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Subject:Re: ANON: weak process and employee retention From:Damien Braniff <Damien_Braniff -at- PAC -dot- CO -dot- UK> Date:Thu, 12 Nov 1998 08:28:28 +0000
You sometimes get the same problem from the other side. When I started
writing (18 authors documenting software from the source code up) trainees
were dropped in at the deep end and had to learn quickly. Fortunately
there were enough experienced writers around prepared to spend time
mentoring and you did learn very quickly (first doc went to the customer
after only 3 months - after several re-writes!). Pay was OK for graduate
starters but, because of the mentoring, people learned very quickly and got
the responsibility to match. After less than a year there I was mentoring
a new trainee. What didn't happen, however, was an increase in remuneration
to reflect the work done, extra responsibilities etc and in the year I was
there we had a 75% turnover in staff. What happened was that people came,
got the training and left for better jobs. I moved to a different office
to work off-site but heard that shortly after my move the senior staff
started leaving as well and the office scaled down operations and
eventually closed.
