It’s been a in demand season pro our engineering, result, and design teams next to Buffer — I beg your pardon? We collectively refer to as EPD. Arrived the ancient history eight months unaccompanied, we hired a Chief Product Officer pro the to start with occasion, promoted a team constituent to be our to start with VP of Design, completely overhauled and restructured how we organize our EPD teams, bent further roles on the team and hired 10 further result and engineering team members to our at this instant 48-person EPD area.

That’s a allotment of transformation. Thus, in the spring of 2021, we plant elsewhere a survey to the EPD teams to understand the level of engagement of our team members and our “eNPS” — employee NPS, or if team members would commend Buffer as a place to occupation.

I did a deep dive into the experience of the engineering team in point – the results were an sincere, eye-opening look into the experience of our team members, and we hold a allotment of achievement steps to take from our learnings.

A little tone takeaways:

Engineering teammates hold very clear and differing needs depending on their tenure next to Buffer (6+ years, 2-6 years, not as much of than 2 years).
Women on the engineering team hold a much slash eNPS than their male counterparts.
Below, we’d love to share the survey results transparently through the take notice of I shared with our team.

Hi team,

Thanks so much pro completing the EPD Engagement survey. Here’s the breakdown pro us in engineering:

Engagement is quite lofty, and eNPS next to 38 is ok. About partially of you actively commend Buffer as a place to occupation, partially feel it’s kind of ok, and a pair of fill actively make not commend Buffer.

If we break it down, a little more motivating things emerge:

Breakdown by tenure
Veterans: 6+ years next to Buffer

Veterans feel the majority committed to the company (100%), certain nearly coworkers (100%), and feel they feel right now (100%) but don’t consider it themselves really growing in their careers anymore (29%).

This makes intelligence: No more than fill who like their coworkers and company would stay concluded six years, and and, next to with the purpose of occasion frame, managers need to occupation harder to locate career growth opportunities.

So the focus pro this unit is career growth, and that’s the focal driver of untaken from “it’s ok” to “it’s weighty now.” This honestly does step harder as occasion goes on — to keep a growth curve as soon as many years — and so we need to step more creative with these conversations. With Lattice reviews and growth devices episode at this instant, that’s solitary way to think nearly what’s after that pro veteran teammates.

Tenured Teammates: 2-6 years next to Buffer

Teammates who hold been now 2-6 years are our major unit. Engagement & eNPS are the same as the all-engineering be around, and this includes several fill who actively don’t commend Buffer as a place to occupation.

This unit is happiest with Management (94%) and Team Culture (94%) but is and the the majority exhausted unit. Only 38% of this unit hold energy pro leisure, links, and relations as soon as occupation. They and don’t feel with the purpose of this rigorously occupation is noticed: No more than 44% of respondents say fill notice with the purpose of they are untaken the specially mile (or hundred miles).

For this unit, work-life balance and supervision workload is the focal focus, with burnout and not feeling valued as the focal concerns. This is an effective focus pro me and pro engineering managers who hold been earshot this, too.

Newer Teammates: Less than 2 years next to Buffer

Teammates with not as much of than two years next to Buffer are by far the happiest. Again, not a soul in this unit actively thinks Buffer engineering is a bad place to occupation. I’m on cloud nine to consider it this as it course with the purpose of our outside image, and who we are on the inside, aren’t hugely poles apart (if we talked a vast game in the course of recruitment and the blogs but were horrible to occupation next to, we’d consider it eNPS of further fill be slash with many detractors).

This unit scored all metric as 100% (seriously!) but pro feeling valued, next to 67%.

For this unit, recognition of hand-outs, praise, and valuing their outlook is the the majority chief article to increase. We hear you!

Breakdown by Gender
Gender is solitary aspect somewhere fill can hold very poles apart experiences next to the same office. There are other factors too, but we don’t hold data pro individuals. We make hold adequate fill to hold data, which is weighty. What’s not weighty is with the purpose of women in engineering hold a very poles apart and much worse experience than men.

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Note: All respondents happened to identify contained by the gender binary as either “male” or “female,” so I no more than hold two categories represented pro gender. That alleged, in attendance are many genders.

Men in Engineering

Women in Engineering

Obviously, this is a predicament. I would to be more precise hold a team with an eNPS of 20 and all genders scoring “it’s ok here” than hold several genders axiom it’s “good to great” and other genders axiom with the purpose of “it’s fair ok” or “it’s awful.”

