Build an engineering team people want to come back to

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Key takeaways:

• A returning employee is a strong culture signal, especially from someone with real alternatives.
• Build an engineering team that outlasts who’s currently on it.
• React to resignations like wins, not losses.

Someone who used to work for me left, spent time somewhere else, and then shared that they wanted to come back. When I asked why, they described their new engineering team as “grey – with everyone in their own lane.”

That phrasing stood out to me not because of what it says about the other company (I have no idea whether it’s fair), but because of what it implied about how they experienced our team: bright, colorful, and collaborative.

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