How the Right Environment Empowers Engineers to Reach New Heights

As a skilled artist requires the perfect canvas and tools, engineers need an environment that nurtures creativity, fosters collaboration, and empowers them to reach new heights. This article draws on the extensive experience of KITRUM’s HR department in building such an environment.

Сhallenges for a real human dynamo

Management is crucial in creating a supportive and productive environment for engineers. Managers face the challenge of balancing competing priorities, such as meeting deadlines, maintaining quality standards, and fostering innovation. Additionally, managers must allocate resources efficiently, provide adequate training and development opportunities, and recognize and reward achievements to motivate their teams. Managers can empower engineers to thrive and deliver exceptional results by addressing the following challenges.

Adaptable work environment

The trend of returning to the office caused disappointment among millennials, zoomers, etc. Still, the proportion of hybrid developers remained at 42% in 2024, the same as last year. Meanwhile, the share of developers working in person has risen to 20%, marking the third consecutive year of growth from 15% in 2022 and 16% in 2023.

Remote work offers a multitude of benefits for engineers:

• It provides unparalleled flexibility and increased autonomy, allowing engineers to improve work-life balance and reduce stress.
• Remote work often eliminates the daily commute, saving valuable time and reducing environmental impact.
• Remote work can expose engineers to diverse teams and cultures, broadening their perspectives and enhancing their professional development.

So, if your company can organize a remote or nonstrict hybrid schedule on request, your work environment will again be more favorable for employees. We provide remote work or hybrid work in several big cities where we have offices. Many of our talented newcomers chose us because of this opportunity.

Flexible working hours

Based on even fundamental knowledge of human biorhythms, we have long understood that not everyone can work from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. or 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Many people start work later in the afternoon and sleep longer in the morning. However, there are always people who think clearly in the morning.

Engineers' work is focused on comprehension, reflection, and the search for new ideas and solutions. It is crucial to allow developers to work when their brains are most active and productive and not force them to work during the hours when their brains are sleeping. A great decision would be flexible work hours to start with some mutual zones in the afternoon for meetings. In this case, you should also stay client-oriented and propose client meetings in their time zones, but this is a small part of developers' work. A developer can be loyal and come to the meeting tailored to his client's needs if the actual coding and other responsibilities can be done in a preferable time. The same way we chose for our employees.

No micro-management and bureaucracy

Of course, there are situations in this world where micro-management is required, for example:

• When onboarding new employees, especially those with limited experience, closer supervision can provide guidance and support and ensure they follow best practices.
• Increased oversight can help identify and address problems quickly in times of crisis or when a project is significantly behind schedule.
• Raised monitoring and guidance can help employees improve their performance if they are consistently underperforming.
• For critical projects with significant consequences, closer monitoring can help ensure quality and deadline adherence, etc.

As you can see, we are not haters of micro-management, but it still has negative features and cannot be implemented everywhere. It generally has negative consequences for most developers:

• Constant monitoring and oversight can stifle creativity and innovation. Developers may want to avoid taking risks or experimenting with new ideas, decreasing motivation and engagement.
• Excessive micromanagement can disrupt workflows and hinder productivity. Developers may spend more time justifying their actions than actually working.
• The constant pressure to meet unrealistic expectations and the lack of autonomy can increase stress and burnout.
• Micromanagement can damage the team's morale, creating an antagonistic work environment.
• A micromanagement culture can lead to high turnover rates as talented engineers seek more supportive and empowering work environments.

Considering all these aspects, we decided to be as democratic a company as possible. We provide clear guidelines and constant support. Our developers can always ask their Team Leads, HRs, or PMs any questions and overcome any work block without the fear of being insulted.

Also, our teams from different countries are happy to get their compensation in USD using several possible transaction options and to have referral opportunities with great bonuses for new hires. This factor also demonstrates a low bureaucracy level.

Empowering work-life balance

Work-life balance is essential for overall well-being and productivity. When individuals can effectively manage their professional and personal commitments, they experience reduced stress, increased job satisfaction, and improved mental and physical health. A balanced lifestyle fosters creativity, innovation, and better decision-making. Moreover, a healthy work-life balance can lead to stronger relationships, increased happiness, and a higher quality of life.

You may have heard about Iceland's experiment with a four-day working week in Iceland. They left employees with the same level of compensation but reduced the working week to four days, and there was no drop in productivity or the amount of work done but rather an increase. Also, the employee happiness rate increased. After years of experimentation, the state officially introduced the four-day working week.

At our company, we cultivate work-life balance. Our managers always ask employees to take and use their annual paid vacations. We provide our employees with 30 paid vacations a year, which they can use however they wish — taking them on the holidays or with our holidays, etc.

We also give them up to 6 sick leaves without medical confirmation and 30 unpaid vacations annually for their purposes and unexpected situations. No one from management ever delays or cancels an employee's desired leave. Sometimes, we can agree on dates with a client, but we have other developers to cover for the one who takes the holiday. 

Engaging in professional training and social activities

68% of developers engage in coding as a hobby outside their professional duties, while nearly 40% code beyond work hours for professional growth or self-directed learning through online courses. So, we have many specialists worldwide desiring to learn and improve their skills, mastering new languages and technologies.

Just give your team this opportunity. Ask about their wishlist of courses and training that align with your business goals, short — or even long-term. Provide them with the possibility of taking this learning and covering 50-100% of it.

We also gave our specialists a subscription to popular course resources, access to the corporate library, and the possibility to attend English or Polish courses and speaking clubs. We provide the needed corporate training and workshops annually and cover 50% of their desired training and certifications related to their positions.

As a bonus, by fostering values inside your team, you can take part in social activities and engage your employees. For example, we regularly donate to charity in Ukraine and animals as we chose it as our vector of social responsibility. We clearly demonstrate the amount of our monthly donations. Our employees can post their causes in these fields or their personal healthcare causes and get support from the team. Our employees can also request an interest-free loan from the company for their needs, the amount of which increases with the number of years worked.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, such as charity and socially responsible events, offer numerous benefits for businesses and their management teams. By engaging in philanthropic endeavors, companies can enhance their brand reputation, attract and retain top talent, foster employee morale, and build stronger relationships with customers and communities. Moreover, CSR initiatives can increase customer loyalty, improve brand image, and provide positive media coverage. Ultimately, a commitment to social responsibility can contribute to a more sustainable and equitable future while driving long-term business success.

In a fiercely competitive world, where there is a war for income and talent, when a person decides whether to stay with the company or accept a more tempting offer from another company, the person will remember how comfortable working here is. Suppose you have invested in training, comfortable working conditions, creativity and autonomy growth, and the working atmosphere. In that case, your employee will be motivated and not interested in a change for the worse.