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February 11, 2025
Digital skills are more in demand than ever before. While news of layoffs in some large tech organisations have made the news in recent years, IT roles remain in demand across the sector. Why? Because non-tech organisations are becoming increasingly vulnerable to threats.
This is driving the need for cybersecurity and IT services both in-house and through external agencies. Hence, there are far more opportunities available in this sector. The skills shortage across IT services means that good employees are worth holding on to. This means that alongside hiring new talent, companies should also be looking at ways to retain their existing workforce.
When a sector becomes more competitive, it becomes more likely that employees will be poached by rivals. A simple way to avoid this is to ensure they are happy in their role and fairly compensated for their work. In this guide, we’re looking at ways you can improve staff retention in IT roles and how this can drive down your recruitment costs in turn.
Not too long ago, money ruled employee retention. As long as you could provide a fair salary that was higher than anything your rivals are offering, your employees would happily stay put. With the rising cost of living, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is still the case, but workers are becoming increasingly motivated by other factors.
Work/life balance and other intangible aspects of employment are becoming more important than simply how much they take home every month. The perks that help retain staff will vary depending on what stage they are at in their life.
Young workers are motivated by flexible working, generous holiday allowance and value added perks that help to reduce their living costs. Those with young children are motivated by job security, remote working and help with childcare costs. And older employees who might have already seen their children off to university are motivated by the prospect of their nearing retirement. Being able to maximise their pension will be a clear advantage to them.
First things first, you need to speak with your existing staff and listen to their feedback. Open communication with staff will help to reveal any potential shortcomings within your existing policy. They might be screaming out for flexible working hours while you’re busy offering free fruit in the break room.
Look at management roles within the company and see if there are weaknesses. A good manager will build trust and transparency while also helping to inspire workers to do their best work. A bad manager can lead to unhealthy behaviour such as micromanagement and a lack of trust. Not everyone is suited to management roles, but management is something that can be taught if candidates have the right motivation.
Finally, review your exit interview strategy. And if you don’t have one, implement one. Exit interviews can feel like a waste of time, like you’re closing the barn door after the horse has bolted, but they can be illuminating. Those who are leaving the organisation might be more inclined to speak up on behalf of those that are staying behind. This can reveal some interesting insight into how your teams really operate.
While some IT roles certainly cannot be completed remotely, others can certainly be done from home, at least a few days a week. Remote and hybrid working arrangements offer a simple way to allow workers to build a life they love without having to look for a new job. If you cannot offer hybrid or remote working, consider other ways you might make the workplace more enticing.
Flexible hours are popular with those who like to set their own schedule. And a four-day working week could be a huge selling point for those who like to maximise their weekends. The four-day working week is set to be huge in coming years, and we could soon see this become the norm. By offering this now, ahead of the curve, you can attract and retain workers before this becomes the standard practice.
So far, we’ve looked at how to save money by increasing staff retention, but what about recruitment costs? AI and automation are primed for streamlining many recruitment processes, allowing HR professionals to focus on more productive tasks.
Automation might be used to put your recruitment on autopilot, while AI helps to filter through applications and deliver a topline summary of the best talent it finds. While this process will need to be monitored to ensure you aren’t missing any key talent, it can help to speed up the recruitment process to ensure you can offer jobs to talented candidates before the competition has a chance to meet with them.
Improving staff retention alongside a streamlined recruitment process should help to drive down costs and allow you to close skills gaps with ease.
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