It seems so simple, doesn't it? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto
you." The Golden Rule seems so universal that it should be a panacea for all
human relations. Simply treat everyone the way you would like to be
treated and everything will flow smooth as silk, right?
Manager Resources
But wait... something's wrong...
Does your twenty-something hotshot Java developer want the same things out of
their job that your forty-something database administrator wants? Is your
technical writer looking for the same opportunities and rewards as your
webmaster?
Obviously, their needs are very distinct, but many IT managers use a one-size
fits all approach when rewarding their key employees. When a project completes,
everyone on the team gets the same thing, be it a comp day or $100 gift
certificate to Amazon. Giving the same thing to everyone is what's fair,
right? But is it really fair to your best people?
Additional Management Resources
Hold On to Your Top Performers
Most CTO's realize that
The Pareto Principle applied to IT staff means that 20% of your people
are delivering 80% of your entire team's bottom-line value. In addition, nearly
every software management book cites studies comparing the productivity of the
best software developers to the least competent (yet still useful) programmers.
The difference between the extremes has been reported as high as 100:1. The
closest these numbers ever seem to come to one another is about 4:1. But how
much more does this extreme difference in value end up costing?
Assuming that your annual cost for the least competent developer is $50k, what
are you paying your best developers? $80k? $120k? $150k? Since a lot of the
costs for an employee are fixed, they don't increase in relation to base
salary. For the purposes of this examination, let's use some worst-case
figures, $150k. Assuming that your $50k developer delivers $50k of value
(otherwise they'd be reallocated, right?). If your best developer is a
mere four times more productive than the worst, they deliver value $50k
in excess of their cost. The following chart depicts how this rate of return
skyrockets, depending upon which assessment you trust.
Note: The 100:1 comparison is intentionally missing, because the curve was so
staggering that viewing the distance between cost and value of the 1:4 best
programmer on the chart was not possible with the naked eye.
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If IT Management invests in more training for the bottom-rung programmers, costs
immediately increase, but without any guarantee that productivity will likewise
increase. Consider, also, how much of your salary is factored into the
"cost" of this moderately competent employee? Probably none. Management costs
are usually invisible, factored away as overhead. It certainly feels like
you're being productive - trying your hardest to bring along the strugglers,
hoping that they eventually rise above their shortcomings. Consider how much of
your time is spent with either of these employees:
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The self-managing dynamo who, with speed of a bullet train, handles customer
complaints, delivers defect-free results, and even cleans up after himself in
the breakroom
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The trainee who has some interpersonal issues, occasional product defects,
difficulty understanding requirements, and shows up late on Mondays because of
his hangover
Obviously your best performers are worth their salt. As such, it's incredibly
important for the CTO to impart effective retention strategies, as this handful
of hotshots embodies 80% of your team's value. Their experience with your
unique systems combined with their talents and ability to get the job done in a
pinch makes them nigh unto invaluable.
But, what's the best way to invest in your best people? What should you do to
show those top performers that they're appreciated, and increase the chance
that they'll be there for you when you need them again?
What's the best way to reward your superstars?
Pay them cold hard cash. If your $100k developer puts in 70-hour weeks
during the final push of a key project, most pure cash rewards would come in at
a rate less than minimum wage. Simply reconsider this alternative. This
can be quite insulting, seen, instead, as a paltry offering to buy them off and
ease your guilty conscience. Regardless, after the taxman gets his share, the
net impact of this money can be far less than it costs to pay it out.
Send them to extra training. Some engineers might be excited about an
opportunity to take training in a new city on the company dime. They may even
ask to spend the weekend before or after, at their expense, just to cash in on
this chance to get away for a bit. Be careful though, this could appear to your
high achiever that you found their performance lacking. They might assume that
they need further training to be worthy of the real reward that lies
waiting. If your achiever is sensitive, they might get concerned that all of
that effort they exerted was a red flag to you that they were struggling along.
Offering a training reward in this situation could be interpreted that this
struggle was obvious to you, and you are now taking corrective action.
Offer a promotion. Though the allure of an impressive title or tangible
benefits accompanying a promotion may motivate some, most technical people have
come to realize the dangers of
the Peter Principle. They fear that their world will change drastically
should they become a team lead, project manager, or department head. Your
turbocharged techy probably likes what they're doing right now.
That's why they're so darned good at it. Before considering a promotional
reward, make sure that the new position actually leverages the skills and
talents exhibited by these high achievers, or you may end up losing them. If
you decide to take this chance, make sure your top performer knows that he can
switch back, if things don't work out with the new role.
Provide additional holiday or vacation time. Everyone likes time off,
right? Unfortunately, if you offer this reward to a very techy person who is so
completely immersed in their occupation that they have little social
interaction outside of the workplace, they may not know what to do with
themselves during this free time.
Give them stock options. Although this may seem like a decent idea, with
the intent of imparting ownership and profit sharing to the worker, most I. T.
staff are gun-shy of the stock market since the tech stocks tanked with the dot
com bust. If your company is public, employees know that the future value of
stock may end up being less than the option strike price. If your company is
not yet public, your staff might feel that you're handing them a wad of
lottery tickets, in lieu of a real reward they can actually feel.
Do unto others as
they
would have done unto them.
There are many ways to reward your best. It's easy to be tempted to offer all of
your high performers the same reward. It's especially easy to offer them
what you would want.
All of this leads to a very simple concept: communication. Simply
put, ask the your shining stars what they really want. What is it
that will allow them to truly feel appreciated? The path that leads
someone to be a great technical resource is very different than the path of a
great IT Manager. You may be surprised by the answers you hear. In fact, your
employees may be surprised, as well, to learn that you are actually giving them
a say in determining the reward for their efforts.
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Do they want cash?
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Do they want more challenging job assignments?
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Do they want some time off to appreciate their children?
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Would they prefer more mentoring?
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Do they simply want to be acknowledged at a company function?
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What rewards have they received in the past that really made them feel good?
The answers can vary significantly for each person, depending upon their
long-term goals, how their needs are currently being met within
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and the current stressors in their life.
Don't make the mistake of assuming that the answer you receive today will hold
true throughout your top performer's career.
Ultimately, instead of attempting to reward your people the way you would
like to be rewarded, break The Golden Rule, and spend the time to
actually learn their needs and wants. By involving them in decisions that
affect their lives so directly, you might coincidentally cash in on
the Hawthorne Effect, and motivate your employee by showing you care.
You will likely find that you've created a work environment that has makes your
high achievers happier than they've ever been. As a result, they will find a
way to push themselves to new levels of productivity, realizing that their
efforts will result in rewards that are truly meaningful to them. You
may even earn their respect and allegiance for a lifetime.
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