Retention

So, I was reading SQLServerCentral.com today, and I came across the a link to Steve Jones' series of articles on Employee Retention. And it got me thinking about the experiences of the last year and half or so in my current job, so I sent on a reply to the article, and thought I'd post it here, too. and it's an interesting exercise, to consider what your over-riding criteria are in a job.

I really look for an enjoyable work environment.

I realise that I'm in an unusual position, but being single, and without dependants, I really don't have that much requirement in the way of salary. More is nice, but to be honest my material needs are relatively light and any decent developer salary is going to cut it just fine. More important to me is the workplace.

I've been in my current job for a year and a half, and it was initially a lot of fun. The projects were interesting and challenging, I was working with two other developers, we often worked late and then had LAN sessions at night, and I actively looked forward to coming in to work every day. The management gave us projects and focussed on the results. Given that the guy supposedly heading up the IT department was a chartered accountant by training, it was good that he didn't take too much of a hand in trying to influence the development process.

Over time, management became far more focussed on appearance. Dress code and punctuality seemed to be more important than the code that we were producing. The LAN sessions were banned. Internet access was clamped down on with the threat of dismissal for even opening any non-work sites (including things like e-mail or checking the news). Frustrated, the other two developers started looking for new jobs, and within six months of the changes they had both left. Neither one was looking for more in salary, they just both decided that they couldn't stand another day working for our bosses.

I persevered, mostly because I needed a solid chunk of development experience on my CV, and I didn't want anything less than a year, preferably two. And also, the offices moved close to my home, so I had a 3-minute commute. Most important to me was that this allowed me to use my evenings to the fullest, as I didn't have to waste time sitting in traffic after work. Compared to that, the nit-picking bosses and tedious timesheet requirements were pretty minor, and some of the work was still interesting enough. I was still learning.

Well, two weeks ago they banned listening to music on headphones at work. I don't know how they actually think that coding happens, but as far as I'm concerned the two essential components are caffeine and piped music. The next day, I sent off an email to a few developer friends to see if anyone had openings in a company near me. And I'm officially back in the search for my next position, despite the fact that my salary has almost doubled in the last 18 months here.

So what can we conclude? Three things from my experience:
1) Money really ISN'T everything.
2) People join companies, but they leave managers.
3) Most people would much rather stay in a job than change, but everyone has deal-breaking requirements in their expectaions of a job, and a good manager needs identify those and work around them to keep his staff happy and retained.