Employees, particularly software engineers, can now easily change jobs because remote work has opened up the labor market on a global scale to an infinite range of alternatives. Once considered a bonus, like a home office policy or a more significant compensation, it is now considered a commodity, so it is time to build more effective talent management practices.

Why reduce employee turnover? 

• To reduce cost: a high turnover on your team is costly. To successfully fill a position, time and money must be spent on the recruiting, hiring, and onboarding processes and training the new employee. 
• To improve the organizational culture: staff turnover not only affects your cost and wastes your time but also affects the dynamics of the entire team. If someone on your team quits, someone else will have to take up those tasks, and this extra effort and dedication might impact their motivation. The workload is a severe issue that can lead to burnout and negatively affect business performance; this condition impacts the work team’s total productivity.

How do we reduce developer turnover at Howdy? 

1. Provide a career path:  one of the biggest reasons people abandon their jobs is a lack of growth opportunities. At Howdy, we place a high priority on developers growing soft and hard skills and having the opportunity to take on new challenges, roles with new responsibilities, and leadership growth. At Howdy, we support our developers throughout their careers, providing them with what they want and need wherever they are.
2. Create more perks and benefits: benefits are the rule, not the exception, so finding new ways to retain employees is all about thinking about what they want and need. At Howdy, we give them what they need, like Macbook pros, premium health care, Gym access, mentorship with tech experts, after-hour events, and referral bonuses. We also maintain close relationships with them. We listen to their feedback and do everything we can to help them improve professionally and personally. Our entire ethos is “developer first.” 
3. Provide mentorship: when it comes to growth and development, mentoring is crucial. At Howdy, we have a dedicated team of Engineer Mentors that exclusively help developers to navigate their relationship with partners, detect opportunities for improvement, and find out what the motivations and desires of these teammates are. Feedback is required so that employees acquire critical information from the rest of their team and can express their opinions. 
4. Make them a part of your Engineering team, and don’t treat them like an external resource: one of the most challenging aspects of remote employment is generating a sense of belonging. If the developers feel like outsiders or their opinion doesn’t matter, they will likely only last for a while on your team. At Howdy, we build long-term work relationships, we don’t work for simple projects or with freelancer methodology, and we believe that is the best way to retain developers. And it works 😉

Our developer retention rate is 98%… Do you want to know why? We seek the best devs and give the best in return. But most of all: we keep our minds open and practice active listening to engage with our teammates. If you are ready to form your dream team of devs, don’t waste any more time and try Howdy!