Not many cities can truthfully claim to have grown as much as Denver in 2018. In a year’s time, innovative tech companies have locked down more than 472,000 sq. ft. of metro office space – through expansion or migration to the Mile High City. With more business growth, comes more IT jobs – without a large enough talent pool to fill them.
As of right now, the city’s unemployment rate currently stands at just 3%. With the competition for top technical talent not slowing down anytime soon, companies struggling to build out their IT teams need to take their hiring practices to the next level. Here are three ways to start:
If your once tried and true recruitment methods aren’t working, don’t be discouraged. In today’s talent landscape, and especially for the tech industry, most companies are having to hit the refresh button on recruitment, and this goes for full-time employees or consultants for project work.
Before deploying new tactics and seeing what sticks, you need to analyze your current processes for inefficiencies. Ask yourself these questions:
To address a common pitfall many companies experience within the current talent market, it’s simply not enough to wait for IT candidates to come to you. Sure, with a solid online presence, applications will trickle in – but will they be the right talent for your niche needs? Recruiting passive candidates will enable your recruiters to have an ever-growing pool of warm talent they already know have the right qualifications. From there, the other stages of your hiring process will consequently be more effective.
Once top Denver tech talent is in your hiring funnel, you need to convince them to stay. Start by leveraging what’s enticing about your company’s unique culture. This is different than games in the break room or craft beer on tap – it’s offering benefits that show Denver IT consultants you are invested in them.
In fact, a survey of professionals showed that the “perks” that mattered most to them were solid healthcare plans and benefits that prioritized work-life balance. How do these areas measure up within your company? Even creating your own engagement program (or trusting a staffing partner with their own Engagement Management Program) can go a long way to build and maintain employee morale.
While an engaging culture and solid benefits package definitely play a role in hiring your potential IT consultants, their pay will (in most cases) always reign supreme. It is absolutely critical for your teams to do comprehensive salary research before posting a new position. If you miss the ballpark average, you won’t win top talent.
Where do you start your search? There are plenty of salary research tools online that give you data by location – we’ve linked Denver data from PayScale and Glassdoor here. If you simply don’t have the budget to compete with these averages, get creative. For example, if you’d ideally like a senior software consultant but only have the budget for a junior-level one, see if your existing team will be able to mentor and train them on specific tasks you need them for. Not only does this reduce spend, but it also makes mentorship part of your culture. Or you can adopt an ESOP program, sharing stocks with your employees so that they thrive while your business thrives.
Denver is a vibrant tech community. If you want to market your business as a top local employer, you need to do more than just make an appearance – you need to be an active member of Denver’s tech hub. Frankly, Denver tech pros want to be proud of where they work and want to make a difference. If your company has a robust community engagement plan in place, there is a good chance candidates will be interested in working with you before you even advertise an open position.
For example, charitable work is no longer the icing on the cake, it’s a main ingredient – and 86% of millennial employees surveyed said their company’s corporate social responsibilities (CSR) initiatives mattered to them. Certainly, you’re giving back because it’s just the right thing to do, but companies with a solid CSR strategy also use their philanthropic spirit to build their businesses reputation – catching the interest of clients and candidates alike. In fact, we challenge you to score a feature on Built in Colorado for all of the good you do, both in and outside of the office.
As a Denver area business, you know the IT talent landscape is tough. Even with the tips above, sometimes you just need the expertise and dedication of one of Denver’s best recruiting firms.
Here at IDR, we’re fully invested in all we do. Whether building connections in the local IT community or deepening our understanding of your business and goals, we devote ourselves to making the most of every moment. We won’t skip a beat delivering you with the talented IT consultants you need.
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