It’s and notable with the purpose of participation in the survey from women in engineering was a spot low. This course with the purpose of an eNPS of 0 is probably over-estimated. People who don’t fill in the survey are not as a rule super on cloud nine. New likely, the non-respondents are either passive or disapproving (“it’s fine, and I don’t hold occasion pro surveys” or “it’s so horrible and hopeless with the purpose of there’s veto instant in even substantial in a survey”).

There is several able news: Next to slightest several women are axiom it’s weighty to occupation now! Also, women rated Management next to 100% (we hold 50% women engineering managers, so with the purpose of might be part of it), and they rated Team Culture next to 100%: Women think their coworkers are skilled and make quality occupation.

Activity Satisfaction next to 80% is able, and so is Fit & Belonging (80%). So the able news is with the purpose of women don’t feel actively debarred, held back, and discriminated alongside. That’s a low ingot, but it’s solitary many teams fail to net.

For women, Work Relationships was solitary of the lowest scores. While “my supervisor cares nearly me” and “my coworkers need me to succeed” is next to 100%, “people know what’s episode in my life” is next to fair 20%. Women don’t feel comfortable conversation nearly what’s untaken on pro them outside of occupation.

Women are and more exhausted than be around, with fair 40% having energy pro other things outside occupation.

One hypothesis or story now is with the purpose of the pandemic has been specially rigorously on working moms, and women still lug a twice over change in many bags. There’s and often a stigma around being a working mom or caring pro parents and relatives, and so women feel exhausted and and unable to deliberate nearly everything draining them next to and outside of occupation. Women are socialized to smile, be fastidious, don’t complain, hold it all cool, and surface a allotment of guilt and pressure to be permanently on, permanently “doing it all.” This is valid in society next to considerable. So, it might be valid of our women in engineering, and a predicament if Buffer isn’t burden adequate to support them.

Another motivating data instant: Women scored slash than be around pro trust in senior leadership’s decisions, with veto “strong agrees” and a little “disagrees.” Recently, I read a column on Being Glue with the purpose of offers a probable explanation now:

Women are socialized to be nurturers and often pick up specially occupation to defense their team members from decisions made in leadership with the purpose of might be challenging pro others to adapt to. Recent org chart changes appear to mind; in attendance might be other factors too. If women statistically feel the impression and are fatigued from frustrating to allay with the purpose of impression, while men are more likely to feel the benefit of with the purpose of Glue/nurturing occupation devoid of as many expenses, with the purpose of might explain several of the differences connecting men and women’s experiences. That’s a hypothesis. It’s a story I might tell from the data I hold on this team and from the data in the industry. I don’t know whether with the purpose of is our story.

To locate elsewhere more nearly I beg your pardon? The story (stories?) really is, Melissa [our further VP of People] and I are untaken to run a session with women in engineering to hear more nearly the experience of being a women engineer next to Buffer and why it is poles apart — and worse — than the experience of being a man in engineering.

For men conception this, you are very receive to share your belief with Melissa or me honestly. If you’ve noticed something with the purpose of would harmfully affect your women coworkers, I very need to hear nearly it, and if you hold ideas, please share.

The intention I’m not with men in with the purpose of live talk is with the purpose of I need to hear the women’s stories from the women as, in the data, we consider it with the purpose of the story pro women is poles apart. I hope this makes intelligence. I am on cloud nine to deliberate more nearly it too.

Limitations
I don’t hold adequate data on gallop and sexual orientation to hold statistically large sample sizes, so I can’t sketch one conclusions pro these groups as part of this survey. We make know with the purpose of these groups and can hold a harder occasion in the industry next to considerable.

Arrived the long run, a more diverse team will mean more data. Arrived the shorter run, we’ll need to rely on other methods to ensure every person has an equitable experience. There is occupation to be through, and not having it in survey results does not erase with the purpose of occupation.

-Katie

In the role of we prolong to give somebody no option but to changes and improvements to the engineering experience next to Buffer, we look cheeky to sharing our learnings along the way.

Feel gratis to attain elsewhere to me on Twitter next to @gokatiewilde to prolong the conversation nearly building engaged and fulfilled engineering teams. Always on cloud nine to chat!