7 Must-Do’s to Nurture 10x Engineers
In order for your hires to reach their full potential you need to put a structure in place that encourages and nurtures their growth, both technically and as managers and leaders. Here are some practices we’ve employed at Storyblocks to nurture talent.
1. Create a career roadmap. This may seem like a no-brainer but a lot of smaller companies don’t do this. It will evolve over time as your team grows but do your team a favor and create one. It doesn’t have to be overly complicated and should include skills and expectations at each level and role, as well as a philosophy on promotion. Basecamp offers one perspective on software engineering job titles though you will probably want to create both technical and management tracks once your team reaches a certain size. Below is what we use at Storyblocks:
2. Conduct regular performance reviews. Conduct performance reviews at least annually and ideally bi-annually. Create a structured format that aligns with the skills and expectations outlined in the career roadmap. Collect 360 feedback and ensure managers devote time to appropriately synthesizing feedback and crafting the review, particularly development plans for engineers to help them achieve their personal goals.
3. Require promotions to be “proved”. Philosophies on promotion typically fall into two camps. You can either promote someone when 1) they’ve excelled in their current role or 2) when they’ve proved they can perform in the next role. I strongly recommend choosing the latter as your philosophy to avoid the Peter principle, which states “managers rise to the level of their incompetence.” Philosophy (1) more or less guarantees you’ll run into this issue.
4. Pay competitively. Top engineers are in high demand so it’s difficult to land great talent paying below market wages. You’ll likely get burned if you try to. As they say, “you get what you pay for” and that’s true when it comes to software engineers.
5. Provide mentorship. All engineers benefit from mentorship, both technically and from a management perspective. Encourage ad hoc mentor relationships and strongly consider more formal mentorship for junior engineers to ensure they ramp up quickly and build a strong foundation.
6. Hold regular 1-on-1’s. All of your team leads and managers should hold 1-on-1’s on a regular basis (ideally weekly) with their team and direct reports. In addition to tactical topics, managers should discuss career development and ensure their team / direct reports are making progress in the direction they want to take their career.
7. Practice radical candor. Everyone on your team should practice “radical candor” by challenging directly and genuinely caring about each other. It’s easier said than done and takes constant practice on everyone’s part. The chart below provides a high level summary that’s relatively easy to understand
And that’s a wrap. If you do these 7 items well, you’ll be well on your way to nurturing a 10x engineering team.
