We’re in the midst of the Great Resignation, in which employees are quitting their jobs at record-high rates after a long period of reflection during the pandemic.
In April 2021, over 4 million Americans quit their jobs, which is the highest number on record since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began collecting data in 2002, a trend which was seen per month in May, June, and July of this year, too.
At a time when so many employees are re-evaluating their priorities and career path, tech companies are having to contemplate what can be done to avoid high employee turnover – given that there is such a high demand for tech talent, the competitiveness of retaining top talent is at an all-time high.
This requires tech companies to thoroughly examine their current recruitment and retention strategies.
A passive approach isn’t going to retain talent in such a competitive market, so what can you do to retain staff during such a critical period?
Such intense competition means that the tech companies that don’t keep up with the demands are unlikely to find retention easy.
Remote work options are no longer a rare benefit, but an expectation for the majority of tech candidates and employees.
In a survey by Robert Half, 50% of technology professionals planned to seek a full-time, remote-only opportunity in their next role.
This isn’t a passing trend – 96% of tech employees believe remote working is here to stay, with 86% preferring remote working due to greater flexibility.
Offering remote work options is necessary in order to stay competitive and flexible as most employees now expect remote working in some capacity, as seen with the rise in hybrid working models.
If a tech company expects all employees to return to office work only, it is natural that employees will simply look for one of the many other companies that are offering more flexibility.
When the conversation of retention comes up, many employers will instantly turn to salary as the magic fix, yet in the last few years there has been a significant shift in the power of salary for employees.
In fact, according to Hired, 76% of tech employees are willing to accept a lower base salary in exchange for other forms of compensation.
There are a range of benefits that employees could find advantageous, such as flexible hours, career progression opportunities, and health and wellness perks such as insurance.
It is important to note that if an employee’s salary were to decrease or they were denied an expected raise in the next six months, 74% would start looking for a new job – meaning that whilst salary might not be the only factor in retention, it is still significant.
Keep in mind that the benefits you offer will be dependent on the employee’s experience, as younger employees are likely to value benefits such as the reimbursement of tuition, whereas more experienced employees may prefer paid parental leave as a benefit.
A lot of the advice around retention can come back to company culture.
For example, a tech company offering flexible hours, hybrid working models, and good career progression is likely a company that has growth and innovation at the heart of its values.
This is why it’s so important for tech companies to focus on their culture in order to retain staff.
Throwing out benefits and hoping they’ll stick is unlikely to have any credence for employees unless they are part of a culture that promotes learning, flexibility, and opportunity.
Tech roles rely on agility and up-to-date knowledge, which is why many employees will be searching for tech roles that have training and learning embedded into them over roles that they may view as stationary.
Offering opportunities for learning is a great way to retain employees that want the reassurance that their career is progressing, and importantly, that their employer cares about their career progression too.
It’s hard to be competitive if you aren’t aware of what you’re competing with.
With such a competitive hiring environment it’s essential for employers to find benchmarks for competitive salaries.
Though, as mentioned above, salary isn’t the sole fix for retention efforts, it is still a huge element given that undercompensation can be so detrimental.
You want your employees to feel as though they are valuable assets worth investing in, rather than treating them as a costly expense.
This will offer a distinct advantage over businesses that do view competitive salaries as excessive or unnecessary, which can also assist with recruitment efforts.
Stay up-to-date by researching any salary guides or benchmarks for your specific sector or tech generally to find a good starting point.
All of the aforementioned tips are valuable, but sometimes you just need to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.
With so many options available to foolproof your retention efforts, sometimes the easiest method can prove the most useful.
Perhaps you’ll find that the majority of your employees are vying for more remote working options, or that they have an interest in health initiatives.
Whatever it may be, it could prove less costly to ensure that the methods you implement are actually appealing to your employees – otherwise you may end up out of pocket and frustrated.
You could send around an online survey on potential benefits (e.g., flexible hours, hybrid working, childcare) to see which areas have the most interest in order to inform your efforts.
Alternatively, a group discussion could also clearly convey what employees value – and therefore what will help to retain them – and might even result in unexpected ideas for the future.
Employee retention isn’t something that can be resolved with a quick fix, it requires consistency and focus.
As the Great Resignation continues, it’s important to remain flexible to the changing workforce trends in order to successfully retain staff.
Continually evaluating what is and isn’t successful will make the process much easier in the long-term and also integrate retention efforts into your internal processes permanently.
If you’d like to discuss your recruitment needs and how you can widen your software development talent pool in this market get in touch and find out how we can help.