Restructuring for Success: Strategies to Retain Tech Talent in Startups

You’ve managed to get your hands on talented tech workers in your startup but can’t hang on to them long-term. Sound familiar?

Skilled employees in the tech sector are in high demand because of the world’s shift toward digital. They’ve got options. So, to attract and keep talented workers, you may need to make some significant changes in your startup they’d be particularly happy with.

Strategically planning your reorganization can be incredibly helpful in your employee retention efforts. You can keep staff needs at the forefront of your restructuring decisions, ensuring the strategies you adopt are productive in this regard.

Here’s how to execute a well-planned reorganization and make changes that persuade tech talent to stay in your startup.

Consider Changing Organizational Structure

You’ve probably heard of at least one story about a prominent tech company owner stepping down, like Adam Neumann resigning as WeWork’s CEO in 2019 or Jeff Bezos stepping down as Amazon CEO in 2021.

As big as these decisions were, these companies are still thriving today. In addition, talented tech employees continued to fill vacant positions in these businesses, many of which are still there today. Maybe because of the hierarchy change.

Whether you’re the sole owner or share ownership with partners, it’s essential to analyze if you should make changes to your organizational structure. If workers mentioned leaving because of leadership issues, it’s wise to address this in your reorganization.

You may need to demote certain leaders or switch up the hierarchy in departments to facilitate better employee support.

Think About Reconfiguring Departments

Adding, splitting, transferring, or dissolving business departments is a common consideration when restructuring a business. You may find that some of the units in your company don’t have as deep of an impact on success and can therefore be shut down.

You might also find that combining certain departments would fuel more productivity and influence your employee retention rate.

For instance, let’s say you have two IT divisions in your company. An IT administration unit and an IT technical support unit. The former focuses on configuring and maintaining a company’s tech suite, including its computers, networks, servers, and security systems. The latter offers support to employees who have challenges with their devices and software.

Both of these departments are focused on ensuring the IT infrastructure functions well and employees can use it without issues.

Combining these two business divisions would be a smart restructuring decision because it will create a better IT experience for the company. In addition, bringing these two business divisions together could create cohesiveness and camaraderie in your IT department that attracts and keeps talented tech employees.

When you’re reconfiguring departments and teams, consider using team-restructuring templates so you’re not just starting from scratch. Something as basic as an org chart allows you to view everyone’s roles, skills, and other essential information as you’re determining the best spots for them.

Streamline Efficiency in Each Department

It’s frustrating as ever to not be set up for success. Skilled employees will confidently leave and join a competing startup that’s providing their teams with the tools and software they need to excel, whether they’re in a hybrid work environment or a fully in-person or remote one.

Your restructuring plan should include streamlining efficiency with upgraded tools and software. A complete overhaul of hardware and software may not be in the budget and that’s OK.

Start with the most impactful updates you can make with your budget that improve retention rates.

For example, you could implement an inexpensive cloud storage solution. Having all of your important documents in one place ensures team members can access the information when and wherever they need it as well as contact who they need to contact in each department. You’ll want to make sure you have an information security plan in place as you migrate important data, which is something your talented employees can help you implement.

Talented tech employees will be more likely to stay when you give them important tasks and make their job duties easy to fulfill.

Revisit Your Team’s Makeup

Considering the makeup of your current team is vital in a reorganization process, especially if you’re hoping the changes will help you better retain tech talent. Skilled professionals may not feel welcomed on your team if they don’t see themself represented on it.

The pool of workers is incredibly diverse. But unfortunately, that diversity isn’t always shown in startups. As a result, it’s pushing away tech professionals who are a part of minority groups in the industry.

For example, LGBTQ professionals are underrepresented in tech and therefore aren’t filling roles in startups as they should be. This affects how this community is served in startups because they can’t genuinely address these customers’ needs without LGBTQ employees who can craft an authentic experience for them.

It also makes it less likely for LGBTQ tech talent to join startups, let alone stay with them long-term because they probably won’t be supported like the majority groups in the company.

If you’re lucky enough to have staff with unique backgrounds, experiences, and abilities, and aren’t surrounding them with the support they need to feel comfortable and valued in your startup, they won’t be there for long.

Recommiting to inclusion in your reorganization could be key to improving your retention rate. Build an inclusive workforce with a tailored recruiting strategy. Define your vision for a diverse and inclusive team. Make notes about the specific kind of people you want and the skillsets and experiences they bring.

Then, research where you can find top tech talent that meets your ideal candidate profiles and promote your job ads there.

Conclusion

Startups may be able to attract talented tech professionals. But the challenge seems to be retaining them.

They have a lot of options these days because the world is becoming more technologically rooted, therefore businesses need to be too. If you approach your reorganization with a real strategy and retention at the forefront, you can move to the top of their list.