How to prevent them from leaving
The issue of retaining IT specialists occupies the minds of more than one IT and HR manager. IT specialists, especially developers, are very spoiled by job offers, both within the country and abroad. Finding a new developer to replace the departed is a task of more than one day (sometimes more than one month, if it is senior or lead developer). How to keep them? To begin with, this is normal when a person leaves the company after 3-4-5 years of work. If people start to leave more often - this is already a problem.
A good leader knows about the planned departure of his employee in advance. I note that a good leader never has unplanned departures of employees. Therefore, he assigns the HR service in advance and he, by the time the specialist leaves, already has several applicants for the vacant seat.
Recommendation one. Keep in touch with your employees.
How: The options are different. Regularly conduct teambuilding within the department (yes, this is what the IT manager calls this article in the budget when he thinks about going to the pub with his employees (just kidding, though ...)). You have knocked out money for such a budget item? Teambuilding can be an informal trip to barbecue, a bike ride, a hike, going through a quest room or playing a laser tag. The key word is regularly. Be sure to periodically communicate face to face with each employee. The frequency depends on the size of the team, but at least once a quarter. During this meeting, first ask the employee about existing problems and questions, and only then give feedback and an assessment of his work (about the “sandwich” rule, I will not remind you).
The second recommendation. Fair assessment of labor.
How:This implies, firstly, compliance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (i.e., no payments in envelopes or attempts to fool around with charges). Secondly, clear and understandable job responsibilities. IT employees really dislike being constantly forced to do unusual work. Once it is permissible to involve in moving the office or spring cleaning, but no more. Regular tests on the most powerful programmer will lead to the departure of the person. Thirdly, if you use KPI, then do not forget that they comply with SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-limited). Also keep in mind that system administrators, developers and IT analysts are not very stupid people. They can count well, so you don’t have to play games with such people trying to manipulate numbers and conditions, to lead to the inability to achieve the planned indicators. These people will be offended at first, and then they will find a place where they are not being deceived (believe me, there are such places, even in times of crisis!). Still - KPI is not a dogma, that is, you need to regularly analyze how relevant they are and correspond to your needs and the needs of the company.
The third recommendation. Development and professional growth.
How:Without development prospects, your people will run away, even if you pay them a good salary. More precisely, the pros will run away, and there will be slag, ready to sit from bell to bell. Therefore, it is worth thinking about creating a personnel training system if you do not already have it. If you have a competent HR service in the organization, then you should already have a training system. But even if it is, you have to work anyway. It is necessary to think over the grading system. This is a reflection of the employee's competency levels. Examples: engineer of the 2nd category - engineer of the 1st category - leading engineer - chief engineer or junior developer - middle developer - senior developer - tech lead. It is not enough to think about grades, you need to think through a matrix of competencies for each level (skills matrix). This is a description of technologies, tools, qualities of an employee, etc., which should be shown at this level. Often still apply the gradation of the manifestation of each quality (example - reads with a dictionary until fluent in perfection). And that’s not all, you need to consider some bonuses, both material and non-material, that an employee will receive when switching from grade to grade. Consider assessment procedures and formal criteria. Create a PDP (personal development plan) for your employees. Consider the possibility of allocating budgets for the training of your employees. Also, do not forget that you must constantly trust them with more and more important projects. In general, there is something to do. which will be received by the employee upon transition from grade to grade. Consider assessment procedures and formal criteria. Create a PDP (personal development plan) for your employees. Consider the possibility of allocating budgets for the training of your employees. Also, do not forget that you must constantly trust them with more and more important projects. In general, there is something to do. which will be received by the employee upon transition from grade to grade. Consider assessment procedures and formal criteria. Create a PDP (personal development plan) for your employees. Consider the possibility of allocating budgets for the training of your employees. Also, do not forget that you must constantly trust them with more and more important projects. In general, there is something to do.
The fourth and last recommendation. If people are chosen correctly, they do not need motivation. All that is needed is to ensure that there are no demotivating factors © Jim Collins
P.S. Do not forget about the picture in the post title - just don’t be m ... and don’t work with such people. Before introducing something new in motivation and remuneration, try the innovation on yourself, put yourself in the place of your developer or system administrator. Are you comfortable? Your income has not become less? Can you achieve indicators that will lead you to receive a bonus? And your employees will love you, and you will comprehend Zen and be reborn into the next life on some other planet, where these (from the book) do not exist at all - in principle.
