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Subscribe!Sat - Feb 09, 2008 : 03:16 pm
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Keeping Geek Employees Happy
Yup... I'm one of em'. I'm a geek. I'm probably not as geeky as the geekiest of geeks, but I've managed to stay employed as a computer programmer for more than 5 years now. I also spend pretty much every moment of my spare time on my computer at home. I have geek friends and ... well... I enjoy technology. 'Nuff said.
During my tenure as a professional geek, for better or worse, I end up changing companies for whom I work on an average of once every 1 1/2 years. Not a great stay-rate, but it usually happens due to some factor which doesn't include me getting fired. The company downsizes, or I find a better job - usually.
Well... I've got a job now which has changed my perspective on "tech bosses" in general.
In past jobs, I've gone from really good, to .. well... totally out of it - employers. The last boss I had had me working on a 17" monitor which was hooked up to a computer that had to be more than 1.5 years old. (700MHZ single core, I believe). I didn't *mind* working on a machine that slow, but when I've got 25 firefox tabs open, along with 20 other programs, the thing was anything but responsive. Moreover, I had to print out 5 documents containing scientific proof that having 2 monitors while doing web development gives at least a 10% gain in productivity, in order to be taken seriously. After that, I told them about my computer's slowness issues, and instead of getting me a better computer, they went to a used computer shop, and got a $700.00 100lb server with a 1.0GHZ Xeon processor in it. Not much of an upgrade... Anyway....
The point of this entry is simply to let people know, who might be employers, what the best experience in working I've ever had is.
Working at Nature's Way (where I'm currently employed) has been incredible!
The day I started, they had a brand-spankin'-new laptop there waiting for me. My boss told me I could put whatever I wanted on it (gentoo Linux, of course), and behind my desk was an unopened box which contained a wonderfully powerful server upon which to put my stuff. It was beautiful.
2 days later, my boss came in and asked me which phone I wanted. I asked them what he meant, and he proceeded to get out a catalog of phones, ranging from very simple ones, to the absolute top-of-the-line smartphones. I pointed to the one I wanted and 2 days later, I had a fully paid-for phone on my hip. I was kind of shocked.
Well... Last Thursday, I had my 6-month review and at the end, he asked me if I had any questions. I told him the desktop (not the new laptop - I really don't like working on laptops for some reason...) I had was a bit sluggish, and since I was using my laptop for Windows compatibility testing, it'd be nice if I got a new one.
He told me "Okay. Tell Steve to get ya a new one".
Wow.
I then asked him "Well... Do I have a price ceiling, so I don't go overboard?" He said, "nah, just get what ya want."..... huh ..... ??? ... Incredible.
So, later on that day, Steve and I went and bought computers that would rival most gaming systems on the market today.
Now, you might be thinking, "Wow, that's not a very thrifty boss you have there.", and you might be right.... However... Here's my line of thinking.
I just got a computer system that'll be good for at least 2, maybe even 3 more years. I'm as happy as a kid at Christmas, and I am 100% happy working where I am, currently.
When employers treat me like this, it gives me a pretty rabid desire to do everything I can to help them out. I become interested in the company's wellbeing, and I start thinking more about how I can work more efficiently. For me, it's a win situation, and for the company, I believe it's also a win situation. Even after spending more than $1000.00 on a computer which some might consider unnecessary, it is probably worth it because since my hiring here, I've been offered 2 jobs, which might have otherwise been tempting. I flat-out refused, because even though they might be paying more, they're not paying near enough to sway me from the respect I have for this company.
Well... That's about all. I just needed to say something about this situation, hopefully making enough sense that it'll be interesting for others to read.
Anyway, my motherboard arrives on Monday, and I'll be happy as a kid at Christmas time.
Thank you, Nature's Way!
During my tenure as a professional geek, for better or worse, I end up changing companies for whom I work on an average of once every 1 1/2 years. Not a great stay-rate, but it usually happens due to some factor which doesn't include me getting fired. The company downsizes, or I find a better job - usually.
Well... I've got a job now which has changed my perspective on "tech bosses" in general.
In past jobs, I've gone from really good, to .. well... totally out of it - employers. The last boss I had had me working on a 17" monitor which was hooked up to a computer that had to be more than 1.5 years old. (700MHZ single core, I believe). I didn't *mind* working on a machine that slow, but when I've got 25 firefox tabs open, along with 20 other programs, the thing was anything but responsive. Moreover, I had to print out 5 documents containing scientific proof that having 2 monitors while doing web development gives at least a 10% gain in productivity, in order to be taken seriously. After that, I told them about my computer's slowness issues, and instead of getting me a better computer, they went to a used computer shop, and got a $700.00 100lb server with a 1.0GHZ Xeon processor in it. Not much of an upgrade... Anyway....
The point of this entry is simply to let people know, who might be employers, what the best experience in working I've ever had is.
Working at Nature's Way (where I'm currently employed) has been incredible!
The day I started, they had a brand-spankin'-new laptop there waiting for me. My boss told me I could put whatever I wanted on it (gentoo Linux, of course), and behind my desk was an unopened box which contained a wonderfully powerful server upon which to put my stuff. It was beautiful.
2 days later, my boss came in and asked me which phone I wanted. I asked them what he meant, and he proceeded to get out a catalog of phones, ranging from very simple ones, to the absolute top-of-the-line smartphones. I pointed to the one I wanted and 2 days later, I had a fully paid-for phone on my hip. I was kind of shocked.
Well... Last Thursday, I had my 6-month review and at the end, he asked me if I had any questions. I told him the desktop (not the new laptop - I really don't like working on laptops for some reason...) I had was a bit sluggish, and since I was using my laptop for Windows compatibility testing, it'd be nice if I got a new one.
He told me "Okay. Tell Steve to get ya a new one".
Wow.
I then asked him "Well... Do I have a price ceiling, so I don't go overboard?" He said, "nah, just get what ya want."..... huh ..... ??? ... Incredible.
So, later on that day, Steve and I went and bought computers that would rival most gaming systems on the market today.
Now, you might be thinking, "Wow, that's not a very thrifty boss you have there.", and you might be right.... However... Here's my line of thinking.
I just got a computer system that'll be good for at least 2, maybe even 3 more years. I'm as happy as a kid at Christmas, and I am 100% happy working where I am, currently.
When employers treat me like this, it gives me a pretty rabid desire to do everything I can to help them out. I become interested in the company's wellbeing, and I start thinking more about how I can work more efficiently. For me, it's a win situation, and for the company, I believe it's also a win situation. Even after spending more than $1000.00 on a computer which some might consider unnecessary, it is probably worth it because since my hiring here, I've been offered 2 jobs, which might have otherwise been tempting. I flat-out refused, because even though they might be paying more, they're not paying near enough to sway me from the respect I have for this company.
Well... That's about all. I just needed to say something about this situation, hopefully making enough sense that it'll be interesting for others to read.
Anyway, my motherboard arrives on Monday, and I'll be happy as a kid at Christmas time.
Thank you, Nature's Way!