Retaining Technology Staff in Small and Start-Up Organizations

Thursday, October 21, 2010

I recently had lunch with a new HR manager in a two-year-old start-up technology organization whose primary space was tele-communications. During the discussions, it was clear that this organization, like many small companies, was struggling with their ability to attract talented technicians and engineers and retain them from moving on to the greener fields of large multi-national tele-communications firms. Small start-up firms are often on shoestring budgets, lack the internal advancement opportunities of large organizations, and may have questionable and short-lived futures. Such organization may seek to hire new graduates in the hope of gaining the latest in technology only to see those same individuals siphoned off to the large stable firms at twice the salary. Of course, this issue not only applies to technicians and engineers but to most occupations in high demand with many start-up organizations.

In a case study of the CTAE Aerospace Research and Technology Centre, by J. de Dalmau, A. Dal Canton, G. García-Cuadrado, and E. Chester, J. Fuentes, in February 2008, the authors addressed the issues of attracting and retaining human talent through a number of organizational programs. Among those were “outreach and promotion” to attract talented individuals, “collaboration” with technical training schools, social networks, web-based tools, internships, and sponsorship of professional events.

Consider the use of outreach and promotional programs as a way of letting college seniors or recent graduate know that your organization exists and is engaged a new, innovative, challenging work, and research that will lead to a breakthrough in the next novel technology. Certainly, there are a number of ways this can be accomplished, e.g., have your top technology leader address engineering classes, host open houses at your facilities, have a new employee and recent graduate share their experiences with engineering students, and there are a host of opportunities with social media and networking. Think of outreach and promotional programs as a way to “prime the pump” for fulfill the talent pipeline.

One possibility for collaboration is joint research and development projects between your organization and a technology or engineering school in which some portion of the research and development work is performed by senior and graduate level advanced students overseen by a university faculty member. You will be able to preview the skills of individual students and ascertain the quality of the school’s programs and facilities. There may even be opportunities to fund a portion of your organization’s research and development through public or private grants.

Many senior and graduate level students and recent graduates seek out paid internships as a means of gaining valuable on-the-job experience. However, for organizations that are on shoestring budgets, an alternative could be an “unpaid” internship. During this time when entry-level jobs are difficult to find, many recent graduates would be willing to accept an unpaid internship as a means of displaying their talent and skills. You will be able to preview individual and there is something to be said about an individual who would accept the risk of an unpaid role in return for the possibility of a full time job. These unpaid internships might be coupled with graduate level courses for additional credit. Furthermore, such unpaid internships could earn the organization significant goodwill and community support.

Many organizations attend on campus career days where they and a few dozen other companies vie for the attention of senior level students and recent graduates. Technology or engineering graduates are in short supply, so your organization is competing with others is a hostile environment, the college career center. However, what might be more productive is to host an off campus event specifically directed at senior level and graduate students in your narrow field of interests. That way you would not have to deal with majors outside your area, or compete for the attention of students with other technology or engineering originations. This more intimate and focused environment would allow you to build a one-on-one relationship with the talent you might want to interview for your organization.