Hiring and retention strategies of start-ups

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The lack of skilled IT workers is hurting the deployment of emerging technology, according to a new survey from Gartner. In areas from cloud to cybersecurity, this crisis is expected to last for years to come.

Here are some more key findings from State of Software Development at Start-ups survey: 

Hiring Methods

35% of the start-ups rely on referrals to hire suitable candidates for vacancies with them. 30% explore professional networks. Only 13% use recruitment agencies or head hunters.  10% have an in-house recruiter and 9% use online HR portals.

When a candidate is referred by an employee, there are more chances that he is suitable to the job and the company. After all, the employee knows both the candidate and the company. Also, getting referred candidates on-board is easier because the employee would have given a detailed look into what it is like working with the company.

Recruitment Criteria

Start-ups value experience more than anything else when hiring. 69% said that work experience is top priority for short-listing candidates for subsequent rounds of assessment. The second most important criterion for selection is cultural fit. 60% look for cultural fit while hiring.  Employers consider test projects and side projects more important than B.Sc/M.Sc degrees or any other certifications.

Start-ups are small teams. Delivering results in such environment necessitates getting along with the team and supporting one another. When there are a handful of people, the company cannot afford office politics and dysfunctional team.

Selling Points

79% of start-ups surveyed said that they promise interesting and challenging tasks to attract talent. For 64% start-ups a strong team and corporate culture is the selling point. Flexible hours (39%) and remote work (28%) are the other strategies to lure talent.

By explaining what their resume would look like after two years, start-up employers can attract and hire talent without having to pay them competitive salaries.

Motivating Employees

Again strong teams (58%) and challenging and engaging work (57%) are top factors to keep software developers motivated. 45% said that opportunity to work on an exciting product can motivate the developers.  Autonomy (45%) is also an important motivating factor.  Stock options and extra benefits ranked last in the list.

Measuring Performance

When it comes to measuring performance, 61% said that they consider ‘completion of task’ is the most important parameter. Surprisingly, 27% said they did not use any parameter. For 29% code readability is the parameter. Speed of developer (25%) and number of bugs (21%) are some more parameter used to measure the performance of software developers.

Change Readiness

The first few years of a start-up are subject to frequent changes. In the backdrop of limited budgets and small teams, managing attrition and even absence is difficult. Ensuring that their code is easily readable and understandable to others is a basic expectation of employers from software developers. While 49% encourage the developers to leave comments within the code, 48% instruct them to use documentation. 39% rely on industry style guides and 20% reported that they don't have a specific strategy.

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