Remember those butterflies on the first date? That first brush against your hand? That flush of excitement as you lock eyes with your partner and revel in the moment of limitless possibility?
The beginning of any relationship can be full of uncertainty, excitement and passion — all of which can fade with time as the honeymoon phase wears off and the regular routines of life take over.
The same is true of an employee’s relationship with the company they work for. In the beginning, these moments are filled with new responsibilities, new projects and new opportunities for growth — all factors that make employees eager to jump right in and get started.
This enthusiasm, however, needs to be cultivated and nurtured over time if it has any chance of blossoming into something truly meaningful. After all, the main reason employees leave an organization and the primary reason they join one are ultimately the same: career opportunities.
Just as the happiest couples are the ones who never stop dating, the happiest employees are the ones who are continuously challenged and encouraged to grow.
“In general, I believe people stay if they feel that their efforts are recognized and valued by the company, if they have fun with their colleagues and if they are learning and growing,” said Susan van de Ven, an engineering manager at San Francisco-area software company Miro.
Employee retention is a perennial challenge when working with engineers, van de Ven said, acknowledging the need for clear career paths with ample opportunities for promotions and development. Connecting with your direct reports is essential as well, WeaveGrid Head of Platform Engineering Stephan Ellner added.
“People appreciate having a manager who understands them and their work, as well as someone who is helpful,” Ellner explained. “If you ask one of your reports, ‘How can I help?’ and you get a clear answer, then actually prioritize doing that thing.”
Built In San Francisco met with Ellner and van de Ven to learn more about their strategies for keeping employees engaged and motivated at their respective companies, and how they go about nurturing their professional relationships long after the honeymoon phase is over.
Miro is a highly capable visual collaboration platform that bolsters project- and product-development capabilities for businesses and teams across departments.
Describe Miro’s value proposition to engineers.
We certainly have interesting challenges to solve, including high traffic and high expectations from our users in terms of experience and performance. That being said, most people who join Miro do so because they already love the product. We make sure our salaries are competitive and we have clear and defined career paths for those who want to develop their career — as an engineer, an engineering manager or a combination of both.
As a manager, how do you keep a pulse on your team members’ job satisfaction?
My approach to leadership includes regular one-on-ones in which we discuss not just updates or problems with the team and initiatives, but also how my direct reports are feeling, what they’re particularly interested in and whether they’re getting the opportunities they need to stretch themselves and learn. All teams run regular retrospectives at Miro, and they all have autonomy to change the way they work.
We also run monthly anonymous surveys to monitor whether there’s anything employees feel that they are unable to share directly. These surveys help us track if things are trending upward or downward, with scores on various topics aggregated per team. For example, when teams are newly formed or maybe there isn’t a product manager in place, scores around purpose and vision tend to go lower until the team has established itself and understands its unique value.
We also report on the development experience via data to answer questions like, “How long does it take to get a story to be developed, reviewed and into production?” These reports help us identify bottlenecks and evaluate whether these changes are actually leading to results.
Issues can arise if employees find it easier to get hired into the next level at a different company than promoted internally, so it’s important to make what defines levels of seniority transparent.”
What have you learned about employee retention in your time as a manager at Miro?
We have a strong culture at Miro around recognizing and celebrating achievements, with a company Slack channel where people can see praise received from their managers and peers. Culture is very important, with an emphasis on collaboration, iteration and openness to feedback.
Recognition is also reflected in pay, which should be fair and combined with a clear career path with promotion opportunities available. Issues can arise if employees find it easier to get hired into the next level at a different company than to get promoted internally, so it’s important to make what defines levels of seniority transparent so it’s applied fairly.
WeaveGrid’s software connects electric vehicles to the grid in an effort to drive rapid decarbonization.
Describe WeaveGrid’s value proposition to engineers.
Here at WeaveGrid, engineers can channel their climate anxiety into building complex software critical to the electric grid. We have significant leverage in accelerating the decarbonization of transportation and the larger energy transition. You can feel like you’re making an impact when working here.
We also have a world-class and deeply diverse team that brings together talent from vastly different spaces, including software companies like Google, Slack, Zendesk and Cloudera, as well as electric utilities, energy, regulatory and policy. Every single team member is here with a deep desire to help.
The technical challenges we work on are compelling as well. The data systems at the core of our product offerings are both extremely “real” — our systems actively manage the charging of people’s EVs, for instance — and challenging in the good way. For instance, what to do if a vehicle that we manage goes unreachable halfway through a charging session?
Finally, we offer candidates the opportunity to join on the ground floor. We are excited about our traction in the market, but we’re also still in our early days. Most of our software project areas consist of only two to three people, offering ample space to make a big difference and advance careers.
As a manager, how do you keep a pulse on your team members’ job satisfaction?
I try to keep a fairly direct pulse on how folks in my teams are doing. Because we are all complex people, I consider different channels. The first step is to listen and understand what they are interested in, what their goals are, what energizes them and what type of work they enjoy doing.
The second step is to really keep that in mind as we plan and assign work. Then, in the day-to-day, I talk to all my reports regularly, with either weekly or biweekly one-on-ones. Without micromanaging, I try to be close enough to my direct reports’ work to see how they engage — the “body language” of their work, if you will. If people are satisfied and excited about their work, then things get done without much nudging, new ideas get generated organically and things run smoothly and positively. On the other hand, frequent disagreements or friction can be a sign of misalignment. I also try to listen to what’s not being said and be aware that everyone expresses their needs differently.
I try to be close enough to my direct reports’ work to see how they engage — the ‘body language’ of their work, if you will.”
What have you learned about employee retention in your time as a manager at WeaveGrid?
I’ve learned several things about retention, both during my long stint at Google and more recently at WeaveGrid. The first is that achieving impact together and a sense of getting meaningful things done is crucial for job satisfaction and retention. The second is to try to genuinely understand your direct reports, including their needs, career goals, life situation, strengths, super powers and growth areas. I also do my best to understand their work at a fairly nuanced level in order to appreciate and fairly evaluate their work and be helpful.
At its core, think of people management as being about help, empowerment, facilitation and joint problem solving. It’s not about power. All praise goes to your team. All blame goes to you. This also means no double standards. Hold yourself to at least as high a standard as what you expect of your reports. Don’t ask people to do painful work you wouldn’t do or haven’t done yourself.
