Once people get past the idea that running 100 miles without sleeping is possible, the next question is usually related to what one eats. The need to eat something during a race taking nearly a day is self-evident. Unfortunately, many project managers seem to have missed the memo.
Shorter projects, even "marathon" projects like ERP upgrades are generally (and correctly) seen as career builders. Team members learn enough just by being on the project that they almost always come out of it with brighter prospects in the organization or, at the very least, better resumes. However, to put career development on hold for a year or longer while tending to an ultra project is a break-even proposition at best. IT staff either progress or regress. There's no standing still in this field.
I've actually had senior managers voice the concern that if project members were given professional development during the project, they would just just leave at the end. My response (which I typically state with only a bit more tact) is to ask if they'd rather have them leave after the mission-critical-multi-year project is done or during. Turnover is a fact of life in IT. If someone wants to leave, they will. But, there's no upside to having them do that right when the biggest deliverables are due.
I'm not advocating any particularly special treatment; just don't penalize people for sticking with a long effort. If the expectation in an organization is that all associates pick up one new skill a year, simply make sure that goes for people on the project team as well and build it into the plan.
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