With software development services having increasingly high impact on the market chances of just about any company, the demand for skilled developers is higher than ever. But as it is usually the case with precious resources, there is not enough of it to satisfy everybody. Any company that wants to hire and retain devs in 2020 can expect fierce competition. How to win the battle?
The fact that there aren’t as many developers as businesses across the world would want is very well known. A less common fact is that they are also some of the hardest employees to retain. So, how to attract and successfully retain software developers?
Offer competitive salary and benefits
This one is a no-brainer. Aside from a competitive salary, you should consider benefits that appeal to ambitious devs, such as a dedicated training budget.
Share knowledge during events and conferences
In order to establish your company as an expert in a given technology and a good place for growth, you should share knowledge during industry meetups and conferences.
Organize meetups and webinars on your own
An even more ambitious approach is to organize a meetup on your own. You can even use it directly as a way to find new candidates. If you aren’t yet up for it, start with an online webinar.
Polish your recruitment process
A good recruitment process should verify a prospect without being overly lengthy or boring. Rejected candidates should be given encouragement and advice on how they can get better.
Don’t forget about your… office
A nicely designed office full of space and places for rest, entertainment and focus goes a long way. Make sure to put it on a display in your marketing efforts.
What about retention?
If you can attract enough prospects, considering the effort it takes to do it, you should also make sure to have a good retention strategy. What should it include?
Offer challenging projects
Do everything in your power so that the work your developers do is varied and interesting. While you can’t always influence the nature of the projects, you can try to switch their responsibilities to avoid monotony and provide interesting challenges.
Design attractive career paths and provide growth opportunities
Design career paths so that your developers understand what it takes to get promoted. This kind of information and a list of requirements should be public. Consider internal workshops to help developers improve and learn new skills from their seniors and external experts.
Don’t forget about trust
There is probably nothing more valuable than trust between developers and the company. Apply individual approach to every developer and make sure that their problems don’t go unnoticed and their contributions unrewarded.
Summary
As you can probably see, hiring and retaining developers is not very easy and requires consistent efforts. You need a well-planned strategy to be competitive without forgetting that quality web development services may also be acquired through means different than hiring. Consider outsourcing if you don’t have the scale or a need for such a comprehensive approach to hiring developers, or you need flexibility that an in-house team simply can’t provide.
