Lilit Davtyan is the CEO of Phonexaan all-in-one marketing solution for calls, leads, clicks, email, SMS, accounting and more.
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Despite the emergence of tech giants and startups alike throughout the world, the tech industry is currently experiencing a talent crunch stemming from a lack of skilled workers eager to enter or stay in the field.
Recent studies forecast the global tech talent shortage to grow over the next decade, leaving companies scrambling to revamp not only their hiring practices but also improve in-house talent retention.
As CEO of a marketing automation solution company, my responsibilities include establishing hiring practices aimed at building a formidable team of tech professionals. From my experience, in-house talent retention is driven by engagement, connecting with team members on an individual level and adapting to changes brought on by turnover.
Retaining top talent is an integral part of building a solid talent pipeline. The following are three effective strategies for tech firms looking to improve their in-house talent retention.
Keep employees engaged at all times.
As hybrid and fully remote work models continue to grow in popularity, it’s becoming increasingly complicated to connect with employees. Not having enough—or any—company bonding activities in place leaves out-of-office employees feeling disconnected from their colleagues and thus disconnected from the company culture.
With hybrid and remote work models in mind, business leaders must figure out how to include all employees in team bonding activities, whether by actively involving them in team projects or organizing team events. Department heads can keep company culture intact by fostering an environment based on open participation, teamwork and collaboration.
Open participation from each employee can be accomplished through weekly one-on-one discussions—in-person or virtually for remote employees—focused on new company initiatives, department projects and goals, individual progress and creating a professional development roadmap. Teamwork and collaboration can be achieved by encouraging interaction among team members, be it through video calls, virtual team-building exercises or inviting remote staff to the office for company social events.
Establish individual relationships with each team member.
It’s absolutely necessary to understand your employees enough to gauge their commitment to the company. This is important because once an employee loses a sense of the company’s culture, keeping that employee becomes nearly impossible.
For example, before an employee is terminated or preparing to resign, there are usually hints that indicate a team member’s lack of commitment to the company. These warning signs can be caught in advance—or even avoided entirely—by having conversations and connecting with an employee on an individual level. Furthermore, if one employee feels disconnected, then it’s likely that other employees feel the same way and view the company in a negative light.
Connecting with team members on an individual basis is key to understanding what an employee values and how invested they are in your company. Doing so will also prevent negative attitudes from permeating throughout your organization.
Focus on areas affected most by turnover.
For tech firms, one area of business that is directly affected by turnover is employee training. This is especially challenging for new managers who want to implement processes that work for them as they get acclimated to their new role.
When turnover occurs, training procedures must be updated for every new employee coming into the company. That shifts the focus from training to making sure new employees are immediately brought up to speed. Tech firms, for instance, need new employees to learn the company’s products and services so they can handle clients as soon as possible. That ultimately takes a lot of time away from managers—time that can be spent on talent retention and client acquisition, among other key business initiatives.
Final Thoughts
Retaining talent is more feasible than business leaders think, but it does require building individual relationships with each employee and keeping them engaged with the vision for your company. Improve your retention rates by implementing strategies that empower employees and incentivize them to stay with the company.
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