How to Reduce Employee Turnover Rate? Comprehensive Strategies from Recruitment to Retention

Hi! I'm Charles, and today we're talking about employee retention

Recently, while wandering around the ETHGlobal exhibition area in Tokyo, I noticed a fascinating scene: a group of developers discussing how to design more humane employee incentive mechanisms using smart contracts. This got me thinking—many Web3 companies face a common challenge: how to retain talent in a highly fluid industry.

Honestly, over the past decade, I've seen too many brilliant developers leave projects for various reasons. Sometimes it's due to excessive workload, sometimes salaries don't match market levels, and other times company culture just doesn't align with personal styles. But fundamentally, it's all about "people"—how to find the right ones and then figure out how to keep them.

Today, I want to discuss this topic from the full-cycle perspective of hiring to retention. By the way, in this process, employee retention is actually a more critical proposition than mere recruitment.

First, hiring: Finding the right talent is foundational

After years of working in the Solana ecosystem, I've observed an interesting phenomenon: Hiring in the Web3 industry is like panning for gold—superficially, there seems to be plenty, but truly valuable nuggets are rare. Many teams overly focus on surface-level technical metrics while neglecting deeper dimensions like culture and fit.

For example: At a StarkNet recruitment event, a candidate submitted stunning Solidity code but clearly didn’t understand decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) operational models during the interview. This cognitive gap ultimately made it impossible for them to integrate into the team culture, and they left after just three months.

Speaking of hiring strategies, on the MyJob Enterprise platform, I’ve noticed several successful cases:

• The Layer 2 Development Expert role included quarterly option plans upon posting
• The NFT Designer job description explicitly added "community co-creation participation" clauses
• The DApp Product Manager role emphasized "cross-chain knowledge" over specific tech stacks

The core of these practices is binding role requirements with long-term incentives. As I often say on recruitment sites, "Technical skills can be trained, but value alignment is hard to change."

The post-hiring challenge: From onboarding to cultural cultivation

Last year during the Celestia project, we faced a classic onboarding issue: Core developer teams favored deep technical discussions, while newly hired product managers focused more on market feedback. This cultural friction led to multiple projects failing mid-way.

The solution was simple: Implement a "dual-mentor system," pairing each newcomer with both a technical and a business mentor. I frequently highlight this method’s effectiveness—it not only helps newcomers quickly grasp technical documentation (like Solidity smart contract audits) but, more importantly, makes them feel respected for their diverse perspectives.

By the way, there’s an interesting phenomenon in blockchain HR: People always assume technical prowess comes first. But in decentralized projects, those who can coordinate multi-party interests and design sustainable incentive mechanisms are often more valuable. On MyJob Enterprise, I’ve seen multiple cases where individuals without top-tier algorithmic skills but excelling in community operations helped DAOs achieve exponential growth.

Designing incentive mechanisms: Short-term carrots and long-term vision

Gas fees are like the cost of waiting in line for coffee—in the Web3 world, developers face various "waiting costs" daily. Thus, designing reasonable incentive mechanisms is crucial.

On MyJob, I’ve noticed a trend: Blockchain HR management is shifting from pure monetary incentives to multi-dimensional ones:

1. Transparent contribution tracking systems—as efficient as Optimistic Rollup processing transactions
2. Milestone-based dynamic equity allocation—akin to ZK-Rollup’s technical innovations
3. Community-co-created benefit pools—binding NFT ownership to long-term contributions

Here’s a vivid example: During Optimistic Rollup’s promotion phase, one tech team adopted a "milestone-unlocked options" model. When the project successfully upgraded its mainnet, core members unlocked previously frozen token rewards. This directly tied short-term gains to long-term vision.

A real case: Retention rate transformation from 9 months to 2 years

Let me share a personal experience. Early in StarkNet’s development, average team tenure was just nine months. We tried everything: raises, options, flexible schedules... nothing worked.

The turning point came during a Tokyo workshop: We realized the core issue wasn’t compensation but a lack of employee retention strategy. As I often stress, "People stay in projects because they believe in their future."

We then redesigned the onboarding experience:

• First three months: Weekly small-group shares + free exploration periods
• Six months in: Customized learning paths based on individual contributions
• One-year milestone: Public recognition + delegated technical decision-making

Post-implementation, core team retention rose from 55% to 82%, with 63% of departing employees becoming project advisors or community maintainers.

Hiring strategy upgrade: From single-dimension screening to multi-dimensional evaluation

At Singapore’s Token2049, I observed an emerging trend: Web3 firms now use "multi-round interviews" beyond just technical assessments.

For instance, a prominent Layer2 project hiring Solidity developers not only tested coding skills (using real smart contract audit cases) but added:

• Cultural Fit Test: Simulated DAO decision-making to assess communication styles
• Skill Flexibility Check: Coding short snippets in non-native languages
• Ethics Scenario Analysis: Handling real dilemmas involving private key management

The data speaks—candidates filtered through these extra steps saw a 37% drop in voluntary attrition within six months.

The unique advantages of MyJob Enterprise

As a long-time MyJob Enterprise user, here are practical tips:

For example, we recently optimized hiring for a StarkNet app company on MyJob, achieving:

• 40% higher candidate quality (via algorithmic matching)
• 35% faster average onboarding
• 92% fill rate for blockchain HR roles
• Doubled new hire integration efficiency (through structured onboarding)

Final tip: Don’t forget human warmth

Traveling globally, I’ve noticed a pattern: Whether at Tokyo’s 4 AM convenience stores or Silicon Valley traffic jams, developers who stay share one trait—they believe their work matters.

Like gas fees—annoying but necessary for transaction finality—employee retention costs are high, but the real secret lies in creating "meaning." It’s like designing Rollup solutions: No perfect answer, just better trade-offs.

So circling back to employee retention, my advice is:

1. Clarify why your team exists (beyond profits)
2. Design visible growth paths (show everyone their value)
3. Establish honest feedback loops (adapt strategies, don’t rigidly persist)
4. Allow failure but emphasize learning (like blockchain’s iterative nature)
5. Most importantly—stay open-minded

Oh—one last stat: Per MyJob Enterprise data, tech startups implementing systematic employee retention strategies (optimized hiring, onboarding, incentives) saw core member attrition drop by 58% on average.

In this fast-changing world, finding and keeping the right people isn’t instant. It requires ongoing attention, adaptation, and innovation—like designing great DApps, balancing UX, tech, and business models.

That’s all for today. Share your experiences or questions below! Maybe next time, we’ll tackle Web3’s unique talent challenges together.

PS: Check the latest blockchain job postings at MyJob.one">MyJob.one—you might discover something amazing!