Diversity Hiring

How to Maximize Employee Retention in Engineering Teams

High churn rates can have a significant impact on product-based companies, so it is important to find ways to retain employees. The author, a CTO, has adopted several management techniques to reduce the churn rate, such as a 4-step interview process, an onboarding process that normalizes knowledge gaps and is generous with adaptation time, and a management approach that gives ownership of the work, explains the reasoning behind goals, conducts regular check-ins, and provides flexible working hours. The key tips for high retention are to not micromanage, lead with empathy, and trust employees.

Parent Friendly Work Culture

ITA's Women Influence Chicago initiative brought together tech leaders to discuss best practices for creating inclusive work cultures for parents. Discussions focused on transparency, creating an even playing field, having a robust leave policy, and changing the profession to accommodate working parents. The event was sponsored by Lantern Partners and the top four takeaways were shared.

Retaining Women In Tech

After leaving her engineering manager position at Apple due to burnout and lack of supportive leadership, the author started her own small business helping other small business owners with their technological needs. Through this experience, she realized the importance of resilience, an inclusive environment, and strong leadership for women in the tech industry. She encourages women to network outside of their own organization, and to stay in and influence the industry in order to shape the future.

Pay Equity Improves Your Company’s Performance

This company implemented a pay equity policy to address discrepancies in salary setting due to unconscious bias. After a year of implementation, all engineers and managers at the same level were paid identically. The policy was well-received internally and externally, and helped to attract more people to the company due to its commitment to equity and inclusion.

Effective Hiring Practices: Asking the Right Questions

Finding the right talent for a job requires asking the right questions and conducting interviews in a way that makes candidates feel comfortable. It is important to look for a technical fit, but also a match in values and learning potential. To gain insight during interviews, it is recommended to take several unorthodox approaches, such as identifying and double-downing on risky matters, prompting candidates with open-ended topics, focusing on fewer topics in detail, asking how they would hire for the role, and encouraging them to come up with a question. Additionally, feedback should be asked for in order to improve the interview process.

How to Improve Diversity in the Workplace

In response to noticing a lack of diversity in the company, a diversity team was created to discuss the issue and come up with solutions. Quick wins and long term projects were identified and implemented, such as proofreading job descriptions to make sure they weren't gender oriented. The CEO also presented the situation and solutions to the company. The team learned that the discussion was well received and that most people simply did not realize the impact of their words and behaviors. Significant improvement has been seen since then, but it is an ongoing process.