wagnerblog.com

David Carr has a very interesting analysis of the potential cost of losing a developer. Some of the statistics listed in the comments are hilarious. Especially the one where a gentleman was using a mechanism that reminded me of handicapping horses. This percent versus that percent. Funny stuff.

On a more serious note, I have managed development teams of all shapes and sizes in several industries and I am here to answer Davids questions - Does management know ? And does management care ?

The answer depends on the company. No this is not a cop-out. Far from it.

The activity from which a company derives its revenue/profits makes a huge difference. If it doesn’t make its profit from software (shrinkwrap or web) then chances are very very slim that management has any clue whatsoever about the impact of a developer leaving.  In most companies of that type ( financial services comes to mind ) software is a cost center while the sale of some other product is the revenue generator. Expect the folks in that company who sell the most widgets to receive the golden toilets (or watches), certainly not the dev staff.

Even in companies that derive their revenue from the production of software we can easily see two large archetypes. Those that are run by former techies and those that are run by sales people.

If you happen to work for an organization that is NOT managed by a former techie then chances are very high that management has no clue about the impact of a developer leaving. Most of these organizations, being oftentimes sales driven, are also the same ones that over-promise to customers and have a hard time delivering. Interestingly many of them seem to get a good deal of money. Its very ironic.

So your best bet is to work for a software driven organization that is managed by a former developer. Like my company :) 

Unfortunately, while being squarely into the second category of tech companies, we presently do not have the volume of business to hire. But boy I sure wish I could pick up some of those disgruntled dev’s that David was talking about.  Nobody ever said life is fair.  ( That reminds me - if anyone knows a sales person who can sell software consulting svs on commission, please send them my way )