Employees are a company’s most valuable asset, so caring for their needs and prompting their professional growth is an undeniable necessity.

What Companies Look For vs What Employees Need

Nowadays the tech industry’s rapid developments are progressively more demanding and require highly diversified skill sets to achieve results and track progress.

Newer generations coming into the IT job market present difficulties companies have never faced before: unlike previous generations, these new professionals are not dazzled by a nine-to-five secure job for life that provides them a nice paycheck at the end of the month, so making them happy and willing to stay is no longer an easy, straightforward task.

What these new generations value most are opportunities for continuous growth, flexible working hours, the possibility to work remotely from somewhere they feel happy, a healthy balance between professional and personal life, and a good work environment with peers and leaders who can inspire them to push their limits.

More often than not, it’s unrealistic, time-consuming, and too expensive to try to handle the recruitment, selection, training, and management of new talent in such a fast-changing and demanding industry, especially if that is not your company’s core business.

With ever-evolving project demands, having such a vast skill set in-house would not only be extremely difficult to manage and keep track of, but also require a big financial investment.

Clearly defining your company’s HR strategy is the most effective way to ensure that your financial resources and your team’s efforts are working efficiently towards the same goals, while also providing more clear and useful guidelines to the services your company might need to outsource.

Once you have a clear idea of which resources and skills you need to outsource, your IT partner can help you with both tasks—securing a good and sustainable talent management strategy and assuring an external team that can fulfill your outsourcing needs.

According to The Predictive Index, 37% of executives say their #1 priority is talent strategy.

Here are some key aspects to keep in mind in order to get the most successful outcomes:

1. Performance Management and HR strategy 

The right strategy and tracking system can help unveil certain skills your staff already have that you might be missing out on while bringing to light skills you do not possess and need to acquire.

Assuring the right task distribution and allocation of assets can not only increase the team’s performance but also improve their overall appreciation for their workplace.

The right reporting and analysis will outperform any past statistics on employee performance and prevent investment in unnecessary new hires.

This process is ongoing to ensure both employee satisfaction and also that the company is retrieving the most value. Working for an organization that strives to do better and improve their methods is an indicator of their ability to grow and adapt.

With an external team handling a specific set of tasks and projects, the opportunities to leverage your in-house employees and their output on your core business become more realistic.

Having the right IT service partner can be key to delivering the best solution for your needs while guaranteeing your company’s quality standards for a fraction of the investment and allowing you to focus your internal resources on your mission.

Additionally, the right partnership can ensure your external teams share the same performance management philosophy with the added value of knowing the IT market and its talent pool’s motivations.

This is paramount to guarantee the best talent in the market is working on your projects, while also guaranteeing the stability of the team and the projects being developed.

2. Nurturing and Compensation 

According to The 2019 Employee Engagement Report, “only a third of workers received recognition the last time they went the extra mile at work and just a quarter feel highly valued at work.”

Letting your employees know that they are valued is a big step in the right direction, but showing them is the key to keep them from looking for options elsewhere.

Always keep your workforce motivated by providing the right mindset and acknowledgment when it’s due.

Nurturing and compensating your employees is an important step in talent retention and meaningful work contribution. Distribute awards, arrange team-building events, take the time to show appreciation for their commitment to your company and provide them with the necessary tools to evolve within your company.

Accordingly, you should also guarantee that the IT partner you select to help develop your projects externally is acutely aware of the importance of implementing this same vision, ensuring there are clear lines of communication so your external team can share their input and project initiatives to keep morale high.

3. Career Growth 

Providing the tools to help your employees boost their professional development is one of the most rewarding aspects of the relationship between a worker and a company.

It fosters loyalty in your employees and trust within your workforce, showing them that there is always another step to climb and another challenge to tackle.

An organization that nurtures the growth of its employees will receive a fantastic return on investment as it shows prospective hires what a great place to work looks like.

“When people are financially invested they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.” – Simon Sinek

Having the right IT professionals working alongside your team can provide various opportunities for your workforce:

  • different approaches to challenges
  • fresh insights on the tech industry’s demands
  • experience with the latest IT resources

These are perfect opportunities to boost your internal team and ensure they are at the top of their game, while also getting the job done.

