Have you ever taken a look at those "Top 100 IT Shops to Work For" and asked yourself why your shop can't be more like these.  For those CIO's, Director's and Manager's who are struggling with ways to keep talented IT employees while making their IT shop a better place to work, here are a few tips to consider that will not cost you a dime:

1.  Drop the tie - That's right, kill the tie, the suit, the dress slacks and all of the other stuffy trappings of those medieval IT shops and break out the blue jeans and t-shirts or golf shirts for that matter.  What better way to relax the atmosphere in your shop by letting your employees dress down at work.  How do you keep it from getting out of hand?  Charge your staff with enforcing it or run the risk of losing it. Nothing like a little peer pressure to keep a dress code from running amok.

2.  Bring on the flex time - Most IT staff, especially the network and server support staff, are on call 24x7x365.  Why not stagger the hours a little or a lot, to allow the early risers to come in early and the late night animals to have the graveyard shift.  Your more likely to have staff readily on hand if there is a problem late at night or to start battling those Monday morning gremlins before the bulk of your users clock-in for the day.

3. Comp time, comp time, comp time - Read the first sentence from item number 2. IT staffers spend A LOT of time at work or performing work related task from home. One thing those staffers will never be able to get back is the time they spend on work related tasks while at home or off the clock. You come in while your on-call for 2 hours, you get 2 hours of comp time in return.  Manage it by asking employees to take their comp time within 2 weeks if possible, if not possible, your only left to manage the exceptions.

4.  Bring on the games -  IT people are geeks, plain and simple.  That doesn't mean IT people don't like to have a good time.  Create a game VLAN and start taking suggestions for the after 5:00 mayhem. Battlefield 2142, Nascar 08, Madden Football or whatever strikes their fancy.  There's nothing like some on-line combat to foster a little team-building and friendly competition among IT staffers. On the plus side as well, maybe someone will pick up some networking skills to boot.

5.  Share the Vision - IT people need a purpose and a view of the big picture to feel like they're making a contribution.  Communicate the long and short term goals and vision of the department and make sure your clear.  Better yet, make an appointment with each IT staffer and explain to them where they fit in to the big picture and why they are important.

6.  Be Seen, Be Heard, Be There - Don't make yourself inaccessible, invisible or otherwise unavailable to anyone in your shop.  Everyone has a busy schedule and duties to attend to, but don't neglect your staff in the process.  If it requires a "No-Email on Friday" policy to make yourself available then do it.  Why not make a personal visit to each staffer to press the flesh and get some feedback on everything under the sun, including how your doing your job.

7.  Bring a Desert Day - Enough said!  Who wouldn't look forward to each IT staffer bringing in their favorite dessert recipe, including grandma's awesome chocolate chip cookies.  Just have plenty of milk on hand.

8.  Publish an IT Newsletter - This is not meant to replace item # 6, just compliment it.  This can be informal and irreverent but still in good taste.  Put grandma's cookie recipe in there and any other announcements that may be useful, but don't forget to spice it up a little with sightings of Elvis in the parking lot and why aliens are currently living among us.

9.  Get Out of the Box -  IT geeks are smart people who are used to solving problems and coming up with creative solutions.  Encourage them to think outside of the box about everything in an effort to make your shop more efficient and more productive.  You'll probably end up saving some money and time in the long-term.

10.  Say "Thank You" -  Be slow to criticize or blame and quick to say "thanks".  Everyone likes to hear a thank you for a job well done, coming in early or staying late.  Sometimes these two small words make be the difference in losing staff or keeping them. Maybe this needs to be number 1 instead of 10.

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