A good leader knows about the planned departure of his employee in advance. I note that a good leader never has unplanned departures of employees. Therefore, he assigns the HR service in advance and he, by the time the specialist leaves, already has several applicants for the vacant seat.
Recommendation one. Keep in touch with your employees.
How: The options are different. Regularly conduct teambuilding within the department (yes, this is what the IT manager calls this article in the budget when he thinks about going to the pub with his employees (just kidding, though ...)). You have knocked out money for such a budget item? Teambuilding can be an informal trip to barbecue, a bike ride, a hike, going through a quest room or playing a laser tag. The key word is regularly. Be sure to periodically communicate face to face with each employee. The frequency depends on the size of the team, but at least once a quarter. During this meeting, first ask the employee about existing problems and questions, and only then give feedback and an assessment of his work (about the “sandwich” rule, I will not remind you).
The second recommendation. Fair assessment of labor.
How:This implies, firstly, compliance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation (i.e., no payments in envelopes or attempts to fool around with charges). Secondly, clear and understandable job responsibilities. IT employees really dislike being constantly forced to do unusual work. Once it is permissible to involve in moving the office or spring cleaning, but no more. Regular tests on the most powerful programmer will lead to the departure of the person. Thirdly, if you use KPI, then do not forget that they comply with SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-limited). Also keep in mind that system administrators, developers and IT analysts are not very stupid people. They can count well, so you don’t have to play games with such people trying to manipulate numbers and conditions, to lead to the inability to achieve the planned indicators. These people will be offended at first, and then they will find a place where they are not being deceived (believe me, there are such places, even in times of crisis!). Still - KPI is not a dogma, that is, you need to regularly analyze how relevant they are and correspond to your needs and the needs of the company.
The third recommendation. Development and professional growth.
How:Without development prospects, your people will run away, even if you pay them a good salary. More precisely, the pros will run away, and there will be slag, ready to sit from bell to bell. Therefore, it is worth thinking about creating a personnel training system if you do not already have it. If you have a competent HR service in the organization, then you should already have a training system. But even if it is, you have to work anyway. It is necessary to think over the grading system. This is a reflection of the employee's competency levels. Examples: engineer of the 2nd category - engineer of the 1st category - leading engineer - chief engineer or junior developer - middle developer - senior developer - tech lead. It is not enough to think about grades, you need to think through a matrix of competencies for each level (skills matrix). This is a description of technologies, tools, qualities of an employee, etc., which should be shown at this level. Often still apply the gradation of the manifestation of each quality (example - reads with a dictionary until fluent in perfection). And that’s not all, you need to consider some bonuses, both material and non-material, that an employee will receive when switching from grade to grade. Consider assessment procedures and formal criteria. Create a PDP (personal development plan) for your employees. Consider the possibility of allocating budgets for the training of your employees. Also, do not forget that you must constantly trust them with more and more important projects. In general, there is something to do. which will be received by the employee upon transition from grade to grade. Consider assessment procedures and formal criteria. Create a PDP (personal development plan) for your employees. Consider the possibility of allocating budgets for the training of your employees. Also, do not forget that you must constantly trust them with more and more important projects. In general, there is something to do. which will be received by the employee upon transition from grade to grade. Consider assessment procedures and formal criteria. Create a PDP (personal development plan) for your employees. Consider the possibility of allocating budgets for the training of your employees. Also, do not forget that you must constantly trust them with more and more important projects. In general, there is something to do.
The fourth and last recommendation. If people are chosen correctly, they do not need motivation. All that is needed is to ensure that there are no demotivating factors © Jim Collins
P.S. Do not forget about the picture in the post title - just don’t be m ... and don’t work with such people. Before introducing something new in motivation and remuneration, try the innovation on yourself, put yourself in the place of your developer or system administrator. Are you comfortable? Your income has not become less? Can you achieve indicators that will lead you to receive a bonus? And your employees will love you, and you will comprehend Zen and be reborn into the next life on some other planet, where these (from the book) do not exist at all - in principle.