Why Is It Difficult To Retain Mobile Application Developers?

by Katerina Boiko

Why Is It Difficult To Retain Mobile Application Developers?

Finding a good employee can be difficult, but it is just as difficult to keep them and motivate them to keep working. To be productive and create quality applications and projects mobile app development services need a stable staff of employees who will do their job. Abrupt changes in the staff can lead to a project that is incomplete, non-ideal, or has a lot of bugs. To avoid this, it is necessary to prevent the possible departure of employees from the company in advance.

A company can run into all kinds of difficulties, but the most serious one is precisely the departure of employees from the project. From time to time developers leave the company and it seems impossible to foresee. This is partly true because unforeseen circumstances can happen in life that force a person to leave their old job. But at the same time, some of these reasons can be prevented, thereby keeping the employee on the staff.

Why do developers leave companies?

There can be many reasons why an employee who does mobile development and consulting leaves. First of all, the developer may be dissatisfied with the payment for his work. In this case, if there is a lot of work and the salary is really small, he will simply decide to leave the project and look for a job with a higher rate. In addition, there can be competitors, who can try in every possible way to pull an employee to a project, thus getting a good employee and creating difficulties in the previous company. Also, the developer may simply lose interest in working on this project. Feeling that he has exhausted himself, the specialist can simply give it up, albeit to the detriment of his financial situation.

Neither should the team be forgotten. No matter how individual the assignment, employees will still overlap and have contact with each other. From time to time a mismatch of views and interests leads to the development of intra-group conflicts among company employees. Feeling the growing tension in the team, developers can simply quit their job and find one where the psychological atmosphere will be calmer and contribute to productive work. Last but not least, a programmer can leave for personal reasons, such as illness or technical circumstances. Sometimes, however, a developer just decides to try something new and changes the focus of work to something more appealing in terms of his interests or requirements.

When do they decide to leave companies?

Predicting exactly when a developer will quit is difficult. Usually, it happens immediately or after some time after realizing that there is a problem in the company. For example, after a quarrel with other employees or management. However, it should also be understood that each person in the same situation may behave differently - everyone has different stamina and resistance to stress. Some people prefer to simply ignore the problem in the hope that it will go away on its own, but this only leads to an increase in the issue. It is also not uncommon for developers to leave after failing to finish an important project. Or they create it, but badly. 

The feedback factor also comes into play. If an employee constantly complains to the management about a problem or circumstance, but the management ignores this information, the employee can simply leave, because they think they are being ignored. Some workers try to wait until the end of the contract, so they will no longer be associated with the company. Others, on the other hand, will prefer to quit their jobs right away, so as not to escalate the situation.

What makes them happy?

There are a number of things that can make mobile application developers happy and satisfied with their work. Like any person, developers enjoy being paid decently, because it is a direct indicator of the value of their work. They like it when a company takes into account the mobile app development cost so that the developers feel that their work is not in vain. In addition to this a pleasant bonus can also be bonuses in the form of cash payments or various pleasant additions - certificates to institutions and other elements of the remuneration system.

Work in mobile development consulting is often hard not only technically, but also emotionally, so the developers will be pleased that their emotional well-being is taken care of. This can manifest itself in the form of a day-off or feedback from an in-house psychologist or HR, which will help them not to burn out and lose interest in their work. These seem like little things, but these "little things" are the critical factors of employee well-being, which directly affects the quality of his work.

Top 5 difficulties companies face in dev retention

It is natural for a company to try to retain an employee, because their departure will lead to negative consequences. But this can be done in different ways, so while some companies try to find a compromise, others make a number of mistakes and this in turn leads to difficulties.

The quality of the project declines.

If an employee can't handle a project, but the company ignores that fact, project quality will inevitably drop. In addition, not getting paid decently, the employee will lose motivation.

The escalation of a conflict situation.

By keeping an employee in the company, management risks increasing the number of conflict situations in the work team. The employee will simply feel frustration, which will lead to a decrease in the quality of his work and the work of the entire team.

Retention with money.

Decent pay does not always solve the situation that has developed - it must be considered holistically. If an employee is not interested in a project or it does not correspond to his skills, the money will not be able to retain him.

Loss of respect for the manager.

If an employer tries to retain an employee by not addressing the situation, he will lose his credibility in his eyes as a leader.

Decrease in the overall rating of the company.

Every employee is an important element of the work system. When he or she feels unhappy, it affects the company as a whole, thus reducing the quality of its projects on the market of mobile software development companies

5 ways companies can actually keep their developers

However, there are a number of ways which will not only avoid the departure of employees, but also provide an opportunity to build a comfortable relationship between all members of the team.

Preventive CV review 

First of all, the company should get acquainted with the resume of the employee in advance and adequately assess his or her skills. If the task is too complex, it may be better not to take the first-found developers, but to hire microsoft developers who can cope with the task.

Constant feedback

Constant communication between employer and employee is important not only for productive work, but also for understanding how much the employee enjoys that particular job. Constant feedback will prevent frustration and a desire to leave the company.

The difficulty of an assignment

When giving an assignment, you should always consider the ability of the specialist. Sometimes even an experienced developer with high skills can not cope with the task. In such cases, the best option would be to hire a mobile development team

Experience with other companies

The positive experiences of other successful companies can provide important and necessary information on how to retain employees. This can be the organization of personal space, events, or the specifics of communication between staff.

Bonus System

This is a special system of non-monetary rewards, in which employees receive various benefits from the firm - subscriptions to streaming platforms, gift certificates and so on. This allows the employee to feel not just part of the company-employee relationship, but a member of the team.

Katerina Boiko

Marketing Director at Mobilunity

Kateryna Boiko is a Marketing Director at Mobilunity, Provider of Dedicated Development Teams with 9 years of hands-on experience in digital marketing. Kateryna managed to work with diverse industries and markets and now is keen on sharing unique cases with the world and coach on topics relevant to Web Analytics and Search Engine Optimization.