With the current low unemployment figures in the north east of
Scotland comes a new challenge for businesses - how to attract more people to
the region to boost the workforce and how to retain valuable team members. In
an industry where the turnover is notoriously high, it can often be difficult
to hang on to quality staff.
With its head office based in Aberdeen, Prosource.it, one of Scotland’s
leading independent IT companies, takes a different approach to retaining it's
150 strong team. Prosource.it’s key to success has been a combination
of a comprehensive people management strategy and the development of a unique
company culture and sophisticated forward planning.
At a recent staff dinner, two members of the Prosource.it team were presented
with special gifts of Rolex watches to mark their tenth anniversary with the
company. The two, Colin Wisely and Richard Knight were surprised by the presentation.
Colin said: "It came as something of a shock to be awarded such a prestigious
gift after only ten years. It's great to feel appreciated for what we do!".
According to the IT industry's average rate of retention (approximately 60%,
with prosource.it's rate standing at 95% since 1997) just over 0.5% of a company's
employees will still be with them after ten years, and for prosource.it to have
two is quite an achievement.
Personnel director Craig Adams is delighted with the Company's recruitment statistics.
He said: "Prosource.it is a business focussed and people sensitive organisation.
Since our inception, we have carefully constructed our business strategy to
reflect and consider both our clients and our staff in equal measures. We pride
ourselves on creating an attractive and productive work environment that IT
professionals can gravitate towards and enjoy working within."
Prosource.it currently recruits an average of four staff per month with many
new staff stating their reasons for joining Prosource.it to be the company’s
superior industry reputation in the area of staff benefits and training. Recruitment
is predominantly via personal referrals and targeted selection.
"Prosource.it has never advertised or used recruitment agencies. We currently
invest around £15,000 per month on staff training. Basically, we want
to hang onto our staff and we have a host of employee benefits, including financial
transparency; training; share options; health cover and regular results-orientated
staff promotion. In our ever expanding environment, an average of 40% of our
workforce are promoted annually," added Craig.
Pictured: L-R Working "treble time" for Prosource.it are Colin Wisely
executive consultant, Craig Adams, director and Richard Knight, executive consultant
after a recent presentation.
