5 Reasons to Focus on Tech Talent Retention

With the software giants scooping up the best in technology, the question arises: how to improve the tech talent retention? Stay with us to discover its importance and optimize your results.

The pandemic brought with it one of the largest labor migrations in history. Millions of tech industry workers were thrown into a new home-based work environment that went from necessary to desirable in no time. This situation, mixed with the opening of hundreds of thousands of remote vacancies globally in the industry, made many professionals rethink their conditions and aspirations.

Unbeatable offers, salaries that exceeded all expectations, benefits, and flexibility for the worker where few of the reasons that increased the rate of resignations and swelled the list of employees of companies with more economic resources. In such an environment, retaining tech talent would seem to be mission impossible. However, at DreamCode we are here to help. We know first-hand the ins and outs of the ever- evolving technology market and we know how to help you adapt your business to it. With that goal in mind, we've compiled some of the reasons that will convince you why retaining tech talent can be a wonderful strategic move that will save you a huge number of resources.

The pandemic brought options that threaten retention in technology

As we mentioned earlier, we are sure that if you are having a hard time retaining technology talent in your organization right now, it is 80% pandemic’s fault. Maybe one of your top performers received an offer that doubled the salary you were giving him, and he had no choice but to accept. Or maybe you never thought you would compete for talent in your city directly with Google, Amazon, or Apple. The rules of the game have changed and so must your mindset and planning. If you're still not convinced, review the following reasons why retaining tech talent should be the cornerstone of your organization:

Reason #1 The loyal employee is scarcer in technology:

We've all dreamed of programming for Google, working in web development for YouTube or writing the new multi-million-dollar App that will land us on the cover of Wired. In technology, you must have this dreamy mindset to stay productive. However, this imaginative nature means that most talent in technology is very clear about where they want to go, or at least have that desire in their unconscious. This, far from being a problem, is a golden opportunity to position your business in the mind of your employees as that Google, that YouTube or that space where one day you can develop that multi- million-dollar App.

Make your IT staff feel that they are in that place where they really want to be. Give them facilities in your office to make it resemble that of a technological giant without losing what makes you unique. Provide a weekly space for your team to develop a video game for the company, the new app revolution in homes or a guitar tuner for the deaf, everything is valid if it continues to contribute to the aspirations of your team. Promote a flexible work model that makes tech talent feel that they are on par with anyone in Silicon Valley. Think first about your employees' motivations before their goals for the quarter.

Reason #2 The opportunities will continue to multiply:

As you well know, the digital transformation train will continue its unstoppable pace for years to come. Large organizations that previously did not have a robust IT department will continue to invest in tech talent, companies around the world will continue to contact talent from your country and thousands of professionals will begin to demand conditions up to the global standard. You must begin to see this environment as a golden opportunity rather than the end of all opportunity.

Perhaps your organization, flexibility, mission, and identity will connect with the employee who is about to leave Google or maybe someone on the other side of the world is dying to work for a company in your industry or your country. Differentiate yourself today and make it clear to everyone why working for you is unlike anything else. This way, the retention of tech talent in your business will be accompanied by unstoppable growth in your brand awareness. And remember, there is no better talent attraction campaign than happy, successful, and proud employees.

Reason #3 The cost to a company of losing an employee is twice as high in the technology sector:

Any company feels the price of losing an effective element that understands the business and directs others toward its goals. But, if we add to this equation the fact that the company is in the technology industry, that price begins to spiral out of control. Trainings, styling, learning previous code, modes, and specifications unique to your organization, these are just a few examples that translate into considerable amounts of time and numbers. So, before you let a developer, engineer or project manager go, think about how many resources you have invested to get that person where they are.

A well-deserved raise will always be cheaper than a process of selection, onboarding, training, and optimization of technological talent. So, in addition to seeing each of your employees as a person with strengths and weaknesses, also consider all the resources it would cost your organization to let him go, as well as all the resources he has managed to gain. Retaining IT staff starts with knowing their true value.

How do you retain IT staff while competing against the entire world?

Reason #4 Building an organizational culture takes time:

What makes a technology business palatable to industry professionals is not just its prestige and track record, it's its vision and how good it feels to say you're part of it. Your company should start making efforts to build a culture that resonates in the industry. A slide or a ping pong table won't build loyalty on its own (although you should consider the idea of placing them in the office), what builds loyalty in the long run is feeling part of something that resonates with you. Couple that with a competitive salary and unique benefits, and retention of tech talent is assured.

If you're worried you can't keep up with the economic or flexible benefits of the industry giants, become a giant with what makes your company unique. Is it small? make your talent a family and care about every need of your staff as if they were your brothers. Is it medium? involve everyone in its growth and recognize appropriately and individually those responsible for each small achievement. Is it large? give every employee a voice and give visibility to their ideas and make your processes and environment flexible for your tech talent. There are always alternatives if you keep searching for them.

Reason #5 Performance comes from well-being, not numbers:

Remember that a listened idea, timely recognition, or honest help is remembered more than the paycheck at the end of the month (although it should arrive healthy and timely). Today's trend and added value of IT positions resides in flexibility and wellness. Work on balancing your work model to one that gives your staff the most freedom without losing track of them, one that leverages all their skills while still allowing you to benefit from them, and one where even if staff return to the office, they still believe they are in the comfort of their own home.

Be resourceful and employ relevant strategies for each of your employees. Remember that each person has unique aspirations and needs, so find a way for your company's vision to align specifically with each of these. Then you will look back and realize that you have built a solid, loyal IT team that has grown with you.

We hope the reasons we've listed resonate with your tech talent retention strategy for your organization. Remember that, just as the opportunities for professional growth in the industry are growing, so are the alternatives for growth as a brand. The future will belong to those who begin to value their human capital and whose goals are aligned with their needs and aspirations.

At DreamCode we know the importance of listening to and understanding the needs of our staff. So much so that we recommend, from our own experience, to spare no effort in retaining technology talent, because in the long run this action itself begins to become not only a good business strategy, but the pillar of your values and philosophy. We know that the technology sector is going through one of its best moments and we are excited to imagine where we are going to go in the years to come. If you have a software development idea or project, consider getting to know our solutions by clicking here.