?? Are our brains wired to quiet quit?
Yassine Kachchani
I publish Exec Engineering, a weekly digest on Engineering + Talent | Co-founder & CEO at Gemography
Thanks for reading Exec. Eng. a weekly newsletter for the busy tech executive.
If it’s your first time stopping by — Hi, I’m Yassine. I spend a lot of my time digging into Engineering Management and Talent Acquisition, especially where the two overlap. I share the most interesting resources I come across in this newsletter, all curated by hand.
I hope the insights bring value.
Hiring Engineers
?? Nadia Zhuk, a Developer Relations Engineer at Intercom, believes that many skills are transferable between careers and can bring valuable perspectives to a new field. Zhuk suggests that, instead of dismissing previous work experience as irrelevant, job seekers should make a list of their most important skills and consider how they can be applied to a new role. (Nadia Zhuk / Intercom Blog)
?? A staff engineer at Algolia, Sarah Dayan, discusses the skills and expectations for a staff plus engineer role. These include cross-team collaboration for company strategy and vision, mentorship for junior engineers, understanding the needs of the company, and reading and speaking with as many people as possible during onboarding. (Liam Geraghty, Sarah Dayan / Inside Intercom Podcast)
?? Finding, hiring, and retaining strong engineers is crucial to building a successful tech company. At a previous Plato Elevate (a recurring summit for Engineering and Product Leaders), a panel of seasoned engineering executives discussed their experiences evaluating engineers, deciding whom to interview, and how the process has evolved. They emphasized the importance of HR and Engineering Managers working together, using professional recruiting tools, empowering managers to hire as if they were hiring for their own company, and thinking long-term about fit and growth opportunities. (Ammon Bartram, Prachi Gupta, Denali Lumma, Tim Wagner / Plato)
?? Judging how diverse engineering teams are with "The Will Test", a rubric created by an engineer from an underrepresented community that helps to evaluate the inclusivity of software engineering teams. It consists of nine questions that address issues such as the presence of minorities in leadership positions, access to resources for mental health, a Code of Conduct, clear org charts and promotion paths, investment in employee career growth, diverse recruitment channels, a dedicated DE&I team, and internal mentorship programs. (William?Hill / LeadDev)
Managing?Engineers
?? Engineers find meetings to be a disruption to their work, especially when they're boring and poorly run. While canceling standing meetings may be a good way to eliminate time-wasting meetings, the real problem with meetings at companies like Shopify may be excessive 1:1's. (Camille Fournier)
?? Promotions can be a key indicator of career success and advancement, but they can also have a long feedback loop and may not be possible for all employees. Managers can help employees who are unable to receive desired promotions by finding ways to meet their underlying motivations, such as increasing pay or providing opportunities for greater influence. It is important to be transparent with employees about the promotion process and to provide feedback, but not to expect them to wait indefinitely. (Carrie Ott-Holland, Mengyang Cao / HBR)
?? There has been a significant increase in depression and anxiety and a decrease in motivation and engagement in the workforce in recent years, known as "quiet quitting." This is a manifestation of "learned helplessness," a psychological phenomenon in which individuals become passive and despondent in the face of persistent stressors and feel that they have no control over their situation. Research has shown that when people encounter an unwinnable situation, they become frustrated and may not attempt to solve subsequent problems, even if they have the ability to do so. (David Rock,?Jay Dixit / HBR)
?? How to run successful daily scrum meetings: Ron Lichty shares tips and best practices for conducting effective stand-up meetings. He covers common misconceptions, the frequency of stand-ups, how to make them effective, the best time of day for stand-ups, and the Fist to Five technique for making stand-ups more interactive. These tips will help teams and team leaders get the most out of stand-up meetings. (Vidal Graupera, Ron Lichty / The Managers Club Show)
Remote Trend
?? The percentage of jobs hiring entirely remotely increased from 4% before the pandemic, to 36% by the end of Q3 2022. Remote work is a popular alternative to traditional work, but return-to-office policies and hybrid models have been unpopular. Adopting remote work may have been influenced by factors such as rising inflation, fuel costs, and the lower costs and high productivity rates of remote employees. (Karthik Kashyap / Spiceworks)
领英推荐
?? International remote work (IRW), in which employees work from abroad, is becoming more structured and consistent as it gains popularity. HR teams may struggle with compliance issues and limited resources as they manage IRW requests. The success of IRW depends on the ability to manage expectations and to communicate the value of the arrangement to both employees and the company. (Olivier Meier, Anne Rossier-Renaud / Brink News)
?? A recent survey found that 87% of Americans want to work in a flexible environment that allows for both office and virtual work, but 50% of leaders are demanding their employees come back to the office full-time. This shift may lead to an increase in turnover as employees desire flexibility and may not want to return to expensive cities. However, Adzuna's research shows that the proportion of "office-based" job vacancies has started to increase over the past five months, as some employers become firmer on returning to the office. Hybrid and remote positions still dominate advertised vacancies. (Bryan Robinson / Forbes)
?? Remote work has led to a financial crisis for major urban areas such as New York City, as only 8% of office employees are back in the office five days a week. This has prompted discussions on the future of the commercial real estate and how cities should adapt to changing work trends. The transformation of cities to accommodate remote work and alternative lifestyles has the potential to make them more equitable, affordable, and humane. (Ben Popper / The Overflow)
?? Noreena Hertz, economist and author, discusses the negative effects of loneliness on productivity and how in-person connections can be more beneficial than virtual interactions. She advises businesses to prioritize values such as kindness, community, and care to attract and retain talent. Technology can be used to combat loneliness, but it should not be relied on solely. (Reid Hoffman, Noreena Hertz / Masters of Scale)
Misc.
Top posts of the week
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I also share my own personal insights and thoughts on Engineering Leadership and Talent Acquisition every other day, let’s connect.