Reconcile work life, how IT professionals act

Too Much Work, Too Small Teams: How IT Pros Are Balancing Work and Life in a Hybrid Workplace.

It is well known that the pandemic caused employees to leave the office en masse to work from home, something that forced IT teams to ‘get their batteries’ at full speed, in order to help them organize the connection from their homes and facilitate remote work. It was a messy and often chaotic process, despite the goodwill of the IT guys.

At this time, working ‘from anywhere’ (Everywhere Workplace) is a definitively accepted and widespread phenomenon among professionals in any sector. So much so, that it is quite likely that the traditional model of always working full time in the office, something that was the norm for generations, will never return.

This means that organizations need to implement permanent solutions aimed at maintaining the commitment of their workers, as well as their well-being and productivity, while preserving the security of their data and corporate information. A great responsibility that falls on computer equipment.

flight of professionals

And at the same time that the IT department is shouldering significant extra workloads, it is experiencing an unprecedented brain drain. And it is that the ‘Great Resignation’ has hit the IT sector particularly hard. Globally, the shortage of cybersecurity professionals is estimated at 2.72 million.

To further complicate matters, cyber attacks have increased exponentially, especially those related to ransomeware. A recent study by Ivanti revealed a 29% increase in the most common vulnerabilities associated with ransomware, and a 26% increase in the different types of families associated with this malware compared to the previous year.

In conclusion: IT departments are forced to do more with fewer resources, something that is exhausting and completely unsustainable over time. From this point of view, the balance between personal and professional life has broken down.

How IT professionals manage to reconcile their work life

Reconcile work life

And it’s not just the IT department that suffers. The entire workforce feels fatigued and overworked, leading to higher staff turnover. Companies around the world recognize that, in this situation, attracting and retaining good professionals depends on being able to offer them a reliable and attractive environment to which they want to belong.

And how to achieve something like this, when there is so much left to do and there are few people to carry it out? Here are three strategies that business leaders could implement immediately:

• Redefine the balance between work and personal life. Before the Internet existed, workers clocked in at the end of the day and returned to their personal lives. They were literally disconnected. Then came the 24/7 connection, when employees physically left the office at the end of the day and took their work home. The remote and hybrid workplace has ushered in a new era, further blurring the lines between work and personal life. When you work and live in the same place, when does work start and end? In this context, it is up to those responsible for companies to establish the rules and the level of commitment of their employees towards the organization. Productivity is no longer measured by the hours spent sitting at the desk, but by the results, and there are the limits that managers must set. Maybe there is a “no meeting on Fridays” rule, or “no emailing on the weekends.” Whatever it is, it is convenient to set clear limits, be fair and make employees feel responsible.
• Create a sense of purpose. Good professionals want to work for companies that make a difference, and they also need to feel that they are contributing as individuals to a winning project. Increasingly, they leave their jobs if they don’t believe in the vision and mission of their organization. Leaders must convey to their employees that the company is focused on adding value and not just making profits, and must also help them understand that their work contributes to the purpose of the company.
• Automate, automate, automate. Perhaps the most effective way to ease the workload—for IT people in particular—is to embrace automation. By automating repetitive, data-intensive tasks, Ivanti Neurons enables IT departments to reduce complexity, anticipate security threats, reduce unplanned outages, and resolve device issues before users report them. This improves the cost, speed, and accuracy of IT services, allowing them to focus on more complex and critical tasks.

Author: Daniel Madero W, Iberia Regional Director, Ivanti