Software and technology have fast become a core requirement for business success in the 21st century. And this has made the battle for tech talents a lot fiercer. The struggle to hire top tech talents is no longer between tech companies, non-tech companies have forcefully entered the field to snatch up their share of limited top tech talents.
Although this trend has been ongoing for a while now, it has increased geometrically in the post-pandemic economy. And even though non-tech companies are now major recruiters of tech talents, the tech giants (like Google) and tech startups are still snatching up many top-level tech talents at great speed.
While many companies were downsizing during the COVID-19 pandemic, tech giants like Facebook and Amazon were recruiting in great numbers. These leaders have recognized that widening their funnel of candidates by seeking those with a broader set of desired capabilities — not only technical skills — and hiring from a much more diverse pool is the key to overcoming the talent crunch. This is the strategy emerging winners have adopted to attract and retain the best talents.
Tips to Attract Tech Talent
The traditional tools for attracting talents such as a strong company mission and purpose, a track record of investing in training and career path opportunities, and competitive pay and benefits are now considered table shakers by job seekers. Leading companies go beyond these in seeking out the best talents. They create differentiators that help them stay ahead of the competition in snatching up the highest-level tech talents, including Millennials and Generation Z who are now quickly dominating the workforce. Here are some useful tips to implement to attract top tech talents to your business.
Culture and cause must be identified
Attracting top-flight talents starts with building a great company culture and great company culture starts with great colleagues. Highflyers are big on daily improvement and love to be surrounded by talent because it encourages learning and productivity. Most people also want to be part of a larger cause. They are looking out for jobs that are consistent with their values and resonate with the changes in the world today. Ensure that this is clearly understood in your organization.
Don’t make the same pitch to everyone
While recruiting, always remember that people are individuals and individuals are unique. Your pitch should be tailored to fit the individual profiles of the candidates you’re looking to bring on board. Avoid the use of a one-size-fits-all pitch. You have already determined that they are a good match during your recruitment process. Now use what you’ve learned about them to explain to them how their skills specifically fit your company’s needs.
Emphasize the significance
On the surface, it looks as though the candidate has the sole responsibility of marketing himself to the hiring company, it is however not always the case. With the competitive demand for tech talents, companies now also have to market themselves to prospective hires. Once you’ve found the ideal candidate, market the significance of the role they will be taking up to them. Make them see the impact the role would have internally and externally – beyond the company. Because coders are generally not visible in companies, their job might seem like a small role, but in reality, it has a very large impact.
Tell them how you will meet their needs
Leaders need to find out the needs, wants, and motivators of each candidate. Use the information gotten to carry out your assessments to determine if there is a good match. After finding the ideal tech talents, you have to explain to them how your company can meet their needs. Also, during the recruitment process, informational meetings can be arranged between the candidate(s) and current employees who have similar needs and motivators as them to share their experience.
Identify career growth opportunities
As far as recruiting and retaining top tech talents is concerned, the new money is technology leadership and talent. Employees are looking out for opportunities to grow in their career path and an attractive career path will make them stay. And because we are in the age of innovation, leaders have to emphasize the innovation culture of their organization along with providing technical career progression opportunities. Create opportunities for interactions between your potential hire and your technology leaders, and share customer success stories that prove genuine impact.
Provide best office furniture, accessories, equipment
Hold fewer meetings, utilize modern tools and frameworks, and provide candidates with high-impact technical projects that improve people’s quality of life measurably. High-performing engineers are typically turned off by meetings and corporate rituals so keep them at the barest minimum. Adopt formal procedures that limit context switching. Be deliberate about protecting your engineering team from unnecessary interruptions so that they can focus on deep work and delivering.
Flexibility is also very important for the modern workforce. It is therefore important for business owners to be flexible in their approach. Businesses should adopt modern tools and processes and update their work culture from a walk-in-office to a hybrid environment.
