The recent talent shortage has placed pressure on organisations globally to attract the best tech talent. However, hiring is just one part of the picture. Having a focus on your procedures and approaches helps ensure the person you have hired does not leave you the minute a ‘better’ offer comes along.

Globally recognised as the ‘Great Resignation’, companies are now having to re-access their culture and values in line with current and prospective employees' expectations. Flexible work conditions, a healthier work-life balance, and social/environmental values are no longer a ‘nice to have’. And the evidence shows that employees who aren’t listened to will vote with their feet.

A recent Forbes article, How to attract the right tech talent with an eye on retaining (July 2022), outlined three lessons learnt from the author's experiences in hiring and retaining the best, based on business purpose, employee growth, and work culture.

These resonated with us at Sharesource as they spoke clearly to our own purpose, vision and culture.

1. Articulate and live your purpose

It’s not just those who use your good and services that want to have a connection with your brand, so too do your employees.

Articulating your purpose, values, and culture gives current and prospective tech talent something tangible to hold on to and a way to envision their role and future at your company.

This is just one step, however, you must weave your purpose into everything your company does, from business decisions to the stakeholders you partner with, and the activities you do with your employees.

2. Make space for employee growth

Training, coaching and mentoring cannot be viewed as ‘add-ons’, but rather, entrenched in the job. In addition, there needs to be space provided for employees to learn, create and grow both professionally and personally. This means setting up a structured time for them to work on projects outside of their typical day-to-day tasks. These tasks may be skilled-related or could be related to a specific ‘passion’ of the employee.

As an example, Google has a longstanding initiative of "20% time," which is a formalised process focused on encouraging new skill development and creative thinking.

3. Place culture at the top

Having a Head of Culture in the organisation whose role is to hold the company accountable to its culture is a key to ensuring that culture sits as importantly as sales, revenue, and profit, rather than being there when it suits the circumstances.

Being accountable for fostering every aspect of your values and culture shows your team, your partners, and other stakeholders that you are committed to ‘doing’ what you are ‘saying’. It also means that you are constantly reviewing and improving upon the business in terms of its culture, as much as you are looking to improve sales, revenue and profits.

Placing culture on the same level as other aspects of business success is simple common sense when you consider that it is ‘people’ that make a business successful. Putting culture at the top of your success measures demonstrates to your current and prospective employees that they are recognised as a key part of the company’s success.

Read more from Sharesource on the role of culture in finding and keeping the best person for the job.

Sharesource is proud of the role it has played for nearly ten years in helping to unleash smart tech talent to be part of a remote team no matter where in the world they live. We have stayed true to our values and created a people-focused culture. Importantly, we have seen and acted upon internal and external challenges and opportunities and refocused when needed.

The key to our success is two-fold, and both are people based. Hiring the best people for the job in every aspect of our business is one. The other is partnering with smart tech companies who like us, have taken a global focus.

If you are a global citizen who recognises that smart talent can come from anywhere and are seeking to hire the best tech talent, we want to speak to you.

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