Don’t Overlook DE&I’s Impact on Hiring and Retention in Tech

Hiring and retention in tech, as in every industry, are the life blood of any company. No matter how good the product or how unique the service, chronic employee turnover can quickly flatten a business. This can happen for a number of reasons, including:

Recruitment and training costs. Hiring and training new employees can be a costly process, High turnover requires correspondingly high investments of time, effort and resources into recruiting, interviewing, onboarding and training new employees.

Loss of productivity. Constant employee turnover disrupts workflows and negatively impacts productivity. New employees must ramp up, taking time to adjust and learn their new responsibilities before they can become fully productive. This can create extra work for existing employees who must “take up the slack” for new employees while they are being trained and/or actually do that training. In both cases, productivity suffers.

Knowledge and skill drain. When employees leave, they take their knowledge and expertise with them. The departure of a key employee can hit especially hard as they can take unique skills and experience with them. While the business struggles to replace them, the business can suffer from a loss of productivity and competitiveness.

Decreased morale. The constant churn in the workplace caused by chronic employee turnover can cause remaining employees to experience a slump in morale. They may experience a sense of instability and insecurity. They may feel demoted, uncertain about their own futures and unmotivated, less engaged in their work. This negative work environment can lead to problems such as decreased productivity and increased absenteeism.

Customer dissatisfaction. When customers must deal with a different employee every time they contact a company, there’s likely to be inconsistencies in service and miscommunication which can lead to a loss of trust. And when unhappy customers take their business elsewhere, it can damage the reputation and profitability of a company.

Negative company culture. A revolving door of employees can disrupt the development of a positive, cohesive company culture. Constant turnover can prevent the formation of strong relationships, teamwork and shared values. And in such a climate, it’s difficult to for employees to have a sense of loyalty, commitment and long-term vision.

Decreased operational efficiencies. Each new hire has a learning curve that affects productivity and efficiency. A normal part of this learning curve is errors. So when a sizable portion of the company’s workforce is in a learning curve, delays and operational inefficiencies are likely to occur. And this can lead to a drop in customer satisfaction, product quality and the overall performance of the business.

To improve their hiring and retention, companies need to educate themselves about the priorities of today’s top talent. They also need to remember that at the same time they’re assessing a candidate, that candidate is assessing them. The interview process is two-way exchange.

According to Built In’s 2023 State of DEI in Tech report, DE&I is an important element in both hiring and retention in tech. Working in partnership with Brandata, tech recruiting platform Built In surveyed tech professionals and tech employers to find out about their attitudes and efforts concerning DE&I.

Click through the gallery above to find out what the survey revealed about the vital role DE&I plays in hiring and retention in the tech industry.