Top Employee Perks
More than ever before, employees want to feel valued and appreciated. They want to know that the work they do matters and is appreciated and this is where adopting modern employee perks becomes important. Employee perks are often financial benefits but because the work environment has evolved from the traditional walk-in-office to a hybrid environment, employee perks now take several forms. Employee perks are now mostly geared towards finding what matters most to your employees and creating a program around them. Some of the top employee perks you should consider adopting include:
Office Happy Hours
Not every day should be for work. Incorporate a fun day into your office calendar, it could be weekly or monthly. Whether it’s a pizza party, a dessert cart, or a Friday afternoon happy hour, breaks like this is one way to keep employees in high spirits. It also creates an enabling environment for collaboration because the bond between team members is strengthened when they have fun together.
Flexible Work Arrangement
Remote work and flexible working hours are the new normal in the tech environment. For most top-flight tech talents, the flexibility of work matters more than the paycheck and so this is something you must consider if you want to attract them. You could arrange for them to work from home say two times a week or even fully remotely depending on the nature of your organization. Employees should have the freedom to choose their preferred working hours. This will ensure they work optimally and increase productivity.
Healthcare Insurance
Companies that provide good healthcare packages generally have higher staff retention than those that don’t. It is incomparably valuable for employees that their company provides at least the essential medical care. The more services provided the better -for example, surgery or dental care. It communicates even more value to them if the healthcare is extended to their loved ones.
Pension
Knowing that your company cares about you and is concerned for your future is a very valuable employee perk – even for those that can afford a private pension plan. Retirement plans like 401(k)s are an easy way to accomplish this.
Bonuses
Rewarding exceptional performance is an employee perk that’s beneficial both to employees and employers. It serves as a motivator to do better and makes the recipient feel appreciated. Bonuses could take the form of cash rewards, all-expense-paid trips, shopping vouchers, and many other forms.
Paid Vacation
Everyone deserves a vacation at least once a year. Being able to time off work to relax and rewind and getting paid while at it is important to the modern workforce. It is also beneficial to your company because the time off work eases stress, gives them a broader perspective, and improves creativity and productivity.
Childcare
Childcare is very important to today’s workforce. This is especially because, in many families, both parents are working. A childcare assistance program relieves your employees of the stress of managing work alongside family responsibilities. It also tells potential hires that you care about the lives of your employees not just their work.
Paid Parental Leave
Millennials and Generation Z mostly make up the tech talents and many are currently building new families. They do not want to have to choose between family and work so they’re generally more attracted to family-centric organizations. Paid parental leave – both maternity and paternity leaves – is, therefore, an important employee perk to adopt.
Employee Purchase Programs
Employee purchase programs are now a big part of the modern work environment. This is because a hybrid work environment has become the new normal. Employees working remotely whether fully or partially will have to purchase furniture and equipment for their home office.
Companies are now incorporating a work-from-home budget as part of their employee perks. While larger companies can afford to provide employees with the funds for the purchase of all home office furniture and equipment, it might be too expensive for smaller companies and startups. An employee purchase program becomes very useful here. It essentially subsidizes the cost of purchasing office equipment for employees.
FlexiSpot offers special discounts when you buy bulk office furniture. It covers important items like height adjustable standing desks, ergonomic office chairs, high-quality lighting options, and many other ergonomic office tools.
Ergonomic office chairs provide a healthy and comfortable working experience for your employees. They support the neck, back, and legs to eliminate the health impacts of prolonged sitting. Standing desks also helps to eliminate sedentary work. They encourage exercise, boost productivity, and promote a healthy work environment.
Paid Sick Days
Health is wealth and a healthy employee is a productive one. Organize your company in such a way that a sick employee can take time off to rest and recover without fear of losing his/her source of income. It is a useful employee perk that will ensure your work environment is safe and healthy.
Wellness Programs
Invest in the mental and physical health of your employees by creating fitness programs that will keep them fit and productive. You could include fitness chairs and desk bikes in the office space to encourage exercise and fitness.
Start Attracting Top Tech Talents
Although the competition for tech talents is at an ultra-high, you could be one of the winners in the field. All you have to do is align your company structure and culture with the needs, wants, motivators, and perks that are attractive to the top tech talents. We are sure you have learned how to do so in this article. Cheers!