Hiring a nearshore software development team can be the upgrade you need to take your company to the next level and bring the most challenging and motivational projects that will encourage company growth in-house.

4. On-the-job Training 

A successful performance management strategy will quickly help you identify which areas to invest in your workforce’s training, both in technical skills and others such as soft skills improvement. Adding value to your employees will directly add value to your company and help you achieve results in multiple areas.

Choosing the right IT partner will ensure that any outsourced team members have the skill set required to guarantee high-quality project deliverables are presented on time.

The tech industry is constantly evolving, so getting the latest certifications and the best training available on the market is key to producing the best quality results.

Your IT partner has to be highly aware of the tech market and training fluctuations to keep your nearshore development team at the level your projects require.

These teams handle such a diversified number of projects that constant development of their skill set, productivity, efficiency, and adaptability to client curve balls are part of the job description.

Having the safety net of an IT partner providing the right infrastructure and HR tools to keep your team adaptable but also highly motivated is an advantage you can’t put a price on—but if you did, it would be nothing compared to managing these processes internally.

5. Work-life Balance 

No talent strategy is complete without one of the most important assets a good job can provide: a work-life balance. Having a dedicated workforce that works as hard as possible to perform at the highest level and achieve previously established OKR’s requires a balanced lifestyle.

Setting company guidelines that encourage taking breaks, implementing good practices to avoid burnouts, and setting flexible work schedules can help maintain a healthy mindset within your workforce.

It’s important to show your workers that there’s meaning in working and in resting. It gives people a sense of being in the right place, because they feel like whoever they are giving most of their week is interested in their well-being.

Having an external team that has a good work-life balance is also important to your company’s image, for example the location of your team can influence their work-life balance in various ways:

  • Access to the city and countryside
  • Political stability
  • Climate
  • Overall security and health support
  • Skill training opportunities
  • Great schools and universities

This will also guarantee that your external team’s environment is stable and won’t be a future risk factor.

Having a nearshore development team with access to a good quality of life is a subtle investment that will improve your results in the long run.

“Work takes on new meaning when you feel you are pointed in the right direction. Otherwise, it’s just a job, and life is too short for that.” – Tim Cook

Key Takeaways

Overall, Outsourcing some of your needs can uplift your company’s productivity and open new doors for your business. What follows is important to keep in mind when implementing a good Talent Management strategy:

  • Have a good performance management strategy in place to help you decide what to focus your efforts on and what to outsource;
  • Analyze your results, apply the necessary changes to your staff, and create a clear idea of what you still want to improve;
  • Align your in-house talent objectives and goals to ensure your potential outsourcing partner can match your needs;
  • Make sure to nurture and compensate your workforce and choose an IT partner that can implement the same philosophy and guarantee stability on your projects with timely deliveries;
  • “Walk” side-by-side with your employees and provide them with the tools to succeed and reach their career goals;
  • Invest in staff training and improvement by allowing them to work on your projects alongside a highly specialized external IT team;
  • Make sure to provide a work-life balance that will keep them in a healthy mindset and choose an outsourcing service that can commit to the same balance;
  • Explore your options so you can choose the right IT service partner for your business.

An IT partner, more experienced in the current marketplace and talent acquisition challenges, is a valuable asset to make sure your investments provide the best returns possible.

Certain objectives require bolder approaches that are harder for a traditional company to enforce. From an HR as well as a financial perspective, having an outsourcing IT partner is an asset worth investing in.

With a custom-made solution, your IT partner can evaluate your company’s needs and provide assistance in all aspects of managing your staff.

This solution ensures a thorough implementation of your talent management strategy and accurate tracking of results while providing the outsourcing services you need to reach your company’s goals.

After all, the success of your company will be a reflection of a successful partnership and the symbioses between your internal and external talent will be a determining factor in your future relationship as well as your company’s overall performance.

Here at Growin, there’s a big emphasis on “We develop people who develop technology” and as our developers are our strongest representatives, we do our due diligence to ensure they are the best people for the job.

This qualifies us not only to provide the most promising professionals in the tech industry but also to assist in providing your workforce with a supporting system that promotes company and employee growth.

Leave us a comment or schedule a discovery call so we can talk more about how we can help you manage your resources!