Your team success and junior web developers

So what’s wrong with that? You might ask. Nothing. I can’t argue with that. However, while seniors are a valuable resource, ignoring junior web developers can be a costly mistake. For a moment, I want you to think about a team that includes junior, mid-level, and senior web developers. Let’s do this exercise of imagination, and let me tell you why you should:

Grow cost-effective talent within your business

You, the business, and I can both agree that hiring senior web developers is expensive. As a business, you can end up paying a premium for experience, and most of the time, in reality, all you need is execution.Most junior web developers can:

• Deal with repetitive and low-risk tasks—as long as the tasks are well-defined—and handle them with ease, which in turn frees up time for senior web developers to focus on difficult architecture and critical problem-solving challenges
• Bring fresh perspectives and new ideas, ‘cause they haven’t had the chance to develop “how things have always been done” and they’re not limited by it
• Reduce costs in the long run, so you and I can avoid constantly hiring externally. You can adopt a strategy to invest in junior web developers—creating a pipeline of future mid-level and senior web developers who already understand the processes and goals of your company

Do you agree? If you said yes, let’s talk about:

Optimising your senior web developer productivity

I’ve seen this too many times, happening in small and big companies—I’ve seen the mistake a business makes when overloading senior web developers by simply throwing every piece of work at them that doesn’t require their senior expertise. A direct and unwanted outcome is that this approach leads to burnout, and for sure, it will slow down innovation. Let me remind you that there are 7 to 8 hours per day of effort at work, and one hour spent on simple tasks is one hour not spent on complex tasks.

Junior web developers can come to the rescue as they can:

• Deal with bug fixes, tackle front-end refinements, take over documenting—so seniors can have a greater impact when designing system architecture and bring their expertise into decisions related to scalability or complex problem-solving
• Speed up project delivery by taking ownership of small tasks that are necessary and can often pile up
• Keep the team morale up as they bring that starter enthusiasm and motivation, which definitely helps maintain a positive culture

We can compare the work done in our web developer team with the action that happens in a well-structured kitchen: the chef, a.k.a. the senior developer, shouldn’t do everything or spend time chopping vegetables and plating dishes, where chef assistants or young junior cooks can shine. I hope this paints a common picture for you.

With this in mind, let’s talk about:

How to future-proof the success of your company

Investing in junior web developers can save your money and, at the same time, help you build the next generation of leaders within your company. To understand how this happens, let’s break it down:

• Junior web developers who grow within your team will become, in time, loyal employees. They level up as highly skilled mid-level and senior web developers who will know 100% of what’s expected and already have a good understanding of your company’s core values and technical needs
• New developers will always tend to explore emerging