What motivates software engineers?

A motivated workforce is vital to a successful business. Today’s engineers and developers look for more than just a good salary and benefits. These initially will help to attract new employees to your business but to reduce staff turnover and boost productivity, you’ll want to establish a work culture that caters to their motivations.

It is important to remember that every individual is different, even if they are in the same or similar roles within the company. By having regular one-to-one conversations with each team member, you will be able to find out more about the individuals’ goals and interests within their position. In these meetings, managers need to listen more than they speak and make sure their employees feel heard.

Engineers and developers working within the technology sector often pride themselves on keeping up with the times, with technology always changing. By allowing your teams to revamp and modernise company software this will keep them interested in their position and the company. For them to be able to do this successfully, make sure your staff have ample opportunity to be trained properly so they can perform at their full potential.

Along with offering employees additional training and learning opportunities, managers need to work with their employees to understand what they want for their career in the future. Many engineers would rather stay in technical positions than hands off managerial positions, but they still want to be sure that they can continue to grow within the organization without going down this route. By providing opportunities for your employees to grow and become technical leaders within the organization, you will motivate them to continue producing quality work and maintain their loyalty to the company.

Another motivator is flexibility. In recent years it has become more and more attractive for engineer and developers to have flexible hours along with the ability to work remotely. Allowing this flexibility will show that you trust your employees and in turn they will be more likely to work in their own time. This is a great benefit to employees as it can reduce their commute time and also mean they can spend more time with family and other important commitments.

By taking the time to get to know your employees and their motivations you can create an environment and culture that they will love to work in. This will increase output and productivity which in turn will benefit the organisation along with having happy staff members.