How to Retain Your Best Engineers

Retaining highly-skilled engineers is one of the most challenging problems companies face today. Engineers are the new rock stars, commanding high compensation and other benefits that result from being on the right side of an unprecedented supply and demand imbalance in engineering talent.

How does a company retain their best engineers – the ones they have worked so hard to recruit, hire and develop? What does it take to prevent the wandering eye that so many engineers seem to have today? To answer these questions, let’s look at what makes engineers tick. When a company understands engineers and makes an effort to address their needs, retention is more likely to follow.

I spoke to some of the best Mechanical and Electrical Engineers in the business, and here is what they said:

“Give me a hard problem to solve and recognize me when I figure it out.”

At the core of it, all engineers are problem solvers. Some prefer problems that can be solved in a day or a week and others are more apt to attack a problem that will take years to reconcile. Regardless of the type or timeline, most engineers derive a tremendous amount of satisfaction from actually cracking the code on a really hard problem. As they solve problems, engineers like to feel ownership, be a little experimental, and see outcomes. 

It is important to engineers to have managers and mentors who champion and advocate for them. While many engineers are introverted, they want to be widely known for being good at something specific or as a generalist superstar problem solver. They crave recognition and the lack of it “kills the spirit” according to an engineer at Karma Automotive, especially if they have worked really hard on something.  

Engineers also crave a connection to the big picture. They like to solve hard problems that have meaning and connect to the larger vision of the enterprise. So, as their manager, remember to connect the dots. Inspire them by making sure they see how what they are doing is saving lives, saving money, or just making someone’s job down the hall easier.

“I will (sometimes) leave money on the table for passion.”

Engineers like to build and make things happen. They like to know how their product impacts the end user, whether that user is internal or an external customer. Many prefer to work on cutting-edge products that are new to the market or unique in design. Most engineers have more passion and pride working on something difficult that has not been done before.

My colleague at an early-stage company was the CTO and had a knack for swiping talent from top tier technology companies, even though our compensation package was meek in comparison. His response when I asked him how he did it: “I find out their dreams and passion, and show how this place can fulfill them.” Turns out the best engineers are as motivated by working on groundbreaking products as they are about money. The best ones know money will follow. Compensation is only about 30% of the job satisfaction pie; the remaining 70% is wrapped up in working on a product or solution that thrills them.

“I need a manager who gets it.”

Managers should ideally be engineers themselves. According to an engineer at GE, “You don’t want to have to dumb things down to communicate with your boss.” Managers without a technical background can be frustrating, “because it takes extra time to explain things to someone who doesn’t understand the technical details.”   

However, being a good engineer does not necessarily make someone a good manager. This might seem patently obvious but one of the biggest problems in engineering right now is managers who are poorly equipped to manage people. They are promoted because they are very good at their actual engineering job, but the skills required to be a good engineer are different from the skills required to be a solid manager. Just like the best athletes are not necessarily the best coaches – and sometimes mediocre athletes make better coaches. Fast-growing companies seem to be the most at risk for sometimes placing people in the “boss” chair before they are ready or without the needed training and support.

While many engineers are introverted they still want managers who will make an effort to get to know them. An engineer at Honeywell explains, “It takes vulnerability and effort to connect and this is not natural to all engineers. An engineer who also manages needs to make an extra effort to connect, even when it may seem like the person they are managing is ambivalent about it. Get to know what they do for fun. Ask them about their weekend. Make a connection.”

In summary, there are three must-do’s for retaining engineers:

• Consistent recognition of significant accomplishments
• Connection of work to the customer and/or business outcomes
• Professional development through strong leadership

As with all highly talented professionals, some engineers just like to jump around and there will always be a baseline level of attrition. However, by working to address what engineers want and need to be happy at work, any organization can become better equipped to retain their most valuable talent.

To learn more about how to retain engineers please contact Conexa Partners. Margo Christou, the founder, has experience and a passion for working with engineers, and proudly comes from a long line of Electrical Engineers.