How Leaseweb manages to attract and retain employees in a highly competitive job market.
The shortage of skilled workers continues to be a serious problem, especially for the IT industry. Companies surveyed in the recently published IDC study, “Cloud in Germany 2023” confirmed this, citing a lack of workers in the market and their lack of further training as the most common problem with digitization in Germany. As a result, the competition for trained personnel is fierce. In this veritable “war for talent” for the best employees, the aim is, on the one hand, to find the most suitable people – and on the other to keep them in the company. Almost every organization faces this problem and asks itself how it can become so attractive that employees decide in favor of the company and stay for a long time.
Salary is important – but not everything
Of course, salary is one of the most important considerations for employees when deciding for or against a new job. Employee benefit packages also need to be comprehensive these days – and smaller companies can offset salaries from big players with well-equipped benefits packages that go beyond the usual corporate ones. But even beyond salary and benefits, there are many areas in which companies can score points with prospective employees. Here, corporate culture and philosophy are the most important areas where smaller or medium-sized companies can give larger rivals a run for their money.
In smaller companies, it is easier to develop a common team spirit. The weekly team pizza, the celebration of joint successes or the regular visit to the gym after work all weld people together and form a work community rather than merely being colleagues. For many employees today, it is also important that the company acts sustainably, and that this commitment is not just a fig leaf. We already run our data centers in the Netherlands, in Canada and in Germany with 100 Percent renewable energy and we have created “Team Green” on a global level from a wide range of business units to improve our sustainability goals. This team of employees meets regularly, sets measurable sustainability goals, initiates actions, monitors progress, and evaluates results.
The modern office is a social meeting place
Another important area is creating an environment that is fun to work in. For a while, it looked like employees wouldn’t want to come back to work in the office instead of their homes after Covid. The pandemic had shown that it was possible to be just as productive without an office. And in fact, the home office has produced numerous work-life balance benefits that employees in many industries now take for granted. Nowadays companies are expected to offer a flexible home office policy and many employees make use of it when there are no meetings scheduled that absolutely require an in-person presence.
The trick for us as employers is to make the office so attractive that employees not only come to the office voluntarily but enjoy coming to work and interacting with colleagues. At Leaseweb Germany, this includes a refrigerator that is always full to the brim with food, drinks and snacks, subsidized e-bikes that make commuting to the office easy, and environmentally friendly, and an attractive, modern working environment with state-of-the-art office technology. On top of that, leadership has a very personal approach and an open-door policy. Additionally, we are committed to the individual development of talents including investing in improvement and empowerment that gives employees the ability to grow within the company.
Conclusion: The best overall package is decisive
When competing for the best employees, companies have long since scored points on more than just salary. In addition to pay and various additional benefits, there are multiple other important factors to consider, including a positive corporate culture and the creation of a work community that makes employees want to come to the office. Smaller and medium-sized companies cannot always keep up with the salary bands of larger global corporations. The key to success in attracting and retaining employees in this market environment lies much more in the overall package. And in this package, the topic of corporate culture takes on a completely new dimension.