How to attract & retain top tech talent

Almost all businesses rely heavily on technology in the modern age of e-commerce and remote working. This technology boom has put tech skills in high demand and created an extremely competitive recruitment market for industry professionals. So competitive that, in a recent Hay’s report, 93% of employers reported tech skills shortages, and more than 50% said it had affected their productivity and ability to deliver projects. That’s definitely not good for business!

In such a competitive market, top talent tends to be snapped up by the big companies that can offer pretty chunky salaries, leaving smaller companies with less qualified and experienced tech teams. But the good news is that it’s not all about money and potential candidates look for other benefits and values, too.

Eight ways of recruiting top tech talent

Are you looking to avoid those skills gaps and keep your business productive? We’ll take you through our top tips for hiring and retaining tech talent and how you can put into place a long-term talent acquisition strategy.

1. Attract tech talent with video job descriptions

Techy people are usually quite savvy by nature and, therefore, can be quite picky while applying for jobs. This in itself makes it quite important that your recruitment strategy is utilising innovative ways to showcase agility and progressiveness of your company.

Here comes in video job descriptions. They are an innovative, digital and easily shareable method which can be highly effective in attracting tech talent. ​​Our research shows that if a video accompanies a job description, it gets 35% more applicants. Learn more about video job descriptions and how Seenit for recruitment marketing can help.

2. Commit to diversity and inclusion

It’s important to consider what barriers might be perceived by potential candidates and how you can appeal to a broader pool of tech talent in your recruitment. Can you do more to encourage diversity?

Amazon’s BLK Men in Tech Seenit video is a great example of how showcasing personal experiences through User-Generated Videos could help reach a more diverse talent pool. Do candidates need a top university degree or can they demonstrate valuable skills through other work samples and courses? Consider whether those ‘essential requirements’ are filtering out potentially great candidates.

3. Appeal to their tech nature

Show potential hires you’re a modern company that invests in tech. Candidates will often look at your online presence – blogs, podcasts, videos - to see what kind of company you are. Producing content that shows you’re modern, creative and not afraid to try new things will show that you value innovation.

4. Invest in the right tools

If you’re going to pitch yourself as a modern company, then you have to make sure you have the right tools to back it up. There’s no point in hiring great tech talent only for them to become demotivated and disengaged when they realise you’re still using Windows 95 on an old desktop.

Make sure you have the modern tools, processes and systems they need to be effective in their job. Investing in these tools will keep your whole team efficient and can help to manage workloads with greater oversight.

5. Highlight learning and development opportunities

Through your online media content – blogs, User-Generated Videos and more – communicate your development offering in the tech space. Show that your company values innovation and problem solving and that you support development in tech through conferences, networking events and other educational opportunities.

6. Provide clear and structured career paths

Tech talent and leadership are in demand, so it’s essential to have a clear technical career path that demonstrates that employees have room to grow and progress in your company.

7. Promote attractive perks and benefits

Why should they choose you? Tech talent can afford to be fussy; that’s why it’s even more critical to invest in a great benefits package. Consider offering perks like protected time for personal tech projects, or well-being offerings like massages, chill-out spaces or free teas and coffees — whatever it is that you think will improve your employee’s working life.

8. Flexibility for employees

Tech workers, like most employees, want greater flexibility in their work life. Having the right tools to support flexibility —for example, the ability to work from home, agile working or schedule around a school run — illustrates that you appreciate a healthy work-life balance.

If you want to boost your recruitment campaign, consider adding video for a more engaging experience wherever you can. Job descriptions that use video, for example, are more likely to be viewed and shared on social media, as they allow the viewer to visualise the workplace and connect more emotionally with the company. Learn more about why to use video job descriptions in your strategy. For some inspiration, see how EY attract talent using video.

How to retain your best tech talent

Now that you’ve developed a first-rate recruitment strategy and got some great new talent in the door, how do you make sure you keep them? Take a look at our top tips for retaining tech talent.

Focus on re-skilling and up-skilling

Tech workers are professional problem-solvers who love to come up with creative fixes and workarounds. It’s important to recognise and nourish this skill set. New technologies are constantly emerging, and your tech team must be kept up-to-date, broaden their knowledge and keep their skills sharp. This will also ensure that the job never feels stale for your top talent.

Take employee engagement seriously

Sometimes overlooked as a “support function”, your tech team are an integral part of your business. As with all employees, it’s crucial to engage effectively with your tech employees. They, too, want to understand the important part they play— and technology — in business success. Engage them fully and properly in employee activities, so they feel valued as part of the team.

Review compensation and benefits packages

Keep salaries and benefits under review. While there might be some particular benefits that first attracted your employee, it’s helpful to review what benefits they find most valuable once they start. Keep feedback channels open: what do they value, what is less important, or if there are other benefits they’re interested in?

Continuously reviewing your benefits package means you’re ensuring employees continue to feel valued. You can also improve your offering for future recruits in line with changing work environments.

Do your research on salaries too. Salary budgets aren’t unlimited but it’s important to do regular benchmarking to make sure you’re continuing to offer a realistic and competitive salary, particularly when tech professionals have so many options. Making sure you don’t under-compensate an employee, means they’re less likely to look for work elsewhere if they feel they’re being fairly paid.

Reward hard work

Tech teams like to be recognised for the work they do. The work they do often happens in the background – long weekends or evening work that people don’t see, or making sure that operating systems run optimally. It’s important these efforts don’t go unnoticed and that you recognise and reward tech employees too. Thank you’s, a small gift, a pay award or a celebratory shoutout all go a long way. Consider introducing a tech-specific blog or social media channel for greater visibility. Tech teams can easily share their successes and lessons with the wider tech community.

Enforce work-life balance

Employees increasingly value a healthy work-life balance. Tech workers appreciate flexibility, just like anyone else. They don’t want to be doing long commutes and sitting in a back office daily. Having the proper tech can provide more freedom and flexibility – perhaps help desk calls can be taken from home and the use of screen sharing means issues can be resolved remotely. It’s important to consider how to continue to support tech employees with work-life balance and greater flexibility.

Introduce industry events

Are there important tech conferences and events that provide opportunities for learning and networking? Make sure you’re allowing tech teams to engage in these events. It will not only further their own development but will bring in skills and contacts useful to your company too. And if there aren’t any conferences or events near you? Organise one!

Create a talent acquisition strategy

Talent acquisition is less about filling specific roles as and when they appear and more about a long-term strategy to attract and retain high-quality talent. It’s a better way of future proofing your company, avoiding skill gaps that can affect business delivery and productivity.

A tech talent acquisition strategy should look at your business goals for the next one to five years and use those objectives to focus your recruitment efforts. Are you expanding into a certain country where you might need regional experience or investing in a new product that will require a certain technical skill set? You’ll want to target your longer-term recruitment to meet those needs.

A good tech talent acquisition strategy should include all of the recruitment and retention tips shared in this article:

• Expand your outreach.
• Emphasise your company values, culture and development offering.
• Offer flexible working and design a competitive benefits package.

These are all values and benefits tech professionals will value.

Marketing is undoubtedly a critical component of your recruitment strategy, and worth investing time and effort into. So, if you want to stand out, consider supercharging your recruitment strategy by adding video. Seenit User-Generated Videos can be a powerful recruitment tool, allowing employees to continually share more natural, authentic and human perspectives on company culture, diversity, work-life balance and development. Learn more about how having User-Generated Video can improve your recruitment marketing.