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Sort of on the same note as providing a good environment... at probably the best company I've worked for, my boss wouldn't blink if I came to him with a request
by jamesbkel 16y ago
Sort of on the same note as providing a good environment... at probably the best company I've worked for, my boss wouldn't blink if I came to him with a request. Be it a software package, new machine, more hours/machines on EC2.
He realized that compared to what he was paying me to work, these were small costs to make sure I could work effectively and to help build the company. Consequently, I had enough respect not to abuse the privilege.
I'm always shocked when I talk to friends at other companies who bitch about working with shitty machines or generally not having the right tools. Generally my rule of thumb would be 10% of salary for upgrades/tools/software. Think about it: for a salary of $50k, what's adding another $5k/year to significantly improve an employee's productiveness?
Also important is to let them make the decision, not just arbitrary upgrades.
- javanix 16y agoThose improvements aren't as fleeting either. If the employee leaves, whatever process improvements they had gotten with that 5k has a good chance of sticking around and helping for the future.
- jamesbkel 16y agoThat's a good point and actually applies perfectly in my case. They still use essentially the same setup I created.
- jarek 16y agoIn some cases, your boss may understand and support this position, but be constrained by his higher-ups. This is especially the case at companies where technology is on the expense side.
- icefox 16y agoWith the one exception being when developers are given the same horrible machine that the end users will have so it wont be a mad rush at the end to try to optimize it.
- jamesbkel 16y agoDefinitely true, made that mistake once.