The most expensive event in an engineering organization is not a server outage — it is the resignation of a senior engineer.
When a tenured engineer leaves, they take years of institutional knowledge with them. The cost to replace them is often 200% of their annual salary, plus months of lost productivity.
Most companies rely on exit interviews to understand why people leave. By then, it is too late. The decision was made months ago.
To retain top talent, you need to spot the leading indicator of attrition: stagnation.
Contrary to popular belief, great engineers rarely quit just for money. They quit because:
They are bored: They are stuck maintaining legacy code while the “cool” AI projects go to new hires.
They are pigeonholed: They want to learn Go, but they are the “Java expert,” so they keep getting Java tickets.
They see no path: They don’t know how to get to Staff Engineer or Architect within your organization.
You cannot manage retention with vibes. You need a systematic approach to personal development plans (PDPs).
A robust retention strategy requires mapping:
The engineer’s goal: “I want to learn machine learning.”
The company’s need: “We need ML infrastructure for Q3.”
The gap: “Here are the specific skills missing.”
Instead of waiting for an annual review, NotchUp operationalizes this alignment.
Identify goals: It captures individual career aspirations.
Identify gaps: It scans the employee’s current skill set against their desired future role.
Generate the path: It automatically suggests specific upskilling plans, integrating content from Coursera and Udemy, to bridge that gap.
By proactively assigning work that aligns with growth, you turn a potential flight risk into a high performer.
Retain your best talent. Build automated career paths with NotchUp
.svg){kind=small}
.png)
.png)
