Steven Bennett, vice president of recruitment firm, Kirby Partners, got right to the point.

“I do love your unhappy employees,” he told an audience of about 100 CIOs Thursday at the annual fall forum of the College of Health Information Management Executives. “If it’s not me who calls, it’ll be some other recruiter."

Bennett noted that health IT employment, which has long been a buyers’ market, is now a sellers market. The applicant pool is quickly dwindling, he said, and with demand forecast to grow at 20 percent a year until 2018, it’s not likely to change soon.

“Retaining existing employees is emerging as a key strategy,” Bennett said.

Consider this:

1. One third of U.S. workers are thinking about leaving their jobs – even during an economic downturn that tends to have employees “hunkered down." The first to leave are the  “A players,” said Bennett.
2. Replacing an employee can cost up to 250 percent that employee’s annual salary. “It’s not just money costs,” he added. “It’s also morale.”

[See also: 5 ways to attract the best health IT employees.]

According to recent surveys by Kirby Partners:

• More than 50 percent of IT departments have open positions that have been open for 3 months/
• 50 percent of healthcare CIOs responding to the survey said their staff members are stressed.

“They are feeling like cogs in a wheel,” Bennett said. “Projects are ending, and they feel their jobs will come to an end, too."

Tim Stettheimer, senior vice president and regional CIO at Ascension Health in Birmingham. Ala., who presented the survey results with Bennett, said the results “reflect the most volatile time we have seen in healthcare.”

One of the most telling responses: 46 percent of health IT staff members indicated morale was poor, while 29 percent of directors and managers said the same.

“Again that leads to turnovers,” Stettheimer said. “Most of us expect staffing will stay the same or go higher. The problem is where are you going to get these people?”

[See also: Hospitals put out ‘Help Wanted’ sign for IT personnel.]

What is it IT staff want? An enjoyable work environment, involvement in improving patient care and fair compensation, the survey showed.

“They want their work to have meaning in the actual mission of the organization,“ Stettheimer said, noting that it's iimportant to let the staff know they are appreciated. IT team members want to know their efforts do not go unnoticed. They want to be heard and respected. They also want the CIO to know them as more than a cog in the wheel.

“If your emotional IQ is low, you better kick it up a notch," Stettheimer said. “If you’re in your office all day, you’re not going to be there very long. Our personal success is going to be predicated on our teams. It’s all about members pulling together in the same direction."