The IT industry has created business opportunities for millions of people because of the revenue it has generated and continues to generate today. Given the number of opportunities and jobs in the IT industry, the logical consequence is the ability to change jobs frequently. Employees consider good working conditions, salaries, challenging projects, benefits packages when moving to another company. The moment they feel they are under-engaged or that there is no room for career development, they start looking for a new job and most often get the job of their choice. This is precisely why companies face a number of problems as high fluctuation rates can lead to a fall in productivity for employees who stay. To avoid such situations, the company must implement and adapt retention strategies to keep employees. When designing strategies, care should be taken of individuality of employees since everyone is motivated by different professional and personal factors. The fact is that the IT industry is completely dependent on its employees, and therefore the strategies should be subordinated to them.
You’re probably asking “..but how to keep IT talents nowadays?”. Here are our thoughts on the most important factors related to attracting and retaining ITtalents.
Positive work environment
This is one of the most important factors when it comes to retaining employees in the IT industry. The positive work environment is a great efficiency and productivity booster and it makes employees feel good about coming to work and finishing all working activities without delays. The way you can create a positive work environment is to have open and clear communication among the employees and teams and to trust your employees. At Just Raspberry we are trying to have fun every day but with a professional approach when it comes to work activities and we are successful in that.
Opportunity for professional development
IT professionals will stay longer in the company if they have the opportunity to develop. Companies that promote employees from their ranks naturally keep more employees. It is important to offer mentoring programs, employee development plans, and training opportunities. Many IT companies provide training related to developing technical skills such as database design, programming using a variety of programming languages. However some companies are experimenting with other types of training for bringing employees closer to business development, as well as improving communication for employees in other sectors, and with management who lacks technical skills.
For companies, it is important to define the career development and promotion opportunities for the employees because this will make their companies and their employees competitive in the market. Career planning purposes as part of an employee development program are not only used to make employees feel valued because the employer invests in them, but can also help employees manage many aspects of life by attending time management, stress management, and constructive conflict resolution training. Through training, employees acquire new knowledge and skills that they can apply in the business, but also share their knowledge with other employees.
Salary and Benefits
Competitive salary is an important factor for employees in the IT sector. In addition, other benefits such as year-end bonuses, a percentage on a successfully completed project, can increase the rate of retention of employees in the company. Non-financial rewards such as the Worker of the Month program, extra vacation time, work from home, are also factors that increase employee satisfaction and decrease employee turnover.
Benefits received from the company can reassure employees that the company supports and cares for them and therefore benefits are a very important reason employees want to work and stay with that company.
Work-life balance
Balancing between work and life is very important if you want to enjoy life and be productive. Companies employing IT professionals create flexible opt-out forms to attract candidates on their terms. Working conditions in the form of more break time, the ability to use leisure and gym rooms during office hours and many other factors make companies want to stand out in a competitive market and attract and keep skilled IT staff.