Reflecting on the recent PacketPushers podcasts on certifications and consulting life, I’m trying to document ideal conditions to train and retain top talent. (e.g. In the context of building a new consulting firm.) Please leave a comment to let me know what I’ve left out or gotten wrong.
Establish a career ladder that clearly establishes an engineer’s pathway to advancement within the company and rewards associated with it.
* Salaries are listed are based on cost of living in Cleveland Ohio and may require significant adjustment based on where your business operates. Note these are lower than national averages.
Encourage engineers’ professional development.
- Cover certification self study materials and exam fees (up to three attempts)
- Cover one certification boot camp per engineer per year (with service commitment)
- Cover Engineer level and above with PTO and reasonable travel expenses to attend once conference or user group per year
- Allow up to one hour per during work time for certification study (with matching commitment to study one hour per day during personal time)
- Provide opportunities for less experienced staff to work on teams with more experience staff
Foster work-life balance.
- After hour on-call duties primarily fall on Administrator and Engineer levels. Employees can level up to reduce on-call time commitment.
- After-hour project will receive overtime pay.
- Employees meeting their billable targets and working over 50 hours per week are eligible for comp time.
- Employees are invited to bring their family to all company social events.
Keep the whole team connected, including field engineers using collaboration tools like slack.