All developers like to work in a company where you can be productive and relaxed at the same time. Where there are special areas to chill and where you can take a break even to play video games when you need it.
What a client expects from a developer is productivity, which is reflected in the quality of the code that is delivered as well as the interaction of the platform with the users. This is why companies must have happy developers to see their productivity rise, otherwise, they'll “leave the boat”.
Something that I've personally observed is that if the developer is happy working in the company, he or she won't disregard their responsibilities even when the project is not to the liking of the developer, which speaks wonders of their professional ethics.
What are companies willing to make to keep their developers happy?
Nowadays IT offices like MagmaLabs have perks and spaces that aren't in standard offices. Software engineers have many benefits, like free breakfast or lunch at the company, a room equipped with video games, board games, arcades, pin pong table, foosball table, English classes, yoga, and even spaces where you can take a power nap. When a company cares about its employees to have a pleasant time in the office, their level of happiness will be affected positively. This topic is so important that tools like officevibe were created to have a more accurate measurement so when there is a decrease in happiness, an alert trigger so the company can take action on the matter.
A very important challenge faced by many companies nowadays is to integrate remote workers, and most of the time it can be difficult due to the difference of cultures. In order to solve this, MagmaLabs remote workers travel to have interaction with the rest of the company when there are recreation activities. I have not had the opportunity to work remotely, but I have done it from home and I know that it is difficult to keep concentration in that environment. If a project requires many hours of work a day it becomes difficult to carry on with the notion of time. To solve this, I share with you this blog post of a remote worker who calls 911 and is afraid of it, I recommend it a lot:
I Work from Home
Why do we want happy Developers?
It is simple to explain when a company has a good work environment where the developer feels comfortable and his emotional happiness is affected in a positive way, because it is reflected in the quality of the code that the developer delivers, and in the communication that he or she has with the team and the client.
Does it really help to have this in the office?
Having happy developers helps a lot in the office and it is ideal for all companies that are looking to grow in different environments. This is not exclusive for developers, but for all jobs requiring face-to-face or remote work. The ideal scenario for all the companies is that the worker is willing to attend work and deliver their best effort and performance every day. A monthly reward or bonus will be always a plus, otherwise the company will have serious problems of brain drain.
Developer happiness outside the office
The number of remote workers and IT companies that hire them continues increasing and this practice has become more accepted. Many studies have shown the benefits of employees who work remotely, including the increasing of employee happiness, reducing wear rate, increasing productivity, and more.
Hiring remote developers means that the company can get the best person for the job, regardless of the city in which the person lives. If the company does not include remote work options, this could be cutting off the candidate's hiring in half and eliminating the most qualified developers for the position.
In the book called “Remote: Office Not Required” we can find the benefits that an employee gets when working remotely, as well as the advantages this entails for the company, which saves up to $ 20,000 a year by not having to worry about toasting a workspace in a physical office, in addition, the employee can work more time in an administered way.
As we can see it's very important to keep the developer happy in an optimal work environment so that productivity rises considerably because at the end this will be reflected in a good job and a satisfied customer. Changing a few habits also helps a lot, doing 30 minutes of exercise helps to generate more energy for better performance, not only physical exercise but mental exercises to help your mind to think in different and better ways to solve a task.
In my personal experience, I have been able to observe different work environments and it is easy to know when a worker is satisfied with what he is doing. The good atmosphere starts from the internal team of the project in which a developer is working when all the team members do their job well, everyone can rest easy knowing that things are going to work out. But when a team member begins to delay with their tasks, it is very likely that other teammates will have stress because they do not know if they have the support of that member. It's important to constantly review the developer team happiness because this is the key to IT companies' success.
Remember that writing code is an art and like every artist you have to keep the developer inspired.
