How Tech Companies Can Keep Their Employees Happy

Keeping employees content is something that tech employers should pay large attention to. Company growth will largely be down to the employees, so it’s important to carefully monitor staff morale to prevent large staff turnover and make sure that development is not stifled.

With the demand for tech talent booming, many tech companies look for ways to keep their teams engaged. So how can tech employers keep their staff happy? This article presents key strategies and tips to consider to ensure staff retention and subsequent company success.

Understand the priorities of your employees

It is crucial for employers to understand the mindset of their employees. For instance, some may prioritise pay and salary, or their job title and responsibilities, whilst others may feel strongly about flexible working hours or telecommuting. 

Appreciating what matters to each person individually will certainly contribute to workplace happiness and in turn productivity. A study in 2015 showed that employees that are “happy” are around 20% more productive than unhappy peers. 

Keep your staff motivated 

Offering discretionary bonuses or commission structures on top of a fixed salary can boost job satisfaction as receiving extra money can feel extremely rewarding and motivate staff to fulfil or even exceed their targets.

Startups with less revenue available may want to consider offering equity to valuable staff members. Share options can often make an employee feel more incentivised, providing that they can see the bigger picture and understand what their equity could be worth.

Provide job perks 

Company perks such as extra days off for birthdays or discounts for certain products can be very enticing. Likewise, offering health insurance or car benefits will certainly please employees. Providing free snacks such as fruit and beverages would also help to keep employees’ energy levels up.

Justine Gray from fintech start-up DollarHand.com explained how “It’s important to keep thinking of different strategies to ensure your team always look forward to their next day of work. Activities such as summer garden parties or team building days can help to connect a workforce and keep employees feeling refreshed”.

Offer career growth

Job progression through new responsibilities and opportunities will ensure that tech employees do not get demotivated or face monotony. It will allow staff to better themselves and work on improving their skillset.

It has been proven that those with a clear career path and an awareness of future expectations would also be less likely to hand in their notice. This would also be mutually beneficial for the employer as it will reduce the time spent having to hire and train new employees.

It is common in smaller tech environments to have one key manager who is the only person knowing how to use certain systems. Not only can this result in problems if the manager wanted to leave or had a sick day, it can lead others to feel restricted without this knowledge. Letting other employees learn all the facets of the company would certainly be beneficial.

Train your workers

Investing in training courses to help further your employees can certainly maintain their happiness. Aiding their self-development will not only increase the value of your employees, but help them better themselves.

If you are a tech start-up that is tight on money, then consider internal resourcing and seek out the talents of current employees to train their colleagues. Not only will this benefit the other employees involved, but it will allow the presenter to gain the opportunity of educating their peers.

Keep communication open

Tech companies that keep their communication lines open will certainly benefit as transparency is key. Having senior level colleagues acting as mentors who keep in regular contact with more junior members of staff should mean that no issues are missed. 

Final thoughts

With high demand for tech employees’ talents, it’s important to stay in tune with employees and look out for any signs of unhappiness that can sometimes inevitably appear. Employers who consider the tips mentioned above should certainly be on the right track for keeping their employees happy.