Knowledge Workers

Sammanfattning: Background: As employees have become one of the key assets providing companies competitive advantage, the importance of talent retention has grown. This holds true especially in industries such as information technology, where firms not only have to adapt to the needs and expectations of Generation Y but are also experiencing a substantial shortage of knowledge workers. Purpose: The goal of this thesis is to first gain an understanding of what tools and techniques Finnish IT companies are using to approach the topic of retention, a process guided by theory. The existing literature and empirical findings are then combined to create a model for enhancing the retention of IT knowledge workers. Method: Empirical data was generated through interviews with ten Finnish IT firms employing knowledge workers, all different in terms of organizational characteristics and retention approaches. Template analysis was then used to infer meaningful findings from the data. Conclusion: The results show that retention of IT knowledge workers should be approached holistically. There are five categories (Training and Development; Compensation and Benefits; Flexibility and Work-life Balance; Organizational Culture; and Organizational Prestige) that must all be given thought to before implementing retention tools and techniques identified as most suitable for the specific organizational context.