Why We Are Developers
Chances are that if you're a developer, it's because you love what you do. Development is a very tedious and at times stressful job. It's not “fun” in the same sense as being a movie actor, or beating your friends in a round of Call of Duty 4. However development is fun for people that are good at it. It typically starts out as a hobby. You are doing it, just because you enjoy doing it. It all gets complicated when someone who doesn't enjoy their job decides that the talent that a developer has is able to make them money. That's not a bad thing it's simply how things start.
Separation of Duties
Let developers do what they are good at. There is a reason that they aren't managers, accountants, QA testers, or IT staff. They do development because they are good at it and they love doing it. Once you start requiring or pressuring them into multiple roles like project management, QA, and routine IT work, then you begin to make them miserable. Since development is done out of happiness and fun, this miserable attitude can easily affect their development duties.
Perks
We love perks! A week ago I got an email from a recruiter mentioning several full-time positions that he has available and said that there were some great perks. Even though I am not looking for a full-time job right now, I found myself replying to his email asking what kind of perks. There is just something about a perk that makes development seem worth it. I've got a really boring job. I sit here on my computer typing all day and staring at lines of code. If I get a perk, then I actually feel like someone cares about me and the work I'm doing for them. Take me out to lunch once a week. Bring in bagels to the office once a month in the morning. Let me choose my own hours. Let me dress however I want. Let me choose the equipment that I use. All of these things make me happy and will let me develop wonders for my employer.
Once you start removing those perks a strange thing happens. I start feeling like one of the interns. I'm not important, and the work that I'm doing isn't crucial to what goes on. I'm expendable.
Double Standards
You put me into a small corner office because it's quiet and no one will bother me… Then you come to me a month later and say that I'm not communicating effectively with anyone. You tell me that I need to pro-actively come up with ideas that will help out the company… Then you shoot down every idea that I come to you with. You tell me that you're moving to a different town and will only be in the office 2-3 times a week because of your commute and you can do your work at home… Then you make me commute 30-40 minutes every day to be in the office for 8 hours when I could simply do that work from home. That doesn't have a positive effect on morale no matter WHAT profession you're in.
Pay Me What I'm Worth
Sometimes I don't even know what I'm worth. In some cases I can measure my worth by how much I've increased the revenue of a company, but what if I'm working for a non-profit? Look around and see what I'm worth to other people. If you look on job lists and see that I'm not getting what other people with my skills and experience are getting, then you're simply taking advantage of me. Benefits are crucial too. For me, I am married. My family needs health care, I need to retire someday, my children need to go through college. Throw me a bone here!
Hopefully this will ring true with other developers out there. There might be a small chance that my boss sees this and a light goes on in his head, I sure hope so. Maybe you're boss will read it. I'm sure that there is a reason that the turnover rate for IT jobs is one of the highest of any profession.
