Magnetic culture: the dos and don'ts in the race for talent

It is no news that great talent is scarce. Or, to put it differently, we are in an age where there is more demand than supply of IT professionals, so attracting and keeping the key players has become a top priority for companies. Replacing staff is not so easy, while, at the same time, you know that even while you are reading this, some of your best employees are receiving DMs in LinkedIn offering them new positions and better salaries. A lot of organizations have started thinking of ways in which they can keep people engaged. However, some ideas may be better than others.

Let’s start with what NOT to do. There is a trend among tech companies in the US that consists of entering into “no-poach” agreements with their competitors. This means that HR professionals from both companies agree not to hire or approach top talents from similar companies. Such dealings are not only ineffective in the long term, but also potentially illegal. In 2016, the DOJ Antitrust Division stated that agreements between companies not to hire or recruit each other’s employees could be prosecuted criminally, following the principles of the US antitrust policies.

Now, what are some GOOD -and complete legal- strategies you can use to retain talent? According to a recent survey by Harvard Business Review and Alight Solutions of 465 business executives, 87% of them agree that workforce well-being is a competitive advantage for companies. And wellbeing can be achieved in many ways. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a great paradigm change in terms of what was “essential” to get work done, and what was merely a tradition.

Remote work, for one, and the possibility of combining office hours with working from home -or wherever you may choose to work, for that matter- has become one of the key benefits that IT professionals are looking for. At Virtualmind, we have implemented this working style during the lockdown and have decided to keep it going, after seeing its great results. Have you ever interviewed someone that felt like a great potential talent but decided against hiring them because they lived very far from the offices? Remote work allows you to hire the best talent regardless of where they live. As a matter of fact, our collaborators are located all over Latin America.

But one last question remains: how can you know what people want? Well, one great way to start is by asking them. Staff surveys can be really useful when carefully analyzed. Many companies do them “just because it looks good” but, with a smart use of data analytics, you can begin to understand what your people need and how to create that magnetic culture that will prevent them from leaving -even if they receive plenty of job offers daily. It is our job to listen carefully and put our words into action, making our people feel happy and satisfied where they are.

If you want to read more articles about Talent, you can check out our parent company, Software Mind, which has articles like this one: The benefits of hiring a dedicated software development team.