The Challenge
Attrition rates for offshore engineering and technology teams globally are alarmingly high because of various macro factors. One of our Life Sciences Customer wanted to switch engineering partners becayse the attrition rates adversely impact teams’ productivity and resulted in unpredictable delivery of capabilities or new products to the marketplace. Any deviation of go-to-market timelines could be detrimental to business because maintaining the competitive edge in a fiercely competitive technology SaaS arena is existential.
The Solution
Technology services companies maintain a “bench” to ensure customer continuity. Although this solution is very cost ineffective and could address a problem in the short term, it only serves as an antidote for symptoms and does not remedy the underlying problem. At Agilité, we hire team associates based on principles they subscribe to as individuals: Pride in Ownership, Outcomes Orientation, and Collaboration are non-negotiable principles for us. After the associates get engaged after a rigorous screening process, they pair up with experienced mentors who act more than a typical manager. The mentors serve the associates by showing them the ropes and reminding them of the principles every associate should live by at Agilité. A culture of open feedback (positive and negative) is encouraged through a regular dialog between the mentor and the associate.
The Result
Agilité has consistently exceeded industry benchmarks for attrition for 3 years now. Since we internalized the new process, voluntary attrition rates have remained below 4.75% YoY. As a positive side effect, our tenured associates have worked on product engineering initiatives for an average of more than 2.5 years per client.