By Craig Parsons - Senior Consultant, Talent Supply Solutions
Its been a really interesting landscape in the Auckland market over the last few months. What we are seeing is software development companies at varying stages of maturity (start-up through to mature) who are reacting to a marked increase in demand for their products and services which has necessitated taking on board additional resources. These resources have primarily been in the software development area including FrontEnd/BackEnd and Full Stack Developers delivering Web & Mobile SaaS Apps to market. Tech Stacks have included PHP and React.js and everyone is looking for that facebook look and feel for their Apps.
This, of course, has created a wave of activity in the recruitment sector with everyone vying for the same candidates and trying to be competitive and creative with their offerings. This brings a whole discussion around what companies can do to put themselves at an advantage when it comes to securing the talent in a talent short market.
What makes your company unique?
- What makes your team get out of bed each day to come to the office?
- Do you give your team the opportunity to work with the latest technology stacks?
- Do you offer your team the chance to try new things and to learn along the way?
- Is it OK to be wrong and make mistakes?
- Is working at home a day or 2 a week something you would consider?
- Do you allow your staff to work flexible working hours so they don’t have to sit in a car for 3 hours a day commuting?
- Do you provide your staff with a training allowance each year for them to personally upskill?
- Do you get fresh fruit delivered each week for the staff to grab through the day?
- Do you have a staff succession planning strategy in place and have your team got a clear sight of where to next when it comes to career progression?
- Do your staff know where they can get to within the company if they excel?
What are candidates looking for?
- Visibility as a business in the marketplace
- Vision and values
- Engagement with existing employees
- Community involvement
- Social media / online presence
- Culture and environment
This list can go on for pages but the bottom line is, you need to have at least a few of these options in place to make your team feel appreciated and trusted and valued by your company. The companies that are winning the talent war are providing many of concessions/perks listed above. They are providing the opportunity to their people to grow their careers within the business, the opportunity to move up the ladder, the opportunity to move into a Team Lead role, the opportunity to move into a Practice Lead role, and further down the track, the opportunity to move into a management role. This is how you retain staff. You engage with them and make their lives easier, and you take them on the journey to make them more successful so it’s a win-win for us all.
This article was published on our quarterly issue, "Market Insights". Read the full newsletter here, issue 02 - July 2019, Climb Higher Heights.