These are the study results conducted by Babeş-Bolyai University - through the UBB-STAR Institute - and NTT DATA Romania, in order to define the "psycho-social profile of the IT professional in the coming years". Initiated in April 2017, the project of Advanced Fellowship type was conducted by the Department of Economic Sciences and Business Administration in German at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, UBB, under the aegis of the Star UBB Institute and funded by NTT DATA Romania.
The purpose of the study was to provide a detailed insight into the IT professional’s expectations in terms of organizational features and attributes and to investigate the impact that job features have on the construct of attitudes towards the organization and on the performance of the IT professionals at work. The research has also pursued the Millennials generation’s expectations in the context of the technological and organizational changes produced at an extremely fast pace, which generates fierce competition in the IT industry.
The project had a quantitative research stage, which consisted in developing an analysis based on validated instruments in the profile literature, as well as a qualitative analysis stage, where individual interviews and focus groups were held in order to explore the contextual expectations of IT professionals. These three studies were conducted on 319 IT professionals aged 20 to 47, from NTT DATA Romania, but also from other IT companies. The job satisfaction of IT professionals has been positively correlated with some of the main expectations they have from employers, such as the offered career development opportunities within the company, constant feedback provided on their own performance, control over the way and duration of the tasks. Also, the characteristics of the activity have proven to be important in increasing employee engagement, performance and diminishing the intention to leave the organization. Teamwork and collaboration with colleagues, time for personal fulfillment and a flexible work program are the main expectations of the Millennial’s representatives. The analysis and the scientific interpretation of the data collected during the three studies and focus groups were the basis for the formulation of a set of recommendations for the initiation of new practices within NTT DATA Romania and the strengthening of the existing practices, in order to increase the efficiency of the organization on a long-term basis.
“It's a very competitive market. We are always thinking about the expectations and needs of our colleagues. We wanted to work with a professional research team in order to obtain results that will constitute the basis of our HR actions”, said Daniel Metz, CEO, NTT DATA Romania. The project represents a new step in redefining the UBB’s relationship with the community and the socio-economic environment, distinctive to world-class research and education universities.
“UBB is thus projecting itself as an advanced research university where knowledge generated by research (research-development-innovation) is underlying both the act of education – in a Humboldtian model of knowledge transmission in the modern logic of the process of learning-teaching through research/discovery – and the innovative and/or community/educational (outreach) services delivered for the socio-economic environment. The University can mobilize the most advanced academic and professional expertise available, not only internally or nationally, but also internationally, thus providing the chance for innovative services/solutions that support competitive advantages for the beneficiary in the community and the socio-economic environment”, said Daniel David, UBB Pro-rector, responsible for research, competitiveness-excellence and scientific publications.
The project team coordinated by Dr. Loredana Mihalca, scientific researcher within UBB, was made up of Prof. Dr. Mihaela Dragan, Sen. Lect. Dr. Gabriela Brendea, Univ. Assist. Dr. Tudor Irimias, Dr. Laura Avram and Univ. Lect. Dr. Lucia Ratiu.
