For engineering candidates looking for their next career moves, finding value alignment with a company can seal the deal. But the elements of an employer’s value proposition aren’t always easy to distinguish.
The actuality of what “competitive benefits” means or what “work-life balance” looks like isn’t realized until an offer is accepted and employment has begun. And when reality doesn’t align with expectations, it may result in candidates looking for a better fit.
The value proposition a company presents should illustrate the experience — from how employees are motivated by the mission to the ways they can grow their careers.
“Employees want a more human employment value proposition,” Jackie Wiles wrote in an article published by Gartner, Inc. “Monetary compensation is important for surviving, but deeper relationships, a strong sense of community and purpose-driven work are essential to thriving.”
When a candidate accepts a role with an employer that has a unique value proposition they align with, it has the potential to lead to long-term engagement and success — a benefit for both the employee and the company.
Built In Austin sat down with two engineering leaders of local tech companies to learn about the value propositions that have kept their employees happy and engaged over the long term.
“The technology that we’re developing will transform the transportation industry, and our engineers are passionate about the impact it will have,” said Mike Avitabile, SVP of engineering. Engineers at Torc Robotics work on the development of self-driving vehicle software and have many opportunities to collaborate and contribute to solutions. “Torc is scaling rapidly, and with that comes an abundance of career growth opportunities.”
What is your company’s value proposition to engineers?
Torc’s mission of saving lives empowers and motivates our employees to perform their best. Our development teams can truly see their hard work on our operating trucks, which is powerful.
We host internal hackathons and other events where the teams can showcase their creativity and technical expertise to provide solutions to actual business challenges. Our planning and development processes offer a collaborative environment, and we work across all our product development teams to problem solve. We also have the best and brightest technical experts in our field, which provides ample learning and mentoring opportunities.
We continue to offer best-in-class benefits, including a bonus and stock plan; 100-percent paid medical, dental and vision premiums; a 401K with 6 percent employer matching; and company-wide holiday office closures to ensure work-life balance is maintained.
As a manager, how do you keep a pulse on your team members’ job satisfaction?
Employee engagement is critical. I do my best to ensure that everyone on my team is challenged with interesting work and feels connected to the mission. To support that, our management teams foster a culture of continuous feedback and transparency throughout each employee’s journey. This includes regular touch points and open discussion forums where feedback and questions are a regular part of the dialogue.
Our management teams foster a culture of continuous feedback and transparency throughout each employee’s journey.”
What have you learned about employee retention in your time as a manager at your company?
I’m proud of our high retention rates, and they trace back to clearly communicating the impact that each person, from our test engineers to our software developers, has toward our mission of saving lives. Our work is challenging but also very exciting, and those two characteristics closely parallel our people values: hungry, humble and people smart.
We also have a culture in which we recognize and reward accomplishments. There are quarterly, peer-nominated “honk the horn” awards, the Torc’r of the year award and many other opportunities for our entire organization to join in to celebrate large and small wins.
“I encourage my team to take the time to explore their professional interests,” said Senior Engineering Manager Gabriela Lopez. “I also do my best to expose them to projects that will expand upon those interests.” At Self Financial, which helps people build credit through a monthly loan payback program, two-way communication and transparency are prioritized, cultivating a strong culture where employees want to grow.
What is your company’s value proposition to engineers?
Self has good tech, impactful projects and a culture of learning. The company’s size is in a sweet spot. Team members are able to have meaningful relationships with most engineering peers, and they’re also able to see direct results from their work on the products.
As a manager, how do you keep a pulse on your team members’ job satisfaction?
We are religious about regular one-to-ones. They give us a comfortable space to discuss how team members are feeling and where they’re at. I feel that my real purpose as a manager is to guide my team forward as they advance their knowledge and careers.
What have you learned about employee retention in your time as a manager at your company?
Strong two-way communication is the key to employee retention. I am a big believer in transparency and sharing information with my team as it comes in. Not only should the information flow downward, but I also ensure it flows upward so that my team can be recognized for their accomplishments. All of this builds trust, and trust builds good teams.
Strong two-way communication is the key to employee retention.”
We value transparency, and the communication flow extends beyond individuals to team, department and company-wide gatherings. We have monthly fireside chats, which are Q&A focused, and a monthly tech all-hands meeting that is more structured but includes time for dialogue. At our weekly all-hands meeting, leadership members answer questions employees ask anonymously. We also do regular employee surveys and create employee-based action committees to implement suggestions.
