In the current talent shortage, you’ll need to go beyond perks and free food if you want to be a real draw for software engineers – and if you want to keep them. Here are four less tangible rewards you should be offering your people.
1. A great culture and vision
Your culture is the sum of your company’s values, processes and priorities. If you make your people a priority and live up to your principles, you’ll retain them far more effectively.
Software engineers don’t just work for pay, but for purpose: they want to work on, and see progress towards, an important, believable vision. Like a sports team, they care about identity, achievement, and success. Is your company mission-driven? Does it have a social impact? Could it have?
2. Room to grow
Growth opportunities are one of the most important factors that keep software engineers engaged. Don’t just offer professional development, actively encourage it – and pay for it. Get proactive about talking to your people to find out what matters to them, what they’d like to learn, and where they hope to go in their careers.
3. Autonomy and flexibility
Software engineers are independent, creative people who won’t do their best work if they feel stifled by micromanagement. Give them the freedom to choose how they approach problems, and measure results rather than how much time they spend at work. You could take a leaf out of Google’s book and give them a certain amount of time each week to work on their pet projects.
4. Cool technology
Developers love having the newest and most exciting tools to play with. Give them the toys they want, whether that’s multiple large-screen monitors, standing desks, or just the fastest computers (and don’t forget the fast internet to go with that).
On a similar note, continuous deployment of new software can be addictive for your software engineers because they get to see their work in production instantly without having to wait for a monthly release cycle. This instant gratification will give you the edge over your competitors when it comes to retaining talent.
We have a deeper level of insight on how to win the best candidates, by knowing not only what competitors are offering, but also being able to understand what the candidates are really looking for. Partner with JAM Recruitment.