How to Retain DevOps Engineers: Tips and Tricks

devops engineers

DevOps engineers are some of your company’s most valuable assets. These are the experts directly responsible for managing the development and operations of your organization’s information technology infrastructure. 

As such, they’re some of the most sought-after and in-demand employees in the tech industry today. When you’ve built a solid DevOps team, it’s important to make sure they feel fully supported in their roles. In this blog post, we’ll share tips and tricks to help you retain your DevOps engineers long after they join your team.

1. Develop a Competitive Compensation Plan

It’s important to make sure you’re paying your DevOps engineers a salary that’s competitive with other companies in your area. Instead of referencing blanket industry averages, take the specific position into account. 

Consider how much experience is required to perform in that role and the specialized skills that each applicant must have. Then, offer a salary that’s appropriate for those factors. Assume that each applicant is applying to multiple positions, and will absolutely take earnings into account when making a final decision. 

2. Communicate Openly and Frequently

Once a DevOps engineer joins your team, be sure to allow plenty of time for them to share their opinions and feedback with you. Quiet disgruntlement rarely stays quiet for long, and can quickly snowball into burnout, which could lead to an exit. 

Schedule routine meetings, where they can freely talk about their current projects, and plans for the future. You can also encourage them to share their sentiments through surveys, online apps, and more. If they offer suggestions on ways to make their job easier or more efficient, actively listen and look for ways to incorporate their ideas. 

3. Offer Training Opportunities

Retaining DevOps engineers means allowing them opportunities to expand their expertise and grow in their position. While they might be at the top of their game, there’s always something new to learn. 

Offer them the chance to attend industry training, earn specialized certifications in their field, or attend networking events. Instead of worrying that such expansion will give them the drive to leave, consider it an investment in their professional aptitude and your company’s future. 

4. Ensure a Right Fit From the Start

When hiring engineers to join your team, it’s important to make smart decisions from the beginning. When expanding your DevOps team, you need someone who comes from a development and infrastructure background.

It can be tough to find someone who meets all of your requirements and fits in well with the rest of your team members. This is where a recruitment agency like Nexus IT Group can help. We’ll connect you to the right DevOps talent from the beginning, which makes retention easier down the road.

5. Create Opportunities for Growth

We all know employees who have been stuck in a role for a while. To avoid burnout, you should create opportunities for team members to advance their career goals. Finding these types of opportunities can be tough, but it’s important to take the time to have conversations with your employees so that they can find things that excite them and might lead them down a new path.

6. Make Your Team Feel Valued

This is one of the easiest ways to gain buy-in from your most talented employees. A little recognition goes a long way in making people feel appreciated. It could be as simple as having a company-wide email to thank everyone for their hard work, or sending out donuts when the project is completed on time. While these types of gestures can be expensive and may seem unprofessional, you’ll find that they go much further than an annual bonus ever could.

7. Be Sure to use a Trusted Recruitment Agency

As great as hiring managers are, they don’t always have time to worry about the nitty-gritty details of finding talent. When you need a DevOps recruiting agency that can help both source and retain top devops engineers, contact us at nexus IT group! We work with our clients to find talented candidates and we ensure you’re getting the best value for your money. If you’d like to do some research on our agency, check out these reasons nexus IT group is the right devops staffing firm for you!

DevOps engineers form the backbone of your IT strategy. This is a highly competitive and fast-paced field and it can be difficult enough to find the right recruits, much less retain them. With these four tips, you can stay one step ahead and support your employees at every turn. 

When you allow Nexus IT Group to handle your IT staffing needs, you can rest assured that we’ll put you in touch with industry-leading experts who can take your tech team to the next level. Contact us today and let’s work together.