I thought all developers quit their jobs with the hope that maybe then recruiters would stop sending them unsolicited offers of huge pay increases and unlimited vacation days.
Why some of the best developers keep quitting
101–110 of 172 posts
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Translation: "I didn't read the link, here's a non sequitur." The "shield" is just your day-to-day (sometimes minute-to-minute) SELF-evaluation of your current job satisfaction and willingness to leave. It has nothing to do with you being shielded from anything by anyone else.
I did, in fact, read the link, and I'm reacting to the condescending language used throughout. The unspoken attitude in the article is that the employee is a dirty traitor and a fool for wanting to move on. 'Shields down' is a telling choice of words because the manager feels that the employee is protected by being his . It's a patronizing, parental sort of attitude towards employees that irks me to no end. To pull a…
I agree that the author is condescending. Also, despite writing a lot on the subject, he doesn't actually seem to be a good manager. Very authoritarian.
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#103Also - let the developers choose the work. We have a big todo list on the wall, and when a developer needs work, they can choose from the list. If a developer comes to me with a new idea, and it sounds viable, then I give them a bonus based on how well it executes. Everyone is incentivised and motivated to come up with new exciting projects. Smart developers want to create, so set them free! Autonomy, mastery, purpos…
> ...let the developers choose the work... This is much better advice than the whole article. The article seems to be conveying vaguely that developers want advancement, interesting problems, etc. The problem with this phrasing is that it makes a manager think about placation strategies. The root cause of the above is just poor tasking. If a senior developer says things need attention and keeps getting ignored, then…
I work at a company where developers choose the work. It's complete pandemonium. Nobody is listening to the product managers, the technical leads are doing customer interviews, the incompetent senior engineers have created a terrible mess for everyone else to deal with (and then moved on to new projects to create another terrible mess). The biggest issue is that engineers, especially ICs, absolutely are not giving a shit about anything except their own work, AND they are the only ones with any modicum of authority.
The people with any standards at all only stay ~2 years or less at a place like this.
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#104Can we start getting warnings when sites pop up obnoxious ads? We get PDF warnings and that would have been much less irritating than this one which seized my screen and froze my phone.
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#105Also - let the developers choose the work. We have a big todo list on the wall, and when a developer needs work, they can choose from the list. If a developer comes to me with a new idea, and it sounds viable, then I give them a bonus based on how well it executes. Everyone is incentivised and motivated to come up with new exciting projects. Smart developers want to create, so set them free! Autonomy, mastery, purpos…
How do you handle boring unglamorous but important tasks?
Bonuses. Whoever works on this pile get's an extra $5000 at the end of every quarter. You only have to work on this pile for 6 months unless you volunteer for more.
Companies tend to try everything except the obvious: more money.
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#106This is wrong wrong wrong. Here's why most developers keep quitting: it's because for them the grass really is always greener on the other side. Usually by about 20%. I can only assume that right now the best developers are vastly underpaid relative to their worth. Why? Because it turns out every time they get annoyed with their current company they can send out some feelers and get a 20% raise. Most people can't do…
I am about to quit my job for every reason in the article, so perhaps you are wrong wrong wrong.
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#107> You Waited Until The Exit Interview To Ask What’s Wrong
Also: You Fired The Employee When He Told You What's Wrong
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#108This is wrong wrong wrong. Here's why most developers keep quitting: it's because for them the grass really is always greener on the other side. Usually by about 20%. I can only assume that right now the best developers are vastly underpaid relative to their worth. Why? Because it turns out every time they get annoyed with their current company they can send out some feelers and get a 20% raise. Most people can't do…
pay is a big one, another big one is rapport with coworkers. if someone likes going to work every day talking / interacting with their fellow employees, then its a lot harder to leave
Yep exactly this, the job I had a few years ago wasn't the best pay (or work) but I stayed because the guys I worked with were awesome to chat with. Slowly, one by one they all left (for better pay/location), leaving only the lazy, soon after I left too. We often complained about the people doing bad work, but nothing much was ever done. Have yet to come across a similar workplace :(
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#109> You Waited Until The Exit Interview To Ask What’s Wrong
For sure that's what's happened with me. We are a small company of ~10 people. We're meant to have a review with the CEO every 3 months, it's been over 6 months since I've had one, despite my constant reminders to the CEO, he keeps fobbing me off.
He's also managed to dodge giving my a payrise, despite having worked in total for 15 months, and still having the same pay that I did when I started as an intern. It took me until about 3 months ago to realise I was getting fucked hard.
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#110> You Waited Until The Exit Interview To Ask What’s Wrong For sure that's what's happened with me. We are a small company of ~10 people. We're meant to have a review with the CEO every 3 months, it's been over 6 months since I've had one, despite my constant reminders to the CEO, he keeps fobbing me off. He's also managed to dodge giving my a payrise, despite having worked in total for 15 months, and still having the…
Sounds like its time to switch companies. If you are being dodged by the CEO like this you are unlikely to be a benefactor of goodwill in the future