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I agree with most of the things, but as someone whose responsibility is hiring people, the hiring for a particular toolchain or framework holds to some degree,
by jampa 4y ago
I agree with most of the things, but as someone whose responsibility is hiring people, the hiring for a particular toolchain or framework holds to some degree, for example, some places want to tick every single box.
On the other hand, it is good to search for the affinity between the languages. Python to Ruby can ramp up faster than Python to C#/Java for example. So someone can have a harder time and in the end, won't enjoy the overall framework and leave.
Another example: If you search for someone to take a Next.js project, a React engineer would work well, a Vue engineer might need more time but could also work, but a hardware engineer would struggle and might need too much time to produce.
> Fire fast
2-3 months is way too short for letting someone go, and it is the problem for some startups nowadays.
Most companies onboarding documentation sucks or does not exist, so you can hire a great engineer and think they are not.
There are great unicorn engineers that can manage themselves in the project but most people need some help, feedback, and guidance.
Also, most managers are afraid of giving feedback, I did some consultancies with startups that had managers complaining a lot about a certain engineer, already at the point to fire them.
When I asked "do they know that you are unhappy with them?" they always say that they "implied" once or twice.
When I give them feedback the improvement is noticeable just in weeks.
Firing fast is sometimes just a cop-out to not give people proper feedback and properly managing them.
- catapultis 4y agoInteresting point on most managers not trying feedback first. In a scenario where feedback is clear and early, would that shorten your timeline for firing?
- trowawee 4y agoStill doesn't really address the reality that onboarding is dreadful at most startups, I think. Docs tend to be bad/outdated/nonexistent and even "grab an onboarding buddy and talk through it with them" can fail easily, especially if the business is growing quickly. I do think there should be a cliff (maybe six months for seniors/9-12 months mids/juniors) where as the manager, you take a really hard look at how the person has adapted to the job/what they're contributing, while also taking into account their and the company's situations.
- jampa 4y agoYes, after feedback is given I expect them to fix the behavior or to show progress in 2-4 weeks, if not then deliver the notice, or in some companies formalize a Performance Improvement Process. The way I give feedback is by investigating first what is going on inside their lives, sometimes things happen and they just need some time to recover. If there are no problems in their personal lifes then I give clear examples of where they are falling short, how that impacts the team, and what needs to be changed, and then give them incentives, like how fixing this behavior can improve their career. Generally, feedback given to early hires is due to lack of communication, most new hires that we onboarded had tendencies of disappearing, skipping meetings, and not replying for many hours. Turns out they had a freelancing background, where doing those things is common since they talk with clients once a week. So I walk through them to set up their tools, set up notifications, configure a proper calendar, and general teamwork advice, not to just rush through delivering tasks and then they start to ramp up.
- club_tropical 4y agoI think feedback is overrated. If somebody can't read the myriad of indirect and nonverbal communication to understand whether they are pulling their weight and meeting expectations, there is little words can fix. Feedback only works if the addressed issue is isolated and not symptomatic of a broader poor judgment problem.
- motoxpro 4y agoI guess this gives me some insight that some people over the course of my life will want me to read non-verbal cues instead of using words to communicate.
- club_tropical 4y ago*most people
- baxtr 4y agoSo you suggest great devs not only do great coding but are also mind readers?
- club_tropical 4y agoNo. “Mind reader” implies someone is reaching into deep dark corners of your mind and figuring out things that are never externalized. There is enormous communication that is completely clear and unambiguous, but not verbal in the incredibly direct and explicit, almost like a legal contract-y way people pushing back seem to want. You are expected to pick up on those. An employee who constantly needs you collapse all these dimensions into the verbal sphere is almost never worth it.
- baxtr 4y agoCould you give an example maybe? I really struggle to understand what you mean
- Swizec 4y ago
- P5fRxh5kUvp2th 4y agoWhat's worse about the managers point is that's literally their job. If they're not comfortable doing that they don't need to be a manager.