How can companies lure IT professionals?

    This question is asked to me very often. Often. As well as the question of motivation and methods of retaining employees.

    “Create a competitive environment,” I reply as if from a textbook.

    And what does “competitive conditions” mean? Tennis tables - yes, English courses - yes, flexible hours - yes, we’ve built a pool, we invited the strippers to the corporate party. What else?

    Here I’ll answer from the marketing textbook: “Create a brand”. How? And here it is already necessary in more detail.

    More locality


    Domestic companies (both outsourcing and grocery) do not enjoy much support from IT specialists (read - they have low loyalty and low brand value). In simple terms, this means that the conditional “23-year-old senior” does not matter at all where to work - in Ciklum, GlobalLogic, Luxoft or SoftServe. That last hundred dollars in the end becomes decisive when choosing the next employer.

    Again. The average IT specialist doesn't care which company to work in.

    If you compare even with Russia, then things look better there. Many really dream of working in Yandex, Mail.ru or Vkontakte. Those. many will prefer, perhaps, less money, but a "dream company." And now let's see what percentage of the use of Yandex (against Google) and Vkontakte (against Facebook) in Russia. Do you see the addiction? It is worth adding that in Ukraine Yandex positions are not as good as in Russia. Again, why?

    People tend to love local companies, local brands, local products. “Inclined to love” does not mean that everyone will love or choose a local, but less quality product. But ceteris paribus, a local product will have a better chance of success.

    Ukrainian outsourcing companies (the same Yandex) are not perceived by most as domestic companies. Again, the companies themselves are doing their utmost to be “Western.” Thus, a local product with an English interface will almost 100% lose to a similar product, the conditional "John Smith Company", which will provide an interface in your native language. Yes, a small market, there is no critical mass of paying audience, you say, and you will be right. But say it to Yandex or Vkontakte.

    What is the conclusion? You need to become more "local." But speculating on the national idea is also not necessary, since the result is likely to be disastrous.

    Products


    I won’t discover America if I say that most of the IT in our country is outsourcing. Such companies need to start releasing their products. Mobile, web, social projects - it doesn’t matter, it’s important that I can go into a certain AppStore and see several applications (not necessarily commercial) released under the Ciklum or Luxoft brand.

    Who will do this? Employees of the company - possibly full time, perhaps, like Google and Microsoft, due to 20% of the working time.

    Is it not profitable for companies? There are not enough people, but is there still throwing money away? Well, we are talking about strengthening the brand, and this does not happen for free. In addition, companies spend a lot of money on downtime, on buns, etc. What prevents the marketing budget from shifting toward product creation?

    There is another emerging trend - many people who have gained experience in outsourcing companies leave and start their own companies or startups. For outsourcing companies this is a big loss, and they see their competitors in startups (if they don’t see it, then this is their problem).

    But why can't the desire of the best employees to create their projects be supported at the company level? You will receive an even more motivated employee, his loyalty and ... product. Ah, he will work diligently on his product and not fulfill official duties? Well, kick out such employees. There is no transition period without loss. Ah, you cannot expel employees for incompetence and sloppiness, because spent a lot of money and effort on it? Ok, keep it on and watch it continue to cause losses to the company.

    And if someone nevertheless ripens and leaves the company, despite all the manna, then, being loyal, he will bring three to his place as he does. If not immediately, then after some time. Do not believe? OK.

    Grants, non-core activities


    At most, companies can sponsor an IT conference. They can also organize a chess or football tournament. Rarely enough for more imagination.

    We look to the west - we see iPhones, windshields in different series (product placement), companies advertise in football stadiums (Nokia Lumia advertisement between Mercedes and Red Bull advertisements), give research and education grants to promising students / scientists, help organize recreation areas, libraries for ordinary people. Red Bull took a man into space, from where he safely jumped .

    What we see is advertising in minibuses (!), Faceless banner advertising, events in the style of "conducted, and good, but we had cookies." But the organizers of one of the local TEDx for several months can not find at least one sponsor for the event. Recently, a representative of a well-known company wrote that the current events are devoid of new ideas. Well, TEDx is exactly the place where new ideas are born, and this is the very event that allows you to talk about cool ideas from a large audience. And I already said that the organizers can not find a sponsor for several months?

    Boy, do not bother to bring new tennis tables.

    Training


    All companies, as one, insist that they educate students, and also conduct regular trainings for their employees.

    Either I'm an idiot, or skis do not go, but for all my working practice I sometimes saw some pathetic attempts to establish an internal corporate educational process. Which kept, as a rule, on enthusiasm, without money and bonuses.

    What is the reason? Who is being taught? Developers, of whom at best one in ten can not only do, but also tell, one in a hundred can also teach. To organize the workflow, companies invite consultants and hire scrum masters. Why do companies think that HR can cope with the organization of the educational process in their free time? Very pleased companies that have their own training centers and staff of trainers.

    Let's take as another example the prestigious Imagine Cup competition, which is held by Microsoft (last year the team from Ukraine won in one of the nominations). Let's look at the participants this year. 7 out of 9 finalists are graduates of the STEP Academy (respect, so that they don’t speak there). I am silent about the fact that there are very few representatives of universities, including national ones. But where are the teams Ciklum, Epam, Luxoft and the like? A huge number of undergraduate and graduate students work in these companies. Why not create a team and declare yourself in an international competition? This is a huge experience for young people, and even an opportunity to gain world recognition, as it happened with the Ukrainian team last year.

    Look beyond your iPads


    A few years ago I spoke with different companies about local communities and events. Many just laughed and sent me away. Now all IT companies do, help do, sponsor or participate in events. This has become the norm in just a few years. And those companies (I will not name specifically) that have understood the prospects of this area are now included in the list of market leaders.

    Several years passed, and the events transformed into oven-heaps and hackathons. It was very difficult for companies to go into this experiment, but in most cases these experiments were successful. Now everyone is doing hackathons, and again it was not interesting.

    The main message is to start doing something that others will begin to do massively in 1-2 years. And start doing it right now :-).

    Strategic development? No, I have not heard


    I see attempts by some companies to increase employee loyalty. Someone gives iPads for recommendations, someone - buns for articles on the hub, someone organizes interest clubs.

    In principle, this makes me happy, as many people and companies still have an understanding of why brand loyalty needs to be increased, but there are still problems with architecture and specific implementation :-).

    But the main thing is to start, and there you look, and it will work out.

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