the complete guide to technology workforce in 2023

Employee Value Proposition communicates the values and culture of an organization and identifies the unique people, policies, processes and programs that demonstrate the organization’s commitment to the total work experience and employee growth and development.

Your EVP is crucial to not only attract talent, but to attract people who best fit your organization and share its values. It is key to your big picture talent strategy because it should appeal to and attract people who will thrive in your culture.

Traditional EVPs focus on company culture and compensation; EVPs that focus on tech tend to highlight opportunities for career growth and development, access to cutting-edge technology, a positive and collaborative work culture and a diverse and inclusive environment.

Your IT EVP should include:

• Innovative opportunities to try new approaches and POCs such as learning Dojos, Hackathons and a Thought Leadership culture
• Training and continuing education focused on the latest in tech, process and tools
• Positive, inclusive and flexible work environments
• Collaboration with universities and tech communities
• Clear pathways for growth and advancement within your organization

Develop a long-term talent strategy. College graduates entering the job market today are comfortable with job hopping. Think of creative ways to engage with universities and colleges to help acclimate future graduates to your organization. If they join you after graduation, they will start off ready to make immediate contributions, with an understanding of your culture and loyalty to your organization.

While competitive compensation does matter, people care equally, or more, about what they will be working on and if your organizational culture is a good fit. Potential employees are asking more in-depth questions such as, “Am I coming here to play an innovator? Can I develop professionally and grow my skillsets? Will I be able to keep up with AWS and the new features they roll out every day? What’s your organization’s purpose? Do your corporate values align with mine?”

Recent graduates want to work for responsible, purpose-driven companies that align with their values. Promoting your company’s values and purpose is attractive to Generation Z as they enter the workforce. They are energized by work that aligns with their values, especially if the organization they are working for prominently promotes its values and purpose.

With true Enterprise Agility requiring continuous migrations from legacy technology, ongoing data migrations, systems integrations and a one-way road into the Cloud, having premium tech talent remains a prerequisite to success. The need for tech talent has created a supply and demand issue for people possessing the skillset to implement these technology transformations. A Harvard Business Review survey indicates that most CIOs still designate the tech talent gap as the largest inhibitor of speed to market and overall delivery. Beyond compensation and benefits, ensuring that their skillsets are sharp and constantly evolving is a top priority. How do you ensure your employees are able to learn on the job?

You need a strategy and culture that identifies and develops leaders from your existing teams. High performers looking for growth opportunities often aren’t well equipped to transition into leadership roles. Leadership training and development are key upskilling competencies that organizations should adopt and purposefully support. Establish a clear path for career progression and provide opportunities for employees to take on increasing levels of responsibility and leadership within the company.

A 2021 survey by the workplace learning platform Talent LMS and recruiting software Workable found 72% of tech workers were thinking of leaving for greener pastures. One of the main reasons for this was found to be limited career progression. All things being equal between job opportunities, knowing that they are being invested in and valued as future leaders where they are makes a big impact in retention and it’s something you can demonstrate in a tangible way, giving you a great competitive advantage.

Stretch assignments can be used to help employees develop new skills and grow professionally. A stretch assignment is a temporary internal role that challenges employees beyond their current knowledge and expertise. They can help people engage more deeply with your organization and prepare for career growth within the company. They are a great way to tangibly demonstrate that you value employees and see them as part of the organization’s future.

Create an environment where employees’ unique perspectives and talents are valued and supported. It’s not enough to recruit a diverse workforce if there isn’t an inclusive company culture. It is important to employees both individually and collectively to be part of a work culture where they feel at home and are valued for who they are.

Today’s workers are motivated by purposeful work. Organizational mission and values are important to them and they want to know that their work aligns with and advances the mission and values. Clearly and regularly communicate and reinforce your organization’s mission and values and be sure that workers understand how what they do contributes to the mission.

True diverse and inclusive organizations have diverse leadership teams who value people for who they are and create a culture where people feel comfortable participating. Leaders who are aware of their own biases and value diverse perspectives demonstrate commitment to creating an environment where everyone can thrive as a valued part of the team.

Offer diversity and inclusion training for all employees that explains not just the why but also the how in creating more opportunities for people of all backgrounds.

Diverse insights, ideas and perspectives add considerable value to any organization, whether it’s offering innovative solutions, understanding problems or identifying strengths, flaws or improvements in your products and processes. What are you doing to ensure that diverse perspectives have a place at your table and are heard?

Considering the current under representation of women and minorities in technology, it is important to look at the pipeline that will shape the next generation of tech workers. DE&I objectives must be at the forefront in identifying leaders among your current team, building candidate pools and who you bring on as early career employees.

Everyone is seeking to improve DE&I in their organizations. Often, the quickest and easiest way is to change your workforce by bringing in diversity from the outside. It is tough to make progress, however, if you are losing diverse staff as quickly as you build diversity within your ranks. Retention must be a key part of your DE&I strategy.

Set clear diversity goals and track progress not only within the HR function but across the enterprise. Proactively measure to identify issues and assess how you are doing. Once you have pure metrics and empirical evidence you can explore root issues in your organization’s culture or areas of opportunity that you may have overlooked.

Look beyond your walls to engage with current students who are the future workforce. Connect with university minority and women’s groups to move beyond internships to provide real pathways and training for jobs as part of students’ undergraduate studies. Google’s Pathway to Tech initiative with Historically Black Colleges and Universities is a great example.

In a hybrid environment, there should be intent and purpose behind what must be done in-office and what doesn’t. Collaboration activities like whiteboarding sessions, planning or Sprint Retrospectives can be reasons to schedule in-person office days, rather than having people come into the office just to be present.

Business units have their own functions and responsibilities so there are no one-size-fits-all approaches. Embrace flexibility to decentralize decisions on where and how to work. Let individual leaders determine what makes sense and works best for their teams.

Recent college graduates benefit from workplace acclimation, networking, mentorship and culture that are difficult to provide virtually. In a 2021 poll of college seniors by the recruitment software company iCIMS, 64% said they want to work onsite most of the time or full time, while only 2% said they want to work remotely full time. 88% said they want to meet their co-workers in person, collaborate face-to-face and build relationships in an in-person workplace setting.