The information technology industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world, and it is really competitive. You need the right man for the right job in this department and hiring the best of the best is not the easiest or cheapest ordeal for a company. Another important factor is talent retention, which may be more valuable for the firm than it is initially thought to be. If you find quality technical people, you need to make an effort to keep them. That effort should start on their first day.
When you talk about web developers, tech and information technology specialists, they are comparatively expensive to hire. The costs of hiring the wrong talent may be more of a loss than a gain. External hires are potentially more costly than utilizing internal resources. However, the talent pool for information technology is not deep enough to find the right performer internally. With the changing scenarios hiring externally becomes inevitable and therefore costly.
To cope with the shortage of tech experts, retaining talent is extremely important. This begins the day an Information technology employee joins your firm. Job boards are another excellent vehicle to dive into local talent and acquire experts from the local market.
All of the steps you take from the initiation of hiring to the actual hiring are crucial to talent acquisition and retention.
Tips for tech talent retention
The expression “First impressions last” may be a myth but it certainly applies to this scenario. Here is what you need to implement since day one to ensure employee satisfaction:
1. Before they begin
Prior to these employees actually joining your team, you need to ensure that they feel welcome. Send out personalized emails to congratulate them on their selection and inform them that the company is looking forward to their joining. If their designations require business cards and such, pre-order them.
Plan a luncheon the first week of the time with the company. Prepare a document that entails all the work or activity expected of their respective departments and make sure the logins, passwords and other authorizations are prepared beforehand. This not only gives off the right feel to the employees but it also helps the company organize its work and better records all the hiring activities. Moreover, this helps reduce nervousness and anxiety in new employees. This explains that your firm is open to communication and values its employees.
2. Orientation
This is a crucial gesture on the company’s part. Make sure that the logins, Ids, passwords and other authorizations are ready to be distributed to the Techs. Next, give them a brief tour of the facility; introduce them to other departments and employees as well. Next conduct executive and manager level introductions. Some firms have adopted the practice of rewarding the new recruit with a welcome cake cutting ceremony. The cake should be personalized with the techies name on it; this tiny gesture has a huge intrinsic impact on the job satisfaction of the said employee. This helps the newcomer fit right into the team and speaks more about the candor of the firm than any written or oral introduction. This should also apply to internal recruits who are being transferred or promoted in the department. Another crucial retention tactic is to ensure the recruits of training and development sessions. IT is one industry that constantly requires training and development to keep up with the times.
3. The First week
Any new recruit is either happy with the company since the beginning or they slowly turn to deviant behavior if not catered to. This is why an HR executive should be designated specifically to check on the new members of the team. Another important and motivating factor is the presence of goals that have been allocated to them by their team leader. These goals should be made using the S.M.A.R.T method, with just enough challenge to get the creativity flowing. Nothing replaces an emotional connection that an employee forms with the firm; it depends on how well the company can form it.
With employment practices moving forward, the concept of force driven work or appreciation of “A” type personalities is a thing of the past. Information technology is a world of creators and freedom of expression can do wonders for the future of the company.
Ensure that the new recruits are aware of the “intrapreneurship” culture of the said department and their team efforts in developing a cost-effective software or operations system will be appreciated.
Decide Consulting provides IT staffing services. Our conclusive hiring methodology enables us to bring the best IT problem solvers to your organization. Our entire management team comes from an IT technical background giving us a unique perspective on candidates and the industry.