We can’t keep qualified data scientists/analysts at our company.

Your hiring manager tells you that another data scientist quit, and it leaves you scratching your head as to why you cannot keep qualified data scientists at your company.

With the tight data science talent market, the demand for analysts outstrips the supply. This increases the pressure to retain your existing data team. While you may not be able to control everything once someone starts in the job, here are some things you can do before they start.

What You Can Do To Retain More of Your Hired Data Scientists

Manage Expectations of the Candidate

The Work

Be candid about the work required of the candidate. If the job requires some data cleansing because your team is small, let them know that. If it involves attending 3 meetings a week, tell them that. If the boss wants insights on purple graph paper, tell them that.

Your Company’s Data Strategy

Talk with the hiring manager to find out the company’s vision, strategy, and budget for leveraging its data. Is it an established department or relatively new? Is technology about to be replaced or were new systems just launched?

The Culture of the Company

Discover whether your company’s leadership takes big data seriously. How much of the c-suite and board supports the initiatives, or does it rest on just one senior executive? Find out whether your company is shifting from a data-based to a model-based culture.

Communicate How the Data Scientist Will Benefit Your Company

Focus on how the performance of the data scientist will impact the company’s return on investment and enhancing operational efficiencies. Be up front about how receptive other parts of the business are to what the data team provide and any initiatives supporting the data team.

Manage Expectations of the Hiring Manager

Meet With Team Members and Listen

If there’s a revolving door, it might be time to work with HR and the Training department to find out what is going on. Without pointing fingers, meet with the relevant managers as well as co-workers. Emphasize that you feel for how unsettling the repeated transitions are, how it’s adding more work and stress for everyone else, so you’re looking for ideas from them to help improve what you, as a recruiter, are doing.

Discuss With The Direct Managers

Let them vent about what they liked and did not like about the previous employee. If there are unreasonable expectations about how quickly something should have been done, or other occasions that alert you that there is a disconnect that could be addressed with that manager, make a note and circle back to it later, not while emotions are high.

Try Changing The Job Posting Or Interview Questions

When preparing for the next time round, suggest changes to the job posting based on your meetings with the hiring and direct managers as well as other team members. Little changes might help attract someone who values, say, efficiency if that was the top concern, or extreme accuracy, if that proved the biggest frustration. While both (and more) are desirable, the amount of stress and satisfaction an employee feels as well as their sense of contributing will be impacted if a department or company prioritizes one over the other. Working in these sorts of nuances could help the hiring manager learn more about her/his style of management, what she/he communicates to their team as well as set the stage for a longer-term hire the next time.

How a Talent Analytics Partner Can Help You Retain The Analysts You Recruit and Hire

Today, many data scientists are transitioning to freelance work. These professionals like the ability to work on different projects using various platforms. Most freelancers have an expert working knowledge of multiple platforms. Freelance work gives these professionals the challenge a single company cannot offer.

Working with a talent analytics partner will help you find candidates not only who understand the specific platform your company employs but also allow you to “try out” candidates first. This will allow you to vet for fit, and the candidates can get a realistic sense of the role, responsibilities, and culture before either side makes a permanent commitment.

Chisel Analytics can find the right data science and analytics talent to help you grow a strong analytics team. Chisel vets top talent with our proprietary skill assessments across 6 key elements to ensure you hire the most qualified analyst for your critical needs. We ensure that the candidate fits your mission, culture, and strategy. As a result, you get data professionals who will stick with your company and meet your short-term or long-term needs.