From “The Great Resignation” to “The Great Rehire” the technical recruitment landscape has seen a lot of ups and downs. Due to the global resignation, many employees are leaving their jobs, which is why organizations have started focusing more on employee retention.
Here’s a quick fact, employee retention costs way lesser than hiring new employees. As a result, many companies have started adopting different ways to improve their employee retention and attract new hires simultaneously.
Here we will be discussing ten ways to increase retention in technical hiring, but before that, let’s go through some basics.
What is Employee Retention?
It is the ability of an organization or the company to retain its employees and is represented as a percentage of employees that stays for a given period of time. This metric is used simultaneously with employee turnover.
Employee retention formula
Employee Retention Rate = (Total number of remaining employees / Total number of employees) X 100
Importance of Recruitment in Employee Retention
The hard work behind acquiring that good talent is tough but keeping them is tougher. That’s why linking your recruiting plan to the retention program is extremely important.
Break the chain of over-promising the candidate because it will hurt your employee retention rate in the future. Here are top 10 ways to improve your retention in technical hiring:
1. Make DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) a must-have
With the current scenario in technical hiring where retaining tech talents is becoming a major issue, providing DEI will help existing employees in forming stronger loyalty toward the organization. Diversity helps in bringing different perspectives and outlooks together which otherwise would not have been possible.
On the other hand, inclusion relates to giving equal opportunities to everyone irrespective of their ethnicity, background, gender, or any other shortcomings. Lastly, equity is the new sought-after criterion for benefits. Surveys show that the upcoming generation tends to go for positions with equity rather than the ones that do not.
2. Provide professional development opportunities
Everyone wants and needs a chance to grow themselves; that’s how we make a better workplace. The technical hiring realm always deals with technology which is continuously changing therefore to keep up with it, companies and organizations should provide professional development opportunities.
Training, coaching, and mentorships are some of the most popular development programs. More than half of the existing employees, about 68%, favor learning at work compared to the rest of the 58%. Building a sophisticated and beneficial learning and development program can help employees learn and grow, ultimately increasing the employee retention rate.
3. Give recognition and rewards when it’s due
Next on the list are recognition and rewards. A reward is a tangible element, while recognition is an experiential element. In order to keep your performing employees motivated and happy, rewards and recognition should be conducted. Always make your employees feel appreciated. Make sure rewards and recognition are given to the employees when it’s due.
Conduct internal surveys from time to time, arrange events so that employees of all departments can interact, send in-person notes about their work, and gamify the process so that everyone feels included.
4. Focus on improving the onboarding process
Onboarding sets the tone of the work culture. A comprehensive onboarding process can result in a better understanding and building momentum. Notable things that should be included in an efficient onboarding are: communicating the roles and responsibilities clearly, showing them where to find the resources and how to use them, and properly introducing them to the team and managers. Focusing on improving the onboarding process can result positively in employee retention because it makes them feel confident about the job and the organization.
5. Offer benefits that speak volumes
As times are changing, the demand for benefits is changing as well. The overgrowing popularity of the tech industry has given rise to the tech recruitment platform. During the technical interview sessions, potential employees can negotiate benefits that cater to their needs. If not met after they are hired, that is a golden recipe for a higher turnover rate. In recent times mental health benefits, DEI, and scope of career growth have become popular among the upcoming workforce.
6. Promote work-life balance and personal well-being
Don’t wait till the last minute; start incorporating a wellness program into your employee retention program. The tech industry is both fast and expansive, so encourage your employees to keep a healthy work-life balance.
Besides offering the medical expenses benefit for physical wellness, organizations should also focus on mental wellness. One of the main reasons for the higher turnover rate are burnt-out employees. So include practices such as time-off for extended hours of work and setting boundaries in the wellness program.
7. Clearly state the compensations and competitive pay
The competitive salary term was coined for the sole purpose of knowing the market standards. Potential employees prefer to see the salary range even before their first point of contact. Transparency is a huge deal for candidates, so if the first point of initiation doesn’t reflect that by disclosing all the details of the job then the organization will be viewed poorly. A study by LinkedIn showed that 70% of professionals prefer to hear about salary in the initial message by the recruiter.
8. Keep track of employee performances
The practice of keeping track of your employees’ performances will help you find the deserving candidate for rewards and recognition. Keep an internal system that tracks their work performance and behavioral agility towards their co-workers.
9. Have flexibility options
One of the popular traits of the modern workforce is to have the option of work flexibility. The technologically adept workforce wants the freedom to work from an office and from home. Adapt to the said needs of the employees for instance those who have difficulty working from the office should be given a choice to work from home.
The hybrid model is the new work routine. Organizations should understand, listen and come up with flexible options that suit their employees the best.
10. Engage and communicate with employees regularly
This habit goes a long way toward retaining quality employees. Communication is such a powerful tool, yet it is highly overlooked. The back and forth keeps misinformation and misunderstandings at bay. It all comes down to one simple thing- employees are humans first. Regular check-ins if everything is going well makes them feel safe and secure. Building and fostering meaningful and healthy relationships is the key to growth both professionally and personally.
Conclusion
Employee retention is just another way of saying increase employee loyalty. To achieve that, organizations should follow certain ground rules and incorporate the ways mentioned above to increase employee loyalty which translates to employee retention.
For example, in technical hiring, where the acquisition cost is so high, you can work on improving employee retention programs aligned with your recruiting plan. This will provide the upper hand in managing not only new hires but the existing employees as well.
Let’s face it, technology is constantly evolving, and you need to keep up with it, so if you are hiring experts in those fields, it will get competitive and expensive. So, help your current workforce by providing more loyalty, in return, attract new talents.
