Look at how you can keep your developers happy (and keep them in your business)

At “245 days...” I am always on the lookout for things that can make the startup process easier or help to develop those that are in the early days of their business. Sometimes this is through chance as I trawl through the internet; sometimes it is while looking for something that I need for my business. Today I will take a look at development in an area that needs professional assistance.

Technology is at the core of just about every business today. The iPad has transformed the customer experience in so many businesses that it is considered essential nowadays. The fast-changing nature of technology means that you have to become an expert in the aspects of it that mean a lot to your business. The internet is a great tool for many things but just clicking through Google on this topic brings you millions of hits and millions of different opinions. It isn’t time to read away, it is time to find an expert who knows this side of business and is ready help. Your developer team needs to be kept on top of all the latest in their field but sometimes it can be difficult to provide all the training that they need.

Step forward Develop Intelligence. This is a virtual academy for your developers to ensure that they keep absolutely on top of the changes in technology to keep your team right up to date with everything they need to know to keep your company at the top of its game. It is only be ensuring your team are trained and developed that they will feel valued, motivated and less likely to leave. Retention and recruitment are two very different things in business with very different cost bases. Retention involves talking to your team, keeping up morale levels and making sure that they feel valued. It is like maintaining a car instead of ignoring it and buying a new one when it breaks down completely.

Recruitment is costly and time consuming. Recruitment for the right reasons (expansion, new customers and new markets) is a wonderful thing. Develop Intelligence can help your new recruits to bed in, quickly pick up the skills they need to match the rest of your team. Recruitment for the wrong reasons (losing team members to a competitor, people walking out) is a terrible thing. It saps the morale of other team members and creates unrest. Deal with all of this by getting Develop Intelligence to work with your team to provide them the very best in training to keep your talent with you – not leaving to work with someone else.

I’m not starting a technical business but I couldn’t just pass by Develop Intelligence without letting you all know what they can offer. It is a tool that keeps you on top of your game by having your developers trained. They become much more useful to you in the ever-changing business world of today. They are much more likely to stay with you as they feel valued and inverted-in.

Back at work after 11 days off

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I'm back at work today after 11 days off and I always find this the toughest few days of the year. As I come away from time with the family and look on to time with my work colleagues it always takes a little time for my body and my mood to settle into a normal routine. And I think that "normal" changes every time I go back after a period of time off. 

So, how do you make that transition easier?

How do you get back into the swing if things as quickly as possible, without too much turmoil?

There are a few ways of helping this, and a few things to avoid.

Sleep patterns

I think that a major change in your sleep patterns when you are not at work will bring about a more painful transition when you go back to work. For example, I usually start the day's work at 7:30am and I get up around 5:50am to get ready to work. I try not to get up any later than 6:30am during my time off, and the transition back to 5:50am starts isn't a difficult one. If I laid in bed until 8am or later, then I'm sure I would have much more trouble in getting up and getting motivated to work today.

Doing a job you want to do

This is a massive help, and will probably out-drive any other motives I list here. If you are doing a job that you enjoy, then you've probably most of the way there. It will make an instant impact on the fact that you will have that ready motivation to get up and go after a break. I have a job the I genuinely enjoy and the fact that I have missed a week fills me with a little excitement and I want to get back and see what's going on. This leads me to the next thing, which I think also helps-

Taking a complete break

I believe that not having anything to do with work facilitates a better transition back into work. It may sound strange, but a large part if your time off is being completely away from work and all the distractions and stresses it brings. I go to the extent of not going to the same town, and avoiding the same route on my travels. I think that all of these things help to rest and recuperate and provide you with the refreshing experience that time away from work should bring. The fact that you go back to work cold can be a little worrying but the fact that you have recharged your batteries offsets this. When you're ready to work and ready to get stuck into it, the work moves along quickly and you can easily catch up with colleagues over the course of the first few days.

Lifestyle

As well as keeping a similar sleeping pattern during your time off, it makes sense to keep similar lifestyle patterns - eat at the same time, drink the same amount, at a similar time, exercise at the same time, etc. Having a similar life pattern each day helps the body and mind to operate at it's fullest. It also helps to promote a consistent mood and aids recovery from exercise and illness. All of this will help you to get back into the swing of things as you return to work, as it keeps the culture shock element of your return to a minimum.

Try these tips to help you return - it's helping me today!