A hit

If you've spent any time on a team, you'll know that the honeymoon period wears off eventually. Developing and maintaining a team as a manager calls upon you to understand that the team is made up of individuals, each with separate interests and motivations. They have different pressures in their lives, and unique aspirations as to what they want to do with their careers. For now though, they're a group, and you'd like to keep them engaged for as long as you can.

Anecdotes from "around" suggest that people leave for lots of reasons. Among the more popular I've heard are money (of course), but nearly as common are that people don't quit their jobs, they quit their manager. People quit because they're bored, disrespected, or maybe they're just ready for something new and they don’t see that challenge being available where they are.

Managers have less ability to affect some of these demotivations than others, and that will vary from place to place. If you're a manager, you already know this. If you aren't, you might not like to hear it but it's true. So what then can managers do if they cannot control all of the levers that will help them not only retain their employees but keep them excited to work there?

I have been asked a number of different times by several people over the last few months what I do to retain my teams, keep them motivated, or help them continue to recognize that this is the place they want to work. It was a strange revelation for me that the same essential question was posed in different ways by such a range of people and roles. I think people are a lot less tolerant of working conditions that aren't working for them, and they're inclined to move on in search of something that is better. Good for them! Why shouldn't people want the best for them? This is what I do to try to deliver it.

Agency. I had a wonderful experience in my career. I was privileged to work with Declan Whelan for a time while he coached us through the introduction of a Scrum workflow. One of the biggest things I took from that experience was that it shouldn't be up to someone to give me tasks, it was for me to choose my work. The product owner should say what is relevant and important for the team to work on, but who did which of those things didn't matter so long as the team got it done. This cemented the concept of agency in me. I'm a professional software developer. I know what I'm doing. Let me do it.

As a manager now, I demand this same arrangement. I work with my product team to understand what needs to get done for the business and present those priorities to the team, but I'm consciously hands off when it comes to how it gets done. I don’t interfere with solutions. I don't interfere with estimates. I don't tell people who should work on what. I do however hold the team as a whole accountable to their commitments. This is the give and take that I need to communicate outward to the business as to when things will be done or how long some future proposal might take. I guarantee that the team is able to work how they work best, and I act as the interface between them and the business. I give them the agency to be responsible for their own commitments, and it's the best working environment I have ever enjoyed. For the team members, they have creative freedom. People are able to work on things that interest them within the realm of what the business needs at that time. It doesn't matter who does what, so long as the whole team completes the whole sprint in the allotted time. Give people the respect they deserve as a professional, let them do what they do best, and support them in doing it. They'll be more productive, happier, and more engaged. It sounds simple, because it is.

Thank you, Declan. You taught me agency.

Happiness. I had a wonderful experience in my career. I was privileged to work with Gary Klassen. He was my director for a time, and in that time he showed me the value of doing things because it was right for the team. He showed the value of listening and following up as a team leader. He showed me that it was completely possible to make the team happier by providing them what they needed at modest expense, and have that investment be paid back and then some. We stopped complaining about what we didn't have, because we had it now. Our productivity improved, dramatically so. Our happiness improved by about the same measure, as we were no longer fighting with tools and processes that were working against us.

Gary didn't stop there. He took us out for regular team events. I don't mean some structured corporate learning event, I mean something purely for fun. Something the team wanted to do with no ulterior motive or agenda. He gave us the freedom to bond as a team and it was fantastic. The team grew as a result.

Gary didn't stop there. Gary, if you know him, is one of the most motivational people you'll ever meet. He doesn't want to hear why you can't do this or that. He'll listen, but then he'll ask you what it will take to get it done anyway. He'll work to provide those things. He'll set audacious goals and not allow anyone to say they're unrealistic. He'll infect you with motivation just by being around him. Gary showed me that you can set direction that is unachievable, and then achieve it anyway. That you can rebut people who say no simply by asking what it will take to make that no a yes. Do everything they ask for and then see what happens. Never relent. Never stop pushing for a goal, even if you know you'll never reach it because you don't need to settle for good when you can get great with people who believe it's possible.

Thank you, Gary. You taught me motivation and happiness.

Investment. I had a wonderful experience in my career. I was privileged to work with Gary Klassen. Oh. Right. Well, Gary is just that kind of guy. Gary helped institute a mentorship program that we continue to this day. Our team at the time was larger than one person could manage in terms of one-on-ones. We needed a different solution to help ensure that people had a chance to talk about their problems, interests, and professional development aspirations. We instituted a concept supported by the company wherein senior members of the team would mentor more junior members of the team. Everyone on the team has a mentor. It is between you and your mentor to decide how often you'll meet, for how long, and under what conditions. I was a mentor for a time. I often went on walks with my mentees. Importantly, the mentor was not a manager. It's not that managers cannot be mentors, it's that people sometimes need the freedom to say things without feeling that they're talking to their boss. As the team manager now, I no longer act as a mentor necessarily, but I do meet with everyone on the team on a regular basis to ensure they have a chance to talk to me directly.

What is the focus of these mentorship sessions? Literally anything. You want to talk about your current tasks? Sure. You want to talk about an interaction you had with someone on the team or elsewhere in the company? Game on. You want to talk about professional development like a new certification or professional designation? Let's go. Things can get tough. I've helped resolve interpersonal conflicts. I've had someone say they don't like their job and they want to quit. You never know what people will talk about but it is essential that they have the chance to do so. They have to believe that you are providing a framework for them to grow within the company. They're not just hired help. They're there to learn and grow as a professional while they complete the work prescribed by the organization. You, as a manager must provide it. If people don't feel supported, they'll go somewhere else in search of it. I had some nice walks with Gary. I had some great and tough conversations with many other wonderful teammates over the years. I value this experience in terms of how I was able to grow as a mentee and mentor.

Gary, you showed me the value of investing in your employees.

Trust. I had a wonderful experience in my career. I was privileged to work with someone who gave me a focal point for learning the value of trust. This anecdote is anonymized, but I'm sure the person in question will know who they are.

I was relatively new in a role at a company, and I ended up joining a team that was quite different than most teams I'd had before. Culture shock might be an apt descriptor. I soon made a friend there and we shared some of our experiences about software development. It came that one day, I questioned a decision made by a team leader, and had spoken about this to that team member friend. The team leader heard of this and didn't much like it. I had a frank discussion about my performance with him and how I wasn't living up to expectations. I was given the opportunity to explain. I did. I didn't get fired. This leader took my suggestions about how to do a task differently and let me show him I could do this work. We ended up with a good outcome, and better still, this leader and I gained a lot of trust in each other. I trusted him to listen even when he didn't agree with what he was hearing. He (hopefully) trusted that when I said I could do something, I would do it.

This was a particularly notable trust exercise for me. I don't think it's a good idea to get into a situation of frank performance discussions with your boss in order to foster trust. I do however take from that experience that trust is both earned and maintained. Importantly, trust is a two way street. If an employee does not trust that a manager will listen to or act on concerns raised, they'll feel disrespected and disenfranchised. They'll leave. One hundred percent. No team can be functional without trust in each other and their leadership.

I act as a manager from a default position of trust in my team. I know my team members are all there because they're capable. I trust them at their word that if they say they're going to complete the sprint, they'll complete it. However, all bets are off if I don't provide them with every opportunity to succeed. They need they equipment, process, and support to succeed and I as manager exist in this role to provide those things. If I don't, they can't rightly be faulted for not completing their work.

Unnamed team leader, thank you for showcasing your ability to trust in me.

I didn't start a response to the this question of how to retain, motivate, grow, attract, or provide for employees with an acronym in mind, but it turns out that it spells ITHA. Or, A HIT, I guess. I suppose that's catchier. I don't do this because I need to retain my team. I do it because it's the environment in which I want to work. I bring this philosophy to any position I have, because I abhor working under conditions where there isn't agency, happiness, investment, and trust. This is one of the principle takeaways I hope people take with them when they leave this team (coops especially). Nobody should have to settle for working in a place that doesn't take their development seriously.

So many people in my career have helped me shape this philosophy, and I cannot thank them enough for it. That I didn't name them all isn't a reflection on any one of them. It is that there have been so many it would be a film style credit reel if I tried. This may not be the best or only take on making a workplace the best it can be, but it's one that works well for my team now. You should reflect on the teams and people you've worked with and decide for yourself what of those experiences made your workplace great (or not). Distill that into essential properties that you want in your life. If you're a contributor, look for those things and create them if necessary. If you're a manager, provide those things and protect them. I only hope you are as privileged as I am to have worked with giants.