Retain Your Top IT Talent

With the economy slowly but steadily improving, employee retention is becoming a growing issue. According to a yearly survey conducted by Payscale, a company that specializes in compensation data, only 28 percent of companies considered retention to be a main concern in 2009. This year, that number had grown to 59 percent. Employees, especially top IT talent, have more options than they have had in recent years. Keeping them within your organization needs to be a top priority. Here are six effective ways to retain your top IT talent.

Improve Compensation and Benefits

Salary, benefits, and bonuses have a greater affect on employee retention than any other factor. Ultimately, employees do not leave because they think they will have more fun elsewhere, they leave to make more money. Improving compensation packages can help you retain and recruit top IT talent.

Offer Challenging and Meaningful Work

Employees often look for other opportunities when they grow bored with their work, or feel like their labors have no real impact on institutional success. Respect the skills of your top IT talent by letting them take on challenging projects that contribute directly to your company’s goals. Let lesser employees handle day-to-day assignments.

Create Opportunities for Advancement

No one wants to be stuck in the same position forever. Make sure your top IT talent has opportunities to move up the corporate ladder, and can access these opportunities on a reasonable schedule. If you have a history of turning to outside hires to fill upper-level vacancies, it may be discouraging to qualified talent within your organization who have been passed over.

Become More Flexible

Today’s employees are looking for more balance between work and life. Allow your top talent to work from home, take half days, and access as much sick time as they need. IT employees in particular do not respond to the rigid regulations that have traditionally governed workplaces.

Trust Your Employees

Trust is a function of respect. If your IT employees feel they are being micromanaged, unduly criticized for mistakes, or kept on a short leash, they will look for opportunities that offer them the level of professional courtesy they feel they deserve.

Improve Your Corporate Culture

A fun workplace is not a primary concern, but it is not irrelevant either. If employees look forward to coming to work and enjoy being in the office, they will be less inclined to leave. Analyze the culture you have in place, and look for ways to improve it that will appeal to your top talent. Are they looking for a more relaxed environment, or one that prides itself on innovation and success?

Remember that keeping your top talent rather than recruiting new stars takes less time, money, and institutional capital. And if you have struggled to hold on to your best IT employees, it could suggest problems that affect all your employees. Now is the time to do things better, and the IT employment experts at INSPYR Solutions can help you create the kind of workplace that today’s best IT employees look for.