5 Ways to Attract & Retain Top Tech Talent in Malaysia Post-Pandemic

Despite the economic disruptions and challenges caused by the pandemic, the demand for tech professionals continues to grow. The growing adoption of AI, automation, and mobile technology in Industry 4.0 aside, COVID-19 has been a major wake-up call for businesses to embrace digital technology if they wish to remain viable for the foreseeable future.

However, it remains a challenge to attract, and more importantly, retain, top tech talent. A LinkedIn study sheds light on the primary reason tech employees leave or join an organisation: career opportunity. The study highlights the following key findings about attracting and retaining the best tech talent:

• In today’s workplace, employees value career development opportunities and purposeful work more than a fancy job title and financial benefits.
• 45% of respondents left a job due to lack of career advancement opportunities.
• 59% joined a company because of a stronger career path.
• 6 in 10 millennials cite a “sense of purpose” as the reason they chose to work for their current employers.

Using these insights as guidance, we’ve compiled the following list of ways for Malaysian employers to attract and retain top tech talent in the region as we adapt to a post-pandemic work and business environment.

5 Ways to Attract & Retain Top Tech Talent in Malaysia Post-Pandemic

The employment landscape is radically different today for a multitude of reasons: the incessant growth of technological innovation, a millennial workforce with different values and expectations, and the post-pandemic new normal. To remain competitive, it’s imperative for Malaysian employers to adapt.

Provide Career-Driven Development Opportunities

To show employees that you genuinely care about their career growth and development, there needs to be a clear commitment to training and development opportunities that cater to specific career advancement goals.

Open and transparent communication with employees on a regular basis to track their career development progress in addition to specific training and development programmes is an important part of the process to support their career aspirations.

According to the LinkedIn study referenced above, “Employees who don’t believe they can achieve their career goals with a current employer are 12 times more likely to consider leaving.”

Inspire Employees with Purpose

It’s no longer enough to lure talents with the promise of generous paychecks, bonuses, and employment perks. The millennial workforce needs to be inspired by vision and purpose. Invite them to be part of something bigger by using their tech skills and experience to solve a social or environmental problem.

By setting a clear and purposeful vision for the company, you’ll be uniting your employees in working towards a common purpose. A passionate and inspired tech team will be far more productive and loyal than one constantly looking for the next best remuneration package.

Prioritise Internal Promotions

A “promote-from-within” corporate culture is a win-win: it supports ongoing career growth for employees while enabling the organisation’s leadership positions to be filled by top-performing internal talent. Why spend time and effort hunting down the right high-level tech candidates when you can groom and develop them from within the organisation?

This will require developing effective training and development programmes that focus on both soft and hard skills, but in return for the effort and resources you’ll be investing in this, you’ll get access to high-caliber tech talents with the kind of leadership skills and qualities the company needs most.

Hire Employee-Oriented Managers

Having managers who are genuinely committed to helping employees grow is a critical factor in increasing the company’s talent retention rate. According to the LinkedIn study referenced earlier, “​​50% of employees who don’t feel valued by their boss plan to look for another job in the next year.”

Employee-oriented managers play an instrumental role in attracting top tech candidates and keeping them inspired, engaged, and productive. Managers essentially make or

break teams, therefore it’s crucial for tech organisations to hire managers with the right people management skills, in addition to their technical and business skills. Effective managers are key towards retaining an organisation’s tech talent.

Create a Collaborative Working Culture

The LinkedIn study highlighted “ownership (taking initiative)” as the number 1 soft skill recruiters seek in IT professionals but struggle to find. One simple but effective way to instil ownership or initiative is by creating a collaborative working culture in the organisation.

If managers and employees work as a team with equal respect for all regardless of seniority and rank, each team member would feel a greater sense of ownership of their work and role in the company. This would also translate into greater synergy between management and employees and result in improved productivity across the board.

The workforce of today is constantly evolving, especially in the tech industry where technology keeps getting smarter by the day. To attract and retain the best tech talent in the region, Malaysian employers need to show their employees they care enough to invest in their future.

A Results-Driven Headhunting Service to Help You Hire the Top Tech Professionals in Malaysia

Seekers Malaysia provides an all-inclusive, results-driven headhunting service that provides specialist career consultancy, corporate support, and recruitment management services to help Malaysian employers find and hire the top tech professionals in the country.

By combining technology with a well-connected human network of freelance recruiters, Seekers uses an effective crowdsourcing process to reach the “passive” 95% of job seekers—individuals who are not actively looking for jobs or not using recruitment sites.

This tried-and-tested method allows Seekers to leverage its constantly growing database of over 25,000 freelance recruiters to help employers urgently in need of hiring top-performing tech professionals.

Learn more about our headhunting services or talk to us about your recruitment needs. We look forward to helping you find the right tech talents to drive your organisation’s growth.