Blog series, part 1: How to form the optimal IT development team!
We are happy to be introducing our brand new article series that dives deep into the art of building an exceptional IT development team! ✨
Whether you are a seasoned IT pro or just starting your journey, this series is packed with invaluable insights and expert advice! 🎯
Hiring and retaining IT developers
The IT industry today is truly an employee's market. In certain areas, finding the right expertise is challenging, and retaining them for an extended period is even more difficult. In this series of articles, we intend to delve into the challenges of attracting, hiring, and retaining IT developers, providing valuable tips and advice on how your organization can excel in these areas. We begin the series by discussing how you can attract skilled IT developers to your business.
Attracting IT developers
A crucial process for building a strong IT team and enhancing your company's competitiveness is attracting skilled IT developers. But what exactly attracts them? What are they looking for? Here are some factors that IT developers typically seek in employers and what motivates them:
- Technical
challenges
IT developers often search for interesting and challenging projects where they can apply their technical skills and have the opportunity to grow professionally. Offering exciting and diverse technical challenges is therefore important to attract IT talents. If you only provide tasks within the same narrow scope that doesn't evolve much, it becomes harder to entice talents. Instead, focus on the non-trivial and non-repetitive aspects.
- Work
environment and
company
culture
A positive work environment and a company culture that fosters collaboration, creativity, and innovation are crucial to attract IT developers. They often value flexibility, teamwork, and an atmosphere where their ideas are encouraged and respected. Ensure that you genuinely highlight these aspects in job postings, social media, and during interviews.
- Career
opportunities
IT developers often seek clear career development paths and advancement within the company. They look for employers who invest in their professional growth and provide them with space to evolve within their field. Highlight specific examples of how you intentionally and systematically work on this.
- Technical
tools and
resources
IT developers look for employers that provide them with the best technical tools and resources to perform their tasks effectively. Mention some of the most attractive tools/technologies you use to generate interest in your workplace.
- Work-Life
balance
A balance between work and personal life is important for many IT developers. Employers who offer flexible working hours and remote work options can attract talents who value this aspect. It's also important to convey how much you prioritize work-life balance, which often translates to better performance in their professional role.
Employer branding
- Clear
and attractive
company
culture
Identify your company's values, work culture, and what makes you unique. Highlight this across all your communication channels to attract candidates who share the same values. How do you stand out among other attractive IT employers? What do you offer that others don't in the same way?
- Engage
on social
media
Be active on platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and other platforms where IT developers frequently engage. Share content showcasing your technical projects, employee achievements, and cultural activities to give a glimpse into life at your company.
User stories and references
Showcase your current employees and allow them to share their experiences of working at your company. Positive references and user stories build trust and attract new talents. Complement these with interviews where your employees talk about their experiences and insights. During these interviews, they can also share their technical expertise and perhaps talk about their technical engagements. Are they involved in developing an open-source project or participating in international conferences?
Another aspect of these user stories is that they could provide concrete insights into different development assignments and systems they've created. Is there something remarkable among what you've delivered? What technologies did you use? What problems did you solve? What business benefits did you achieve?
Attractive benefits
Some of the most noticeable benefits to offer, alongside competitive salaries, include flexible working hours, remote work options, wellness benefits, opportunities for further education, and technical workshops.
Providing the option for flexible working hours grants IT developers greater freedom to tailor their workday to their productive periods and personal life. If combined with remote work options, this will attract many. While we understand that some organizations restrict remote work outside the country or the EU, if you have the possibility to offer remote work regardless of location, it becomes even more attractive. This also opens up opportunities to recruit talents from different countries.
Beyond salaries, there are various other income-related benefits that can be interesting. These could include performance-based bonuses, profit sharing, partnerships, and option programs, among others. What they all have in common is that they create more incentives for employees to actively contribute to and develop the company's success, as they directly benefit from it.
IT developers often value the opportunity to stay updated with the latest technology and trends in their field. Offer financial support or opportunities for further education, workshops, and conferences. Many developers can also evolve into ambassadors who take on a more active role in global conferences. Often, this helps create opportunities for them to contribute to one or more open-source projects, which they can then talk about in various conferences or workshops. This can also be seen as an opportunity to advance their careers. It's helpful to share this information with potential candidates to provide a realistic picture of what you can offer.
By combining these tips, you expand your company's ability to attract skilled IT developers and lay a solid foundation for recruiting talents that can contribute to moving your business forward. But how can you practically go about recruiting these talents? We will delve into that in our next article! ✨
