Compensation & Benefits

Turning a team around

When taking over a team of 60 engineers, the VP of Engineering noticed a lack of motivation and excellence. After observing interactions and having one-on-one conversations, it was determined that external factors such as a lack of purpose, goals, and challenges were causing the problem. To address this, modern tools were implemented, hiring practices were strengthened, job bands and compensation ranges were established, teams were reorganized, and the strongest people were put into influential positions. As a result, motivation and efficiency increased, and the team was better differentiated. Lessons learned include building relationships, ensuring a sense of purpose, challenging the team, and maximizing talent.

Why We Should Transform Performance Reviews

To improve performance reviews, a periodic compensation review system was introduced that decoupled performance and compensation. A judgment-free coaching system was also implemented, giving team members ownership of their own goals, progress, and results. This created a more motivating environment and showed a clear difference between proactive and reactive individuals. Judging people based on performance is counterproductive and does not motivate anyone.

Overcoming Hiring Constraints

This company faced the challenge of not finding potential candidates fit for positions available within their company when expanding. To overcome hiring constraints and meet their goals, they devoted their time to researching different target locations, conducted surveys, and created a cross-functional team. They also hired local recruiters and invested in marketing strategies to target potential talent. Lessons learned include allocating resources to a professional local recruiter, understanding the qualities the company is looking for in prospective employees, and investing in marketing strategies.

Convincing your executives to increase their hiring budget

This article discusses the challenge of hiring a full backend developer with at least five years of experience. The author had to convince their executives to increase the budget in order to hire a top-notch engineer, and they gathered data to demonstrate that a small budget would result in a loss for the company. They also compared their company's salary to the market price and found that they were offering much lower than the competition. After a month of convincing, the executives agreed to increase the budget, but the perfect candidate had already declined the offer. The author's advice is to bring a lot of data and present it in a way that executives will understand.

Being a new manager

This article provides advice on how to transition from a tech lead to an engineering manager, including performance reviews, compensation levels, and prioritization. It emphasizes the importance of soft skills, deep knowledge of the company, and focusing on bigger problems. It also suggests involving a group of managers in semestrial reviews to help objectively measure performance.

Strategies You can Use to Convince Your Leadership about Promotion and Salary Upgrades

The author faced two challenges in their company: managing eighteen direct reports and working for founders who were not open to spending for salaries. To resolve these issues, the author conducted weekly one-on-ones with their direct reports, identified two engineers as team leaders, and consulted with a 3rd party HR company to come up with a pay scale structure. The key lesson learned was the importance of educating founders on fair compensation and pursuing this cause even if there was push back.