4 Way to Keep Your Top Talent

The world is recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftereffects. The labor market is steadily recovering with the national unemployment average at 6.7%. As for technology-specific jobs, the unemployment rate is only 3%, making it a tight job market for employers. Now more than ever retaining, top tech talent is a big concern.

Employees are any organization’s top assets, and employee retention is a key strategy to gaining a competitive edge in today’s tight talent market. The cost of employee turnover is as much as 2.5 times an employee’s salary and in addition to cost, there is lost productivity, training costs, and cultural impact.

Here are 4 strategies your organization can implement to increase employee retention and keep your top talent.

• Develop Training Programs and Ongoing Education – Provide training and education programs within and outside an employee’s scope of work. If a team is showing interest in learning a new programming language, hire an instructor for a lunch and learn. Or, if a team is interested in public speaking training, you can start a Toastmasters group within your organization.
• Offer Career Planning and Development – One of the top reasons employees leave an organization is that they don’t see any career progression opportunities. By having regular one on ones and asking about future career plans, team leaders can build career development plans tailored to individuals and present them opportunities for growth.
• Identify and Offer the Right Benefits – Free lunch, matching 401ks, additional paid time off, and increased health coverage are some common benefits top tech talent will ask for during the interview process. It’s important to continue to get feedback to identify what ongoing benefits employees need. Remote work and access to better technology are among the top asks of 2021.
• Ask Important Questions – The best way to figure out how to keep employees engaged and happy is to ask them what they need and want to do their jobs successfully. Answers will vary from person to person and team to team, but you won’t know what they want unless you ask. Send out a feedback form and ask specific questions about what employees want.