how to prevent DBA burnout?

From: Jerry Cunningham <jerry59grp_at_gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:44:38 -0400
Message-ID: <45afc9940903300644tbd2572dl1b7f35d67589d867_at_mail.gmail.com>



Hi all...

I came across this question on twitter (http://twitter.com/Michael_Corey). How do you prevent DBA burnout?

I know there are a lot of smart people on this list - any thoughts? I replied via my blog (more than 140 chars!)... here are my 2 cents:

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  1. Communicate with them regularly. Forget business/corporate formality - everybody you work with *is simply a person*. From the security guard at the front desk to the CEO. How is life? Are you happy? What is stressing you out? If there are problems, what can I do to help?
  2. Don’t forget how hard it is to find good people. At a previous job, when interviewing for a vacancy, I had interviewed for weeks without a promising candidate. This made me realize how good the people we had were, and I told them so. I told them, that while they were working harder due to the staffing shortage, I was not going to settle for less than the high standard they had set.
  3. If somebody resigns (and you value them) - make them a counter offer immediately. It amazes me how often this does not happen. Or, the employee is asked “what can I do to keep you?”. Too vague - make a concrete offer.
    ===

Jerry
http://jerrycunningham.wordpress.com

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Received on Mon Mar 30 2009 - 08:44:38 CDT

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