Corporate culture seems to be a hot topic in IT right now, and it’s really no surprise. Competition is fierce for top IT talent, and companies are struggling to find ways to stand out and become the top destination for leading tech professionals.
I’ve recently had several people ask me about corporate culture — specifically, what attracts the best talent and helps you retain them. This was a fun topic for me, and to help provide the best answer possible, I took a look at our corporate culture here at PSCI. We really are a family here, and strive to provide our consultants with the best career opportunities and environment possible. In fact, our longest tenured consultant has been with PSCI for 22 years!
Corporate culture keys for attracting top IT talent
So, after some conversations and introspection, here are some of our corporate culture keys for attracting and retaining top IT talent (and some takeaways for your business):
* Respect work/life balance. We recently added two new recruiters to the PSCI team, and I thought they offered the perfect opportunity to talk about corporate culture and what attracted them to the opportunity here. One of the top reasons was our commitment to work/life balance. Specifically, that we don’t emphasize bottom line profit over family, or productivity at the expense of profit. The lesson here is about balance. Tech can be a high-productivity, demanding environment. Experienced IT talent understands — and even sometimes expects — this type of environment. The key, though, is to show an understanding for balance. Offer opportunity for flexible work arrangements. Provide opportunities for happy hour or other team building activities (on the clock) that allow your team to unwind. Then, be sure to talk about and share examples of your commitment to work/life balance during the hiring process.
* Appreciate your employees. This one may seem like a no-brainer, but in a demanding environment with tight deadlines, you might not be thinking about how to demonstrate respect and appreciation for your employees. Individual expectations may be high on tech projects, but fostering a sense of team and teamwork while showing sincere appreciation for the hard work (and excellent work) of your team makes it more likely they will stay focused, work their hardest and consider working for you again on another project.
* Try to take your employees’ point of view. Here at PSCI, we are very hands-on with our IT consultants. We want them to have an incredible experience with us, and also with our clients. When they call us with a question, they can get right to the person who can provide an answer. Life sometimes offers unique circumstances, so we try to accommodate special requests or needs for our consultants as well. But it also expands into the on-site experience with our clients. We meet consultants before job interviews to do some preparation, then escort them to their interviews. A member of our team also joins IT consultants on the first day of their new assignment to ensure they’re comfortable and ready to go. We also provide them with every pertinent piece of information up front to ensure open communication and realistic expectations. By thinking about what works best for our consultants, we’re able to meet their needs and hopefully exceed those expectations.
Think about what your employees need to do their jobs more effectively, or how you can support them on the job to provide them with the tools or experience needed to reach their goals. By thinking from their point of view, you’ll be more able to meet their needs and support them in their long-term goals as well.
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