Competition for top IT talent has never been tougher. It takes considerable devotion of time and money to attract the best people to your company. But what are you doing to ensure they stay with you? In today’s tight talent market, other employers will shamelessly lure your best people right from under your nose.
What’s the secret to retaining IT staff?
Invest in your people.
Show your IT employees they are valued members of your team and you are willing to do whatever it takes to keep them happy, engaged and on board.
An effective retention strategy requires more than just increasing pay rates (although it’s smart business to benchmark your compensation plan against the competition). What we are discussing here is training and development – the kind of long-term investment that indicates you see people as part of the company’s future.
Begin with one-on-one conversations.
Employee development is never one-size-fits-all and even less so among technical employees. Some people prefer to work solo. Development to them might mean keeping up with the latest programming languages, shortcuts and best practices.
Another employee might have greater ambitions. Perhaps they want to become a team lead. Maybe they have their sights set on reaching the CTO role one day.
As such, it’s important to customize your training program to each employee.
For your techs who love to remain on the cutting edge, continuously update their technology. Pay for subscriptions to the most plugged-in publications. Sending them to CES one year would be a treat that would recharge their batteries.
For employees with their eyes set on the board room, a tuition reimbursement program to help them work their way through an MBA program might be the way to go. Show them there is a clear path to advancement within your organization, so they are not temped to go elsewhere.
When you need additional advice finding and retaining IT staff, contact to the experts at Synerfac. As one of the leading technical staffing agencies in the country, we have access to top technical candidates and can share strategies to engage them for the long haul.