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How to set junior employees up for success in remote

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Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#21

Post by pluc »

chadash wrote: post #12
pluc wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very obvious too... of course junior employees don't do as well as veterans when you take out the entire physical support system. Like.. duh? What you need to solve this is merely competent managers/mentoring culture.

> What you need to solve this is merely competent managers/mentoring culture. I see this claim thrown around frequently as if finding great managers or building a great management culture is an easy thing to do. A great manager in engineering needs to be good at engineering and good at management. It's hard enough to hire for one or the other, let alone both.

Absolutely. And giving managerial duties to your best developers is a double-edged sword that needs to be wielded carefully.

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#22

Post by spaetzleesser »

throwaway1092 wrote: post #10

Our company's new CTO held an all-hands meeting Friday where he stated something to the effect that he agreed with Elon (Musk) and that if it were up to him we'd all be huddled in the same office..."but times have changed". What I heard was "I really don't like that we can't keep an eye on you, but since the labor market is still so tight in tech, we have to deal with remote (for now)."

When I listen to my company's upper management I get the impression they genuinely believe that everybody spends mopst of their time in meetings and discussions and then sometimes does some deep work. They seem to have forgotten that the lower ranks spend most of their time on doing actual work and that distractions and interruptions there are quite expensive and unproductive. What's often weird is that they also set up the workspace in a way that collaboration is hard because when you talk to each you might bother the people in the next row.

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#23

Post by staticassertion »

pluc wrote: post #3
Icathian wrote: post #2

While I can understand some of the arguments made about juniors getting some extra benefit from having everything close to hand, the sheer pace of the hit pieces against remote the last month or so is hilarious and very telling.

It's very obvious too... of course junior employees don't do as well as veterans when you take out the entire physical support system. Like.. duh? What you need to solve this is merely competent managers/mentoring culture.

You say "duh" but this is pretty controversial and there's a big push for remote work right now. I'm "pro remote" - my company is full remote, for example. I also think I'd have a much worse career if my first job hadn't been in an office, especially such a cool office with great coworkers to chat with. Being in an office was incredibly motivating and exciting as a junior developer.

Being in an office also made it clear how much I worked. I was there on most weekends and people noticed.

I'm not saying that that's more important than the benefits of remote, but people absolutely do act like it's a black and white scenario.

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#24

Post by benjaminwootton »

Icathian wrote: post #2

While I can understand some of the arguments made about juniors getting some extra benefit from having everything close to hand, the sheer pace of the hit pieces against remote the last month or so is hilarious and very telling.

A few people have commented on the hit pieces in the UK media. The Telegraph have had an anti WFH article every day for the last month. Definetly feels coordinated!

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#26

Post by mfer »

geraldwhen wrote: post #5

Before remote, the office was already increasingly hostile. Open floor plans, some groups having shared seating, and offices for roughly no one. Now, it’s worse. Everything is “reservable equipment” of garbage monitors, windows keyboards, and 400 dpi mice. I suspect it’s harder for a junior to succeed anywhere today vs 2012. The office is not built to foster development or innovation. It’s an exec’s idea of what a so…

> I suspect it’s harder for a junior to succeed anywhere today vs 2012

When I was a jr engineer I was paired with some senior people who showed me the ropes. They expected it would take some time to come up to speed and intentionally worked to help me get there. They took my college degree as "proof I could learn" and then taught me what I needed to know.

Over the last decade, I've seen less and less mentoring. Even before COVID and in office environments. The productivity expectations are just so high so often. It's hard to succeed in that environment.

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#27

Post by micromacrofoot »

_dain_ wrote: post #18
ZetaZero wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO, an expensive keyboard/mouse/monitor isn't necessary for a junior to succeed. Plenty of coders learned on much worse.

That's penny wise, pound foolish thinking. A good keyboard and mouse and monitor for your developers (who directly earn you revenue) is not going to break the bank. But the lack of them will reduce productivity and morale, possibly even causing (on the margin) some talented people to leave. RSI and posture problems are no joke! In other industries you need immense capital investment in equipment for workers to be pro…

It's a raindrop in a hurricane though, the best keyboard, mouse, and monitor in the world aren't going to make someone productive in an unproductive environment.

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#28

Post by mempko »

I don't agree with this article about "micro-tasks". You don't learn accountability and how to break down problems into small tasks if someone does it for you. What junior developers need (actually all workers) is ownership of what they are making. And I don't mean "they own part of a code base". I mean literal ownership of the company. The best way to learn how to make decisions is to own a piece of the pie and participate in decision making process. This is true for remote and not remote workers.

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#29

Post by simias »

_dain_ wrote: post #18
ZetaZero wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMO, an expensive keyboard/mouse/monitor isn't necessary for a junior to succeed. Plenty of coders learned on much worse.

That's penny wise, pound foolish thinking. A good keyboard and mouse and monitor for your developers (who directly earn you revenue) is not going to break the bank. But the lack of them will reduce productivity and morale, possibly even causing (on the margin) some talented people to leave. RSI and posture problems are no joke! In other industries you need immense capital investment in equipment for workers to be pro…

I wouldn't expect my employer to provide anything but a decent quality membrane keyboard and a middle of the range logitech mouse by default. Then people who prefer higher end hardware can ask for an upgrade.

I'm typing on a 300 euro keyboard right now but I would consider it a gross waste of money if a company decided to give them to every single employee regardless of need or preference. For instance for most people better chairs and desks would be a vastly better investment, ergonomy-wise.

Re: How to set junior employees up for success in remote

#30

Post by selfhoster11 »

ZetaZero wrote: post #8
geraldwhen wrote: post #5

Before remote, the office was already increasingly hostile. Open floor plans, some groups having shared seating, and offices for roughly no one. Now, it’s worse. Everything is “reservable equipment” of garbage monitors, windows keyboards, and 400 dpi mice. I suspect it’s harder for a junior to succeed anywhere today vs 2012. The office is not built to foster development or innovation. It’s an exec’s idea of what a so…

IMO, an expensive keyboard/mouse/monitor isn't necessary for a junior to succeed. Plenty of coders learned on much worse.

100% disagree. I will NOT be productive at a desk if you put me in front of a single monitor, period. That has been the case since I first tried a dual screen in a professional setting and realised the benefits.

A related note is that I loathe garbage keyboards. If you make me type on some garbage rubber-dome with unbalanced and scratchy keys, I will not be happy.

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