A really interesting blog post on how to keep geeks happy at A Note To Employers: 8 Things Intelligent People, Geeks and Nerds Need To Work Happy is well worth reading.
The basic points are:
- Let them work when they want
- Let them work where they want
- Let them control their lighting
- Let them wear headphones
- Do not expect them to wear a suit
- Do not make them participate in company events (unless you are sure it is geek-friendly)
- Do not hold a lot of arbitrary meetings that could have otherwise been handled through email or IM
- Do not make them do anything other than work
It goes well with “The customer comes second” post I made about Danny Meyer’s service philosophy.