How to Take Care of Your Tech Employees

Time to read
3 minutes
Read so far

How to Take Care of Your Tech Employees

Many tech companies start on a small budget and grow rapidly. As you find yourself scaling up, you might be concerned about meeting the demand in the marketplace. However, there's a point where the work levels off, and you must consider the environment of your employees. After all, you want to keep those who've worked alongside you and cheered on your successes.

Reports show that U.S. businesses lose about a trillion dollars a year due to voluntary turnover. What if you could engage and keep your best employees instead of replacing them, though? You'd reduce the cost involved in finding and retraining workers, and you'd have skilled and knowledgeable people on your payroll.

Here are eight ways to take care of your staff and ensure they want to stay with you for years to come. 

1. Offer Perks

If your company is still relatively small, you might not be able to the same health care benefits or perks as a large enterprise. However, you can give things those bigger corporations don't, such as extra days off to volunteer in the community. 

Start by looking at your company culture and what's vital to you. Next, survey your employees anonymously and ask them what perks would make them more likely to stay. Finally, try different benefits and keep the ones the workers respond to.

2. Make Information Accessible

Some companies worry someone will steal their information. They close up ranks and keep everything tight and inaccessible. However, this setup is frustrating for employees who might need the data to reach out to a client. Look at your enterprise resource planning (ERP) and figure out what information needs shared between departments. Open up databases so that information is accessible, and people can work productively. 

3. Redesign Your Space

How well does your space meet the needs of your employees? Little things, such as increasing natural light, can impact the overall performance and attitude of your workers. Consider the different spaces inside. Are there areas where employees can work in quiet? Do you have meeting rooms for brainstorming? Is there a common area where people can take a break and refresh for the rest of the workday? 

Google is an excellent example of a company that considers the needs of their workers in their design. They have a coffee shop and snack area, sleep pods and places where people can gather to brainstorm or work in quiet. 

4. Talk to Your Staff

Researchers uncovered that 52% of exiting employees said the company could have prevented their leaving. However, for about half of them, no one ever asked whether they were satisfied with their job or if anything could be improved. In other words, they would have considered staying if someone had asked for their input and tried to better work conditions. 

Talk to your workers about their job satisfaction. Work to fix any issues they bring to your attention, and thank them for their openness. 

5. Provide Flexibility

Your employees have lives outside of work. They might have children who get sick from time to time or expenses you don't know about. Offer some flexibility to help them juggle their responsibilities. Offer an option to work from home at least occasionally. 

If your employee has a sick kid, not having to stress about childcare for the day might be the boost they need. For a new mom, the chance to enter a job-sharing program where she works fewer hours might be what she needs for a year and may make her a loyal employee.

6. Be Transparent

In one survey, researchers found that employees value transparency above anything else. About 97% of tech workers across all age groups reported that openness was the trait they valued most. Therefore, you should host morning meetings and update employees on where you are with big projects. Be open and upfront if you make a mistake and explain how you'll rectify it. Never lie to your workers or sweep concerns under the rug.

7. Invest in Your Employees

Around 32% of workers said they most wanted employee development or tuition reimbursement programs. When you pour resources into your workers, they know you want them around for the long term. They also understand that you value their personal growth. Even if another opportunity comes along that pays better, they may stay where they are because you're investing in them. 

8. Pay Attention to Living Wages

Even though you might not be able to pay someone as much as a huge corporation, you should offer them a living wage. Don't get greedy and keep all the profits to yourself. An employee who goes without a raise for long periods is likely to look for another position. Not everyone will step up and ask for an increase, though. They may find it easier to just leave. 

Pay workers what you can afford and try to take care of them so that they can take care of their families. Employees might be willing to make a little less if you offer them perks, but they aren't going to stay if they feel they're being taken advantage of.

Taking Care of Your Tech Employees

If you place attention on improving your employee programs and offering benefits no other companies have, you are more likely to retain and attract top talent. Whenever you aren't sure how to move forward, take time to speak to your workers and find out what they want most. If you show you care and are fair with your staff, they will remain loyal and much more likely to build a career at your company.