Keeping good employees is the key to long term success

You need lots of Caris

from JoeUser Forums

Next week I'm going to be giving a guest lecture at the University of Michigan. My topic will be the game industry and software development requirements to be part of it. But it got me thinking about other issues involved in running a successful software company.

Probably the key, in my view, to having a successful company is retaining good employees. It may seem obvious but let me get more specific: Everyone in any industry knows that there are various kinds of people out there. Some people, like Joel on Software, go specifically for the "super stars". Stardock has its share of coding gods. I'd put our top developers against the top developers at any company anywhere in terms of knowledge and productivity.

But I don't want a shop full of "super stars". Or I should say, being a coding god is only part of the story. I'll take a good software developer who is loyal, easy to get along with, and reliable over a "super star" who is arrogant, acts like a primo Dona, and flakey.  And I bet those of you reading this have run into your share of guys (they always seem to be guys) who think they are god's gift to the world. 

At our office, we have a term for the type of employee people should be trying to keep. Code-name: Cari. In honor of the avatar of good, long term, loyal, productive, self-starting, easy to get along with software developer.  She won't claim to be a coding god.  But she also, day in and day out delivers the goods. She wrote most of the lines of code in Galactic Civilizations. It is people like her that need to be representative of the average person at a successful software company. If you can find a handful of unpretentious software gods, which fortunately for us we have, that's great. But over the long run, retention matters. Many of these super stars suffer wanderlust (and in my limited experience end up screwed as they get older and their skills are too scattered and their resume too all over the place).  So it's often hard to keep those super stars for various reasons.  But the people who stay, they become an invaluable asset over time because they know how things work at the company. They know the procedures. They're in their groove.

Which is why, I think, the successful long term company that's larger than a dozen or so people needs to make sure they have not just super stars but also plenty of Cari's. It is the Cari's of the world that make software companies successful over the long haul.

 

12,652 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
I know exactly the superstar type. They are wizards, and they do get the props they deserve....but often cause more in-fighting, whispers and controversy than they're worth.

I was once brought onto a job as a superstar (of a fairly easy position, which was almost insulting) and I had to work to get rid of that reputation. People called me "Ace" from day one just because I aced the phone interview well enough to get hired sight unseen. But I could feel the aprehension about me as I met the rest of the group, so I had made sure to work at making it clear that I didn't think i was anythign special. Overall it was annoying.

But it's definately true that the best people I've worked with are the ones that are well rounded in ability, ethic, social skills, and communication over people who excel in one area.

Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
In my mind "superstar" and "supercoder" are not the same. A superstar, while a great coder, would also be well-rounded, easy to get along with, and consistently delivers. It's all about how you define the word.
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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
Tips for 21st Century Workers
The word “employee” is out of date. If you want to get a job, you must be willing to be a professional in the company – not a peon. This means that while working, you must expend thought into how to improve the company – not just on the task at hand. Peons are the first to go when layoffs occur.
You must also think of yourself as a contractor. This means you are the one responsible for your well-being and your family’s well-being. It’s not the responsibility of your employer to take care of you. This means that while you have a job, you must be thinking of the future and where this job is taking you and what your plan is if you suddenly loose your job. This may mean that you need to put some money into savings instead of spending it on entertainment activities and products so that it will be available to you if you do loose your job.
Any politician that tells you that the government will take care of you and your family is lying. The government may take care of you for a bit, but there’s no way it can take care of the entire population without going totally into communism. Sooner or later, out of necessity, the government will cut out its social programs to balance its budget or it will become a totally communist government. In either case, if you’re depending upon the government, then you’re up a creek. Even if you opt to depend upon the government it will never provide you with the life you and your family deserve. You may be able to survive but you will never thrive when depending upon the government.
Your professional skills must be so good and you must have the tools available so if you were to loose your job tomorrow, you could quickly “hang a shingle” and start your own business the next day. You should have a plan to market yourself so you could call any business and say, “You need me and here’s why.”
Working 8-5 and then going home and forgetting about your professional skills will send you to the unemployment line faster than you think. Successful professionals spend their off-time (defined as holidays, vacations, weekends, and evenings) cultivating relationships with their families and friends, sleeping, doing household chores, then improving their professional skills. Successful professionals spend very little if any off-time in frivolous activities such as watching TV, surfing the Internet, or playing computer games.
“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” – Benjamin Franklin.
The choices you make in your personal life affect your professional life. If you have a spouse and children younger than 10 then either you our your spouse should stay home to be with them. There’s nothing more frustrating to an employer than an employee calling in sick because he/she has a sick child. Businesses are getting tired of coddling to their employees’ personal needs – especially when too many of them don’t spend time increasing their professional skills. If one spouse stays home and takes care of the children, then the other spouse can be properly focused on his/her profession which will keep the family is in balance. And no, lack of money is not an excuse. There’s always a way to balance a budget on one income today, though you may have to forgo some luxuries in the process. Ask many families that are doing it today.
"Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men." – Proverbs 22:29.
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
Any thread praising Cari's skills gets my vote for best thread. It's not only the skill at creating a great product, but the day to day support on the product website, not only putting up with but helping obnoxious customers really makes out the star. Cari is a great testiment to the quality of your company and I hope you pay her well!

Paul.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
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Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
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