How to Retain Tech Talents

The race for Programmers is becoming more intense with each passing day, there is a massive battle for existing talent. “The talent war is very real, and is going to get even crazier in the next few years,” -Dan Roberts (CEO of Ouellette & Associates Consulting). Attracting talent is only a piece of the pie, the more crucial part is retaining the talent. Talents who are not satisfied with their current roles or positions would move at a hair’s whim if their needs are unmet. Attracting and retaining highly specialized roles is even more difficult as local companies are in competition with global companies that can offer better remuneration and benefits. The models that worked in the past are obsolete for the current crop of skilled Tech Talents as millennials are not just interested in a good pay but meaningful work that they ‘enjoy’ doing.

A recent report states that up to 1.8 million IT jobs will be vacant by 2022. It is pertinent for Employers to proactively take steps to ensure they attract and retain the best Tech Talents while keeping them considerably satisfied. This article seeks to suggest actionable steps that every Organization can implement in order to ensure they compete favorably:

• 20 percent time: Did you know that tools such as Gmail, AdSense, Google Maps, Google Transit, and Google News were spurred by the policy that allowed employees take time out of their core jobs to be experimental and creative? This policy encouraged Programmers to spend 20% of their time working on anything they thought will benefit Google. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Apple have all implemented their own versions of 20 percent time. It is understood that the big players have a huge budget and can easily afford this extra time but some smaller companies may not be able to afford this, it is important to try a variation. For example, you can allow them to choose a creative side project that will add value to your Company, let them work on it for a few hours each week and your Company can have a reward system for those who tow this path. This free time can also be used to learn new Technology that will help improve your Company’s product.
• Proper Tech Leadership: A lack of proper Tech Leadership would lead to projects that are not well defined or understood, this would exceed budget and estimated time. Due to the fact that software development is moving at lightning speed with new languages, frameworks, and tools released frequently, it is essential that the Tech Leadership available must also be in touch with these changes. A lack of this would lead to an oversimplification of the work the Programmers have to do which leaves them disgruntled and unable to perform at their optimum levels.
• Involvement: In many organizations, Programmers are treated like code monkeys. A code monkey is a programmer who isn’t involved in any aspect of conceptual or design work but simply writes code to specifications given. The Agile method of software development has since given way to a more flexible and adaptable approach. This process encourages the involvement of multiple units of an organization from start. The benefits are endless as it ensures that the products being developed have been reviewed through different lenses of expertise. Involving Programmers early on gives them the opportunity to contribute and also highlight existing constraints that others are likely to miss. For example, when it comes to licensing or purchasing third-party software, it is important to involve your Programmers for extensive review because they may have to manage the application in the future.
• Better work benefits: This includes everything from better remuneration to Training and convenient work environment. Quality talent is available albeit limited but it comes at a cost. As much as we encourage Companies to pay Programmers what they are worth, we understand that you also have a salary budget as a Company and might not be able to exceed that budget. But you must know that not all Developers are moved by monetary benefits, most of them would like an environment that encourages them to build their skills. Michael Spears, CIO, and chief data officer at the National Council on Compensation Insurance, said: “In the last year, we’ve had good success hiring at lower levels, growing skills internally, and promoting from within,”. Offering Training in any capacity, even if it is self-paced training is a good tactic to encourage Programmers to stay longer with your Company.
• Remote Work: From our research in the past few months, we realized that Programmers would rather prefer to remain in their home Country to work remotely rather than move to a different Country for better pay. Their major reasons were unfamiliar weather conditions and a high tax rate. Sadly, most African Companies do not allow them the freedom of remote work. This is the reason African Programmers are settling for International offers that allow them to work from their home against full-time employment in Africa. Giving Programmers the liberty to work from home communicates a high level of trust in their ability to work without close supervision. Commuting to and fro work in big cities around the world takes around 3 hours on a daily basis. Those hours wasted in traffic, limits the effectiveness and productivity of the Programmer. We would recommend a gradual process of testing, where top performing Programmers would be given the opportunity to work from home one day during the week. The future of work is remote, we highly recommend that African Companies begin to gradually adopt this approach else they will lose the talent war to their international counterparts.

Last month, we had a Panel discussion with seven Tech Experts from Six Top Tech Companies represented in Ghana — ExpressPay, Hubtel, Andela, Ampersand, Rancard, and Kudobuzz. We discussed most of the above stated points in details and our Developers had the chance to speak their minds on these issues, watch the session in this video.

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