One of the reasons Smartlands is conducting a sale of an equity stake in Smartlands Holding LTD is to raise enough capital to beef up our internal engineering team. As you can imagine, the need for such a measure didn’t appear out of thin air: we are way passed the startup stage in our development, and to scale globally we need the best talent on the market. However, the question posed by reality is this: where and how to get it?

The full-stack blockchain developer remains on the list of some of the most in-demand professions today. Here’s just one of many references on the matter: Australian Computer Society study found the demand for technology workers will grow by 100,000 between 2018 and 2024. Overall, the tech industry, though at an apparent slow-down, is still hiring like crazy, and, in the timeless words of TLC, “it don’t want no scrubs.” Marketers, web developers, tech writers – we have no credible data on whether their growth numbers are as formidable as on coders, but something tells us the Web 3.0-based world will need more representatives of concomitant vocations as well.

The rapid changes in technology have created the state of a “permanent hiring” in an economy inflated with so many bad ideas that to pinch a good one out of the heap of trash and find the right people to put it to market is becoming a challenge of truly biblical proportions.

In an ideal world, the simplest and most obvious recipe to attract top talent for seemingly any project existed for centuries:

Conceive an idea so beautiful that participating in its implementation would be a no-brainer to anyone Throw a bunch of money and generous benefits/profit sharing options to all talent you retain at phase one.

Done! Of course, in the real world, things are a bit more complex – conceiving a genius idea alone might present a bit of a challenge, as you can imagine. So, how do we do it? How do we get the right answers to a question whether we’re doing all we can to attract and retain top tech talent? After all, to remain competitive, we at Smartlands need to be as forward-thinking as possible in our approach to balancing what’s good with what’s right. Here’s what we’ve been doing so far and plan on continuing to do to meet the challenges of the 2020s with our heads held high and our business thriving:

We remember that technology is business. And vice versa.

Undoubtedly, working on an exciting project with cutting-edge technology is the most important reason we feel for anyone to join Smartlands + Smartee. But, unless an HR director can recognise the points of inspiration for a candidate and map out the roots for channelling that inspiration into our business model, it’s all moot. On the other hand, our CTO recognises that his decisions have direct implications for the business strategy and continually makes sure that Smartlands’ tech stack shifts with the times.

We collaborate. Constantly.

Cultivating a culture that is built on an ethos of collaboration and knowledge sharing has been Smartlands strategic goal from the very beginning of the company. This has manifested into our relationship with the community from which we draw support, ideas, and sometimes even talent. This approach allows us to tackle challenges and collectively solve problems in engineering, marketing, finance. That is not to say that the participation of skilled professionals in those areas is not needed. But working closely with the community whose members possess different, complementary expertise helps our team develop the critical thinking we need to reach our strategic goals.

We build relationships and spread the word

We’ve established that the best talent seek out workplaces that inspire and support them. Before they trawl job ads, they’re likely to start with their own social accounts and networks with which they are familiar. To help them, Smartlands holds regular outward-facing events that bring together tech professionals in an open environment. Meetups, hackathons, participation in industry events – all are great for sharing insights, meeting like-minded individuals, and seeking out potential talent.

Our social channels are a great forum to exchange ideas around the direction in which Smartlands is headed. Ultimately, if we want to unlock the full potential of blockchain, we need to look past the short-term competition and engage passionately to elevate the industry as a whole.