How To Attract and Retain Top ISP Tech Talent

Part 1: Retaining Technical Talent

The quality of your ISP (and your subscribers' perception of it) will be affected by the quality of your technical staff. This two-part article will delve into the basics of recruiting and retaining top-notch networking technicians, and provide some insights into immediate strategies that you can deploy to strengthen your ISP's ability to attract and retain tech talent.

by Christopher Knight

Retaining Supercedes Attracting
It may seem odd to talk about retaining talent before we talk about attracting it, but bear with us; there is a logical process here: By retaining the top talent you may already be lucky enough to have, you immediately increase your ability to attract top talent. Why? Like attracts like; good techs like to work in shops with talented colleagues. And having a group of well-regarded technicians on staff sends a message to potential employees that you've created a tech-friendly environment.

Compared to other positions and responsibilities within your ISP organization, technicians are in a class of their own. Making allowances for individual idiosyncrasies, here's a list of needs that most ISP techies share:

• Need for increased knowledge and skill proficiency
• Need for pay appreciation and skill appreciation
• Need for paid skill training
• Need for uniqueness, a tech area to own, to be individually responsible for
• Need for strong benefit package with fast advancement potential
• Need for constant praise and appreciation even though they won't ask for it
• Need for the network challenge, the ability to solve a really messed up network and convert it into a smooth running scalable machine that can handle anything
• Need for an employer who believes in investing in techies and their network
• Need for a relaxed dress-code
• Need to be part of the company growth process, and not just left to clean up after what the sales team dumps on them.

You will need to accept the fact that every techie you hire is not a "lifer" (someone who will remain with your ISP forever). This lets you come to grips with the realization that all technicians are essentially in transit, and that you need to find ways to maximize your relationship while you have the opportunity to work together.

ISP Tech Retainer Tip:
Ask for an 18-36 month commitment from your techies. If they want to give you more of their life after that, great, but demand that they be with you "in the present" for at least an 18-month period of time. It's important that your techies live in the present and work in the present, because when they are thinking about the future or the past, they can't maximize their potential with you — in the present.

 

How to make it happen
Here are the top 7 strategies that you can implement to ensure that your ISP has the best shot at retaining top tech talent:

1) Make sure every techie knows what their next step or next challenge is, so that they know specifically how they can make more money or earn their next promotion. A sure-fire way to lose good tech talent is to do only annual reviews. Instead, you must stay in close mental contact with your team so that they know that you care enough to help them reach the next level of personal or career success.

2) Don't impose a cap that stops them from achieving their true potential. Provide an atmosphere that allows them to climb as high as their human abilities will allow them to.

3) Recognize that if you provide your network with half-assed equipment, you will only be able to retain half-assed technicians. Sorry to be so blunt, but this is the simple truth. If you want top talent, you have to be willing to give them a top-notch NOC (Network Operation Center).

4) If your team works extreme hours, such as 60-70+ hours under extreme stress conditions, make sure you give them time off for themselves or their family, with pay.

5) Set aside play time each day or each week, where you allow your staff to release tension and stress through play. Play can include nerf football, network quake, and any other game that allows every tech to escape the daily grind.

6) Drive sales so your techies can have faith that they will be able to climb as your organization grows. Stagnating sales team performance will eventually spill over and result in your techies quitting on you.

7) Stock-option incentives and/or bonuses based on performance, such as uptime, customer telephone or email return response, or increased server or network response times will ensure that your techies' goals are in alignment with your organizational goals as well.

To Your ISP's Success!

Christopher ("Sparky") Knight
Founder & Managing Editor of the ISP-Lists Discussion Community

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