Voice of the DBA

Tag: career

  • Be Reasonable

    All of the employees at Red Gate are treated reasonably (and we have mini-mes!)

    Work is hard. It’s frustrating trying to work within the constraints of your job, your projects, and with the people around you. We all seem to have conflicting needs and desires, and often clash over when, why, and how we should meet our goals. Work is also long, a place and task at which many of us spend a large percentage of our waking hours.

    When we feel bound by rules, or limited by restrictions, it can be even more frustrating. I know many people that reconsider their choice of an IT career, not because of the work or even workload, but more because of the way they are treated. It’s especially true for many companies that place heavy restrictions on equipment. I tried to negotiate for two monitors for one job in the interview, but the manager said he’d never get approval from his boss.

    My employer, Red Gate Software, takes a different approach, as shown by Simon Cooper in this blog. Need another monitor, just ask. Want a faster, or bigger, drive, just ask. Need a book, just buy it. Really, if you want something reasonable to help you do your job, it’s allowed. I know people in other companies that not only can’t get approval for buying a book for work, they get chastised for even asking.

    I know that costs are hard to contain, and there likely will be people that abuse their privileges, but that’s easy to handle: revoke privileges for that person. There’s no need to do that for everyone, despite what most HR departments think. Telecommuting options ought to be the same way. Let employees try it and if they can’t get work done, remove the privilege for that person only.

    If more managers behaved reasonably, and allowed their employees more freedom, they might be surprised just how much more work, at a higher level of quality, would get finished.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • I Want Stupid Employees

    This is how I've done most of my training.

    It seems that the vast majority of people that I talk to in the technology field have trouble getting training funded. It doesn’t matter if it’s a conference or a class, it seems that companies don’t want to spend money training people. I find that many companies use one of two excuses. Either they say employees should already know how to do their jobs, or they worry that training will empower employees to go find other jobs.

    Or in other words: I Like My IT Budget Tight and My Developers Stupid.

    That’s the title of an article and it’s a good question for managers that don’t want to pay for training. The article talks about the choice between being “concerned that if people know what they’re doing, they’ll leave. And if they don’t know what they’re doing, they’ll stay”. It’s actually not a bad argument to make with your boss, though I might reword it in a different way.

    There are a certain percentage of people that will not be happy at your company. Perhaps the job is not a good cultural fit, the employees might be ambitious and looking for new challenges, or maybe they are always looking for someone to pay them more. There’s nothing you can do about those people, and withholding training isn’t going to keep them around.

    There are also a percentage of people that are unmotivated, uninterested in their jobs, maybe marking time, or just wanting to get through each day and go on with the rest of their lives. Training can be wasted on this group as they aren’t likely to use the skills they’ve learned at work. It’s possible they might not even learn any skills, just sitting in class as an excuse to get out of work. You can’t do anything about this group either.

    However I think that both of those groups are the minorities at most jobs. I believe most technology people are interested in what they do, like to learn new skills, and more importantly, like to solve problems. They will take advantage of training and look to use their new skills, especially if you challenge them to do so. And most of these people aren’t looking to leave your company. They might stay forever, but the vast majority of people want to keep their jobs and accomplish something.

    And if most people don’t want to stay, perhaps you ought to examine your company’s culture. Maybe it’s the problem. Withholding training isn’t the answer, and you can’t expect people to know, or learn, everything they may need on their own. That’s a recipe to ensure your company isn’t as competitive as it could be.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcasts

  • A Guest at the Ranch

    From the other side of the world, I had a guest at the ranch today.

    pinal

    Pinal Dave, a friend from India, sent me an email that he’d unexpectedly come to Denver this week. He had some time, so I invited him out to the ranch today for a few hours to sit and chat, see the horses, and spend some time.

    We had a good time, and snapped a quick photo before he headed back to his hotel, and likely work knowing him.

    I really enjoy the conversations I get to have with other successful and passionate people. They are some of the most interesting, and helpful, times I have in my career. This was definitely one of them.

  • Outsourced = Laid Off?

    Offshoring has been used in many industries, including technology

    This editorial was originally published on May 3, 2006. Steve is traveling in the UK this week and we are reprinting older pieces.

    It seems like career week in the editorial department, but I found a bunch of articles recently on careers. According to the Department of Labor employees whose jobs are outsourced should be treated the same as laid off workers. Maybe we shouldn’t be helping factory workers if their industry moves, though I think I’d argue that point, but if we treat the guy rolling steel or sewing fabric this way, why not software developers?

    Losing your job just stinks. I’ve had it happen and it’s a horrible feeling and really can impact your family, emotionally and financially. As the economy moves more globally, corporations increasingly look for ways to become more competitive. The price of moving goods, once way to keep things slightly more level, has fallen so low in the software business that on straight a dollar comparison, everything should move to India or any other country where the wages are lower.

    But it’s not that simple. As many companies have learned, the savings have costs that are not worth it.

    I think providing more benefits for the relatively few people that get outsources is a good thing. It helps to keep the economy going here because those people have assistance to keep buying food, paying their rent, keeping their car, etc. All things that benefit this country locally.

    However if you are out of work for over a year in the IT field. Perhaps you should change the type of job you are looking for or move to a new field.

    Steve Jones