How to retain top tech talent?
There is a simple HR equation at the heart of every successful business - retain key talent, and reap the long-term rewards of a driven, motivated, trusted team.
Engaging, sourcing, interviewing, hiring, onboarding and then retaining said key talent takes more than good HR practice, especially in new, industry-critical roles like Tech.
In our view, tech hiring is like regular recruitment, turned up to ten - the salaries are ever-increasing, the market is more candidate-led than ever, and the demand for a full spectrum of skilled tech talent never slows down.
Above all of those pressures lies the sheer aggressive competitiveness of the tech hiring market, and the difficulty in retaining tech talent:
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?“Employee turnover rates are set to hit 41.4 per cent on average in 2023”.
“Employee turnover rates have increased by 9% since 2019”.
“The majority (83%) of chief HR officers say they face a significant talent retention problem”.
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Has the great resignation really ended? Yes, and no. The employee frustrations that drove the great resignation mid- and post-pandemic are less acute, but the inactivity of employers to meet the moment, and re-up their recruitment retention strategy fit for 2023 and beyond, is seriously hampering retention rates.
The main reasons tech workers quit jobs, based on research, are the following:
So, taking all the above into account, how can employers retain tech talent?
?In our view, the magic of good tech talent retention lies in simply prioritising how much better you can treat your people, every minute of every day.
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Be generous with praise and contextualise a “win”
One issue with poor tech talent management is that workers feel detached from what a “win” looks like for a company. This, naturally, leads to disaffected teams and unmotivated employees who don’t reap the rewards of their hard work.
For example, Data Analysts don’t see the end results of their hard work parsing bulk data sets, or Software Engineers are siloed from customer feedback and isolated from celebrating a team victory.
The first port of call should be to improve team-wide performance management and remember to celebrate wins with every member of the team, both individually and as a group.
Encourage psychological safety
Psychological safety describes an environment where people feel able to express themselves without fear that others will think less of them. In the workplace, that translates to employees feeling comfortable speaking up, whether they're sharing ideas, asking questions, expressing concerns or acknowledging mistakes.
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This should be a high priority. A lot of the hard work of building trusted tech teams lies in creating a working culture that values opinions good or bad!
In high-stress, high-demand roles like tech where everything from digital transformation to AI implementation takes patience, learning, staff development and roll-out, the last thing managers want to do is create a toxic environment that belittles, bullies or undermines anyone in that team.
Centralise and uplift wellbeing.
The signs of tech burnout are all too familiar to anyone who’s worked in a toxic tech working environment -
?Burnout is also on the rise:
In a February 2023 survey of 10,243 global workers by US think-tank Future Forum, 42% reported burnout.
Latest survey of cloud tech professionals reveals 46% of women are experiencing burnout
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The fix is a focus on employee, physical and mental health and healthy lifestyle choices as a priority contributor to retention strategy. Of course, there is a huge range of workplace wellness offerings HR professionals can bring into their workplaces, from volunteer days to a 4-day working week.
The trick is finding the right wellness package that suits your organisation and the people who work there.
?As employer wellness provider Wellsteps puts it, “Wellness programs that support a healthy lifestyle are a good way to improve employee retention because healthy employees are not susceptible to frailties, sickness, and early retirement”. An easy win for leaders looking to hold onto their best-in-class talent!
To conclude and as we've discussed a strong retention strategy goes way beyond the salary, benefits, career development and DE&I (which are also so important to get right!) - however, people want more! They invest more than ever in the company they work for and companies must do the same if they want to keep hold of their best people.
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At Brookwood we help our clients find better and more diverse tech talent whilst ensuring we support our candidates every step of the way, even after they have landed the job. Making sure the culture of the organisation is the right match for the right person, ensuing longevity of the talent we place.
After all we want to make sure that we get the ‘best fit’ for both the client and the candidate, providing complete transparency throughout our recruitment process.
If you are looking to secure the best talent why not drop us a message and talk to one of our team at [email protected], and find out how we can assist with your talent search.
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References:
https://www.hrreview.co.uk/hr-news/recruitment/employee-turnover-rates-have-increased-by-9-since-2019/150788
https://www.businessmole.com/employee-turnover-rates-have-increased-by-9-since-2019/
https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1811990/majority-hr-professionals-claim-retaining-talent-significant-problem-research-reveals
https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1811990/majority-hr-professionals-claim-retaining-talent-significant-problem-research-reveals
https://globalpeoservices.com/top-5-strategies-to-retain-tech-talent
https://www.bluebeyondconsulting.com/thought-leadership/72-of-tech-workers-may-quit-their-jobs-fixing-organizational-cultures-can-help-them-stay-put/
https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/celebrating-success
https://championhealth.co.uk/insights/psychological-safety-at-work/
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20230309-is-it-impossible-to-end-burnout
https://uktechnews.co.uk/2023/03/22/burnout-in-female-tech-professionals-a-growing-crisis-in-the-uk/
https://www.wellsteps.com/blog/2022/04/19/improve-employee-retention/