We are well past the days where a 401k matching program and a generous health insurance plan constitute an outstanding employee benefits package. Now, Google rewards a job well done with massage credits, Netflix provides one year of parental leave, and Salesforce (SFDC) offers six paid volunteer days every year, all to make employees happier, healthier, and more productive.
In addition to the now prevalent perks for employees, the Salesforce ecosystem has created its own class of benefits and retention strategies for those who specialize in the CRM. Considering how dynamic the platform is, you must figure out ways to challenge employees daily and prevent them from feeling bored or stagnant, two of the leading causes of job dissatisfaction.
Here are a few tips that will attract and help you retain the top Salesforce talent.
Provide opportunities for development.
Being so consumed with current projects that you fail to make time to develop your skills is not a problem unique to Salesforce. It’s a phenomenon known as the productivity paradox, and it can be found in all fields. However, the magnitude of your employees’ skills falling behind the industry standard is especially debilitating when you work with SFDC.
Your SFDC employees need the time, resources, and support to evolve with the technology, so be sure to give them the flexibility to spend time enhancing their skills. Encourage them to take time off to attend conferences and user groups, invite industry leaders to talk to your teams, and offer programs to help fund their advanced education.
Not only do your employees need to progress with the constantly changing platform for their own satisfaction, your organization will also be left behind as well if you fail to help them elevate their skills. It could be as simple as allowing your employees to spend more time out of the office when they are in between projects so they can attend conferences or webinars, but the investment in developing your talent will pay dividends— both for their careers and your organization’s success.
Likewise, don’t focus only on developing hard skills. Have employees’ career goals in mind, too. Don’t let their assignments prevent them from developing leadership skills because not all developers want to do the hands-on work forever. Provide opportunities for them beyond the scope of their project work like giving them a chance to design those projects or lead the team.
Emphasize your willingness to invest in Salesforce.
Developers don’t want to be stuck doing maintenance. Sales Ops managers don’t want jobs where management is not supportive of thinking creatively or trying new tools. Architects don’t want to work in organizations that don’t have the funding or motivation to implement their recommendations.
To provide the resources for your employees to grow as professionals with SFDC, you first need them to know that you’re fully supportive of the technology and encourage innovative thinking in the office. This is absolutely something that you should make known during the interview process.
Allow your employees to think progressively about the technology, imagine the future of how customer service is done in your industry, and innovate by doing.
Emphasize your willingness to invest in your talent.
Because there is always a need for new skills, many companies have high turnover rates, as they seek out the best possible personnel. While you’re investing in your employees’ skills, though, make sure they know you’re also investing in their future on the team and won’t just bring in someone better.
Whether it be prospective or current employees, make them feel part of the bigger picture with your organization and not just an expendable unit that can be replaced when a better one becomes available.
You can do this by developing a precedent for promoting from within, being receptive to your employees’ career goals, and empowering them to reach their potential.
Build a culture that’s exciting and rewarding.
At the end of the day, whatever industry you’re in, employees want to work in a welcoming, enriching environment. Don’t get so caught up in the latest Salesforce updates that you forget that you also need to devote some time and resources to building a healthy, fun workplace culture that is built on trust and support.
Provide exciting positive reinforcement for jobs well done. Don’t let employees fear of failure get in their way. Offer flexible work hours. Organize company volleyball tournaments. Make company leadership and its vision accessible.
Be focused on the people.