The skills gap has left many companies frantic to find a solution, with 79% actively pursuing solutions to address the problem before it affects their bottom line. This means employers need to be diligent in understanding the desires of candidates if they want to hire and keep them around for the long haul. On the heels of The Great Resignation, it’s vital that employers consider these factors for all employees or candidates:
Career Growth
Providing a clear career path benefits both recruitment and retention by allowing employees to identify a roadmap for their own advancement. The younger generation of workers expects to see rapid advancement. Promoting internally provides a clear path to higher pay and responsibility, as well as making employees feel valued and an integral part of the company’s success. In addition, development frameworks will assist them in planning their future and setting critical goals to get there.
Adopting innovative and established technologies that allow individuals to constantly improve their skills will keep them engaged and productive. For example, by employing MACH architecture (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless), technical architects can put their years of experience to work in real-world applications. By providing your employees with multiple opportunities for growth (such as events, trainings or online resources), employers demonstrate their commitment to advancing their staff.
Valuing Diversity
Candidates’ first impressions are crucial during the employment process. In order to construct diverse and effective teams, all stages of candidate interaction, from evaluating the content of an advertisement to the initial meeting, must be free of any bias.
Strong diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies are essential to a company’s success. In addition to appointing a DEI manager and forming a DEI group, certification as a Work180 employer is an excellent first step. Employers can use a process known as “remuneration leveling” to help with this. This process anonymizes workers by removing their personal details (such as gender and age data), and it gives hiring managers the ability to compare and adjust salaries based on those of comparable roles in their respective countries.
To locate the ideal individuals, it is possible to search outside the standard university computer science degree. For instance, exceptional software engineering prospects can be found by scouting recruits with coding boot camp certifications and highly rated coding work samples. Utilizing the larger talent pool of underrepresented individuals expands the talent funnel of the organization.
Transparency with Benefits and Compensation
The days of candidates being preoccupied with paid time off (PTO) plans are long gone. When it comes to attracting talent, it is critical to develop and be transparent about benefits from the start, such as salary, benefits and additional perks. According to a recent Wisetail survey, 88% of workers who recently quit their jobs stated they’d have stayed if their employer offered better benefits. This ultimately leaves no doubt that a proper compensation package needs to be top of mind for employers.
Transparency in leadership
At people-centric, high-performing tech companies, managers frequently interact with employees directly and are easily accessible. They hold themselves accountable for end results by making timely, well-founded decisions.
With an “Open Door” approach, the executive team’s transparency and accessibility to personnel increases productivity. Employee engagement surveys are a useful tool for gathering team input in order to resolve any difficulties. Obviously, the greatest talent will pick an organization where they believe their job has a significant impact and where they have a feeling of purpose. If managers lack accountability, they will believe the grass is greener elsewhere.
It’s All About Balance
Flexible arrangements are essential for the future of work. Candidates increasingly desire the option to work from home or another location of their choosing, as well as set their own hours. Indicating in the job description that the position is remote, but within suitable time zones, will attract the greatest number of candidates – limiting hiring to local regions is more restrictive, but determine what works best for the team and adjust job advertising appropriately. It is helpful to be explicit about the amount of in-person work and to ensure that all equipment and resources required for an optimum joining experience are available.
Invest in What Matters
Hiring managers have recognized that their employees are their most valuable assets, with data scientists, developers, cybersecurity and digital experts among the most highly valued and sought-after tech capabilities for modern digital organizations. But luring and keeping them will need more than just changing a few advertisements.
Employers will only be able to secure the best by developing a solid DEI strategy with objectives that fit with workers’ demands – and by living by their values. True inclusion and diversity necessitate policy and practice. It will not happen quickly, but a review of hiring strategy and career development will reassure employees that they are valued, encouraged and driven to do their best job in the long run.
Heike Lieber is Head of Talent at Fluent Commerce.