We have found that are some simple things that CIOs can do to steer their way and motivate employees to excel and perform for the enterprise.  They are:

• Take a personal interest in employees -  Know who they are, are they married, do they have children, what do they do for enjoyment, and what are important dates in their lives (birthdays and anniversaries).  If employees feel that you know and care about them they will respond and be valued assets.
• Work around employees' requests for time - If an employee has a sick child or an important event coming up, including a vacations, let them schedule it so that they can go to the doctor with their children or take that vacation even though it may not be best for the IT function. 
• Provide scheduled evaluations - If an employee knows what they are doing well and what they need to work on, job performance will improve for stars and weak employees will be weeded out more effectively.  That in turn takes the mystery out of why someone is let go and someone is promoted.
• Promote from within - CIO should reward their employees by promoting them and giving them the chance they deserve. 
• Issue bonuses - But giving bonuses CIOs keep their star employees happy, and they work harder and stay loyal. Everyone needs to be reminded that theyÂ’re appreciated every now and then.
• Offer benefits - Employees who have health care and sick days available to them do not have to worry what will happen.  In a downturn there is much stress and it has been proven that stress is a factor among those in poor health.
• Be supportive, not demanding - When CIO want an employee to do something he should not just tell the employee, he asked them in consultative manner.
  
  Have an open door policy - Make time for all of your employees and listen to what they have to say.
• Do not play favorites – There is nothing worse than a CIO who plays favorites. When a CIO gives all the "dirty"work to one employee and let someone else off without doing anything, employees lose respect for the CIO and you begin to resent them. CIOs should delegate their employeesÂ’ evenly, making sure everyone has their fair share.
• Have fun - If the employee wakes up every morning and dreads going to their job, they will not perform well because they're not happy. Keeping employees happy is the sure way to have loyal employees and employees that are willing to go that extra mile for the enterprise.

The top ten concerns are:

• Budgets - Budgets have never been tighter. Since the dot com bubble burst  where IT budgets were pared to the bone, organizations are striving to keep a really tight control over them, even though they still need innovative IT to keep ahead of the competition. Smart CIOs are seeing savings through standardization of the IT infrastructure so new systems can be financed without increasing budgets.
• Staffing - People are an organization's most valuable asset. For CIO they are not only the most valuable, they are causing the most headaches as well. Recruiting, managing and training staff are the most pressing concerns for CIOs
• Security - Internal and external threats are on the increase, especially as enterprises continue to increase the growth of mobile and wireless based applications.  Keeping the business operating in the face of threats, whether against the systems themselves, or against the business and the environment are a major component of CIO's role.
• Compliance - Security and compliance work together for CIOs as many governance and compliance regulations were spawned from risk management and directly affect security. For many companies regulatory compliance is now part of everything they do. This has allowed the CIO to understand exactly what resources and processes an organization has and to increase efficiency and throughput as a result.
• Resource Management - Managing time and resources are a major concern for CIOs.  Enterprise management now demands more efficient working. CIO now are now using more of their time and resources they used to spend on legacy maintenance on more produce to manage critically short supplies of resources.
• Infrastructure - Updating technology infrastructures and keeping the backbone of an organization's IT up to date is another top concern for CIOs..
• Business Alignment - Keeping IT strategy in line with business strategy is something at which CIOs have become masters but it is still one of the areas that causes a lot of work and is resource heavy.
• Managing Users - CIOs must prioritize the needs of their users and customers. Dealing with users while improving the quality of service for users is a constant for all IT departments.   More CIOs are putting metrics in place to see just how well they are doing. Excellent customer service and cost effectiveness in driving the business forward are the two overlying themes for many businesses. The aim is to lift the bar on customer service, on cost effectiveness and on the capabilities of service offerings and people.
• Managing Change - The fast moving pace of technological innovation means change is a guaranteed part of the CIO's role. But the way they manage its effect on the business is more critical. Arguably, the most significant management issue that CIOs have to face this year is change management - business process change, changes in organizational cultures and how they affect people are very high on the CIO's agenda.
• Organizational Politics - To manage change and integration effectively, CIOs need the support of their senior management team. The success of change management programs and the contribution IT can make to those depend heavily on the support and drive of senior managers. If the CIO lines of report - CEO, CFO or COO -understand the power of transformational IT investment and if a CIO can educate and communicate what is possible, IT should be a key enabler for business and process change. Many companies are going through massive change and integration programs, all of which need board support to succeed.

• Take care of your "A" players.  Do not project the attitude that "you are lucky to have a job".  The best players are hardest to come by and will always have career options.   Sales organizations feel this more than others.  Your "A" players will always be sought by your competitors and the same players know they can be successful for you or against you.
• It is the wrong time to make cutbacks in your incentive compensation plans.  Sales people are motivated by money; do not make major changes to their compensation plans or their territories unless it only benefits them.  A top sales person wants lower quotas, more territory and more money.  Almost any other change will be viewed negatively.
• At all costs, avoid across the board layoffs or restructuring.  If necessary, make cutbacks based solely upon performance.  It is a good time to look at your "C " players and work them out of the business, with the intention of finding an "A " player as their replacement.  Another benefit to this type of employment action is that you give your competitors less chance to tell your clients that your business is struggling and it was necessary to resort to layoffs.
• Start planning for 2009 by acting now.  Many companies are currently cutting back on hiring in response to the unknown certainty of our economy and future business climate.  Companies are starting their fall planning process, which normally involves hiring requirements for the next year.  If you are planning to add staff for the 2009, you will want to start the process sooner rather than later.  A good sales candidate might be interested in switching, but will be too busy finishing out their quota year and not able or willing to devote their time to the hiring process.  Thus, October and early November are the ideal times to select your new hires for January.

Now hordes of American IT workers find the news hard to reconcile with their own day-to-day experiences. Highly qualified American IT workers now say that they cannot find jobs in the United States.  Add to that the massive layoffs that are occurring in the financial sector (Citicorp – 52,000 jobs eliminated) and you have a very glum picture.

CIOs are under pressure to cut costs, improve productivity, and maintain a high service level. Some CIOs are paring down overhead and finding cheaper labor elsewhere. But it doesnÂ’t provide heartening news to unemployed IT workers.

And the truth is that the woes of American IT workers may well be just beginning. The global business landscape is morphing by the day. Globalization is no longer about American businesses colonizing the third world.

So what is an out-of-work IT professional to do? Many of the more fortunate (employed) IT professionals urge the unemployed to sharpen their skills and evolve in their professions.