Want to Keep Employees From Leaving Their Current Roles in Your Software Company? Concentrate on ways to keep current employees, rather than recruiting new ones.
By Steve Taplin
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Microsoft's recent research claims that more than 40% of all employees considered leaving their current roles in 2021. So as software development managers try to come to terms with this, they should much concentrate on ways to keep current employees, rather than recruiting new ones.
Modern-day beverage machines and flexible working hours are not compelling to employees anymore. As many companies are embracing the new normal of working from home, plans to recruit and retain employees fall heavily on the way they deal with this new setup.
Software companies to embrace personalization
To minimize the unavoidable losses that might come with employees leaving their roles, software companies should consider adopting better strategies that provide the one thing that everyone fancies: personalization.
Something becomes personal when an individual creates a vital connection to an object or an experience. It might be a person's first pet, favorite fast food joint or helping people out of one's goodwill. This does happen at workplaces, too, with employees being connected with the projects they are doing.
By encouraging meaningful connections between employees and their jobs and offering support, software companies' managers will begin to see highly engaged and competent employees.
Managers of software companies should be ready and willing to create a competent team that cannot be easily poached. To form a team that's always ready to return to the workplace, consider taking these steps.
1. Know your people
To develop strong connections with their employees, managers ought to understand them on a personal level. This includes asking yourself the following:
- What is it that your employees care about the most? Promotion, friendship, recognition, salary increase?
- Why are they doing this job for this company: Do they enjoy doing what they do, or did they just happen to come across this job?
- What is there at stake for them? Is this the career they longed for, or are they doing it to support their college-going child?
These are the questions that good hiring managers and recruiters ask at the start of a person's employment journey. This simple act of inquiring is an excellent engagement procedure that shows interest in individuals to be hired. Many people will be happy to share whatever things are important to them if they show solemn interest.
Another critical question that most software companies' managers never ask but should is: For your employee to leave, what should another offer have to include?
Related: The 5 Crucial Phases of Building a Team
2. See your people
Understanding is essential to developing a deep connection by ensuring that the employees feel noticed. The desire to be seen goes a long way beyond turning on their cameras in Zoom. It is a very fundamental need that we humans share.
Individuals feel recognized when shown how important they are to the software company. They also feel seen when they can freely connect their needs to the company. Even introverted people appreciate silent acknowledgment, such as a quick note on their desks appreciating them for a particular presentation.
One thing for managers to keep in mind is that "Great job" is not enough. It is a phrase that can be said to any individual on your team. It signifies that the feedback is not personal enough or unique. Instead, managers should take the extra mile to expressly state what the individual did and appreciate them for it.
Related: 7 Ways to Guarantee Your Team Will Be Highly Engaged
3. Make it about your people.
Personalization is very crucial and is something possible at scale. Software company managers must change their mentality from a "made for everyone" to a "made for me" mentality. It all begins with the desire to consider employees as irreplaceable and vital to the team.
When bringing individuals together, the company's participants will be more connected to the content when they can find a personal connection that makes the entire process special.
Managers can ask, "What crosses your mind about this topic?" or "What does this subject make you think?" These questions make an employee feel as if they are included.
Successful companies are considered successful because of the efforts of their employees, and keeping employees is one crucial thing that software company managers should ensure.
Related: 5 Best Team Management Apps
