While most of those boil down to the most common reason: Crappy management, I'm not seeing the second most common reason: Crappy pay (which is just another way that Crappy management presents itself).
Why some of the best developers keep quitting
21–30 of 172 posts
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#22None of these 4 reasons (TD;LR: you waited until the exit interview, you assume mentors want to manage, you assume the natural ascension of developers is management and not higher-level IC roles, you aren't supporting them and their career) are why they quit. People quit because the modern, zero-loyalty, everyone-for-hire company does not provide a long term strategy for providing intrinsic motivation (autonomy, mast…
People quit because the modern, zero-loyalty, everyone-for-hire company does not provide a long term strategy for providing intrinsic motivation (autonomy, mastery, purpose) Rands refers to this as your "shields down" moment. http://randsinrepose.com/archives/shields-down/
For anyone who hasn't read Rands, he's got a bunch of these and they're largely pretty fantastic.
Managing Humans / Being Geek are also great books if you like this type of writing. I've shared them with lots of new managers/engineers and they've always been well received.
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#23None of these 4 reasons (TD;LR: you waited until the exit interview, you assume mentors want to manage, you assume the natural ascension of developers is management and not higher-level IC roles, you aren't supporting them and their career) are why they quit. People quit because the modern, zero-loyalty, everyone-for-hire company does not provide a long term strategy for providing intrinsic motivation (autonomy, mast…
> it's best to look at your directs as someone to help them advance for their next job. I'm happy to say this is my manager's position. I joined this team nearly 2 years ago mainly on the strength of a great discussion with him during the interview process, and our team is clearly excellent thanks to him, with significant investment in growth, responsibility and empowerment (I know they're buzzwords but ick, I don't…
Funny how if you embrace it, it actually helps retention :)
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#24...you moved to an open office plan...
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#25Also - 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?
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#26It's rare to also see these articles point out the immense pay discrepancy that can occur. Companies seem to want loyalty but they don't want to give it. This leads to the merc approach of just selling to the highest bidder.
To be honest (at least in my experience) if you are really worth $X as a developer, you can generally get your current employer to give you $X if you are proactive about it. Quitting generally has more to do with: A) "You (the employer) Waited Until The Exit Interview To Ask What’s Wrong" B) "You (the employee) Waited Until The Exit Interview To Convey What's Wrong" Leaving my last job, I told them what I wanted 1-2…
I dunno. I work for a company based in the UK, which seems to have much lower pay than the US. I am paid the same as other senior developers at the company, yet my salary by comparison to US standards is quite low ($70k and no benefits since I'm technically a contractor). Otherwise the company is really amazing, so I'm torn.
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#27Also - 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?
Enthusiastic(and authentic) recognition. Everyone knows those tasks suck but you can still use it as an opportunity to re-enforce how critical they can be and give a big kudos for whoever rolled up their sleeves and dived in.
Another nice upside of this approach is it helps re-enforce a culture of doing the right thing because we ship and don't just write code.
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#28Also - 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?
What do you think Juniors are for?
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#29Also - 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?
Praise and recognition for stepping up to the plate and taking one for the team.
It might not work for everyone or every team, but it sometimes works for me.
Re: Why some of the best developers keep quitting
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
In my experience while a developer will say it's not about the money, if the gap is big enough it is disrespectful to the developer and they will (easily) find employment elsewhere. Often time's it's not actually about the money. But the low pay (relatively) is a signal to the developer of how much / little you value them.
This is, historically, where I was at. Consistently delivering high-quality stuff that makes my fellow devs able to do their jobs faster and better, and while in the top quartile of salaries, it wasn't remotely reflective of the value being generated. That's why I went into consulting in the first place.
Running your own (successful) business is always going to net you more money than being salaried. It's the payoff for taking the risk. A company pays a salary based on how hard it is to replace you, not your value generation, whereas your own company nets you $all_the_things.