Your Developers Are Being Poached. Now What?

With the growing trend to work remotely, it has become easier for developers to explore opportunities outside their current company and location. This can be a massive challenge for small businesses trying to compete with larger firms in terms of perks and benefits.

So, what should you do when your developers are being poached by a competitor? And more importantly, how do you handle it when your developers do in fact leave your company? This article will discuss some tips on poaching prevention and how to cover the gap when these developers leave.

The Growth Of Remote Work

According to a study by Upwork, it’s estimated that 22% of the workforce (36.2 Million Americans) will be fully remote by 2025. To add to the remote discussion, a September 2021 study by Gallup uncovered that many Americans who moved into a remote role (mainly because of the Covid-19 pandemic) found that they prefer a work-from-home environment and hope that the remote opportunities stay long-term.

As many companies moved to remote work through the pandemic, some of those businesses stayed remote – opening up opportunities for developers to pick and choose a workplace outside of the confines of their physical location.

However, while the growth in remote work opens up incredible opportunities for developers, employers are struggling. Employers are fighting to keep some of their in-house developers and losing them to large firms with bigger budgets and perks that small firms don’t have. There are even companies in Silicon Valley that are offering developers living in lower cost of living locations salaries that are comparable to those offered to Silicon Valley locals.

In-House Poaching Prevention

While you may have a strong team of developers, you never know who might be looking for additional opportunities, perks or pay raises. To try and prevent potential poaching, you should work on a combination of tactics to keep your workers happy. Follow some of these tactics to make sure you keep hold of your internal team members:

• Promote your company culture and values: This will help attract employees who want to be a part of your team long-term. When employees feel like they’re a part of something special and are making a real impact, they’re less likely to consider other opportunities.
• Offer competitive benefits and perks: This will make your company more attractive than the competition. If an employee is weighing out offers from different companies, they will be more likely to stay with you if they get a better package.
• Promote from within: This shows employees that there is room to grow and advance their career within your company. However, you should also keep in mind that poaching starts on the inside, so it’s important to prevent poaching amongst your team members.
• Ask for constant feedback: It would help if you regularly ask your developers for feedback on their experience with the company and how you can improve. This will let them know that you care about what they have to say, and it gives you an opportunity to address any issues before they can become a considerable problem – like poaching because of poor working conditions, lack of promotions, or low pay rates.

How To Cover The Gap When Developers Leave

Sometimes, you just can’t stop every developer from leaving – that is a natural part of turnover and the lifecycle of business ownership. However, there are ways you can buffer the loss of a team member.

Here are some ways you can cover the gap when developers leave:

Have Succession Plans

You should have a backup plan in place if someone decides to leave your company. This is where hiring and promoting from within will really come into play. If you don’t have any internal developers that are ready or qualified to take on the role, then you may need to turn your sights externally.

Offer Training And Development Opportunities

This will help prepare your developers for future roles within your firm. Learning new skills and becoming more versatile gives them opportunities to grow with their current position or move up in the firm down the road.

Hire A Trustworthy Firm

While it can be devastating to lose in-house developers, you might find that replacing full-time developers with a firm can be an extremely cost-efficient solution. Hiring a firm like Flint Hills Group to work with you on any tasks you need can help fill the gap of missing developers. You may not need to even fill that missing spot, and find that outsourcing those developers with a trustworthy firm is extremely cost-efficient and a better long-term solution.

Work With Flint Hills Group To Fill The Gap

By hiring a firm like Flint Hills Group, you can cover any gaps in staffing left by poaching or natural turnover – quickly and without breaking the bank. Our team of all US-based developers has a long-standing reputation for being both trustworthy and experienced. If you need help with data analytics, development, or marketing – we can be your “new employee” and step up to fill in that gap. To learn more about our team, and the services we offer – contact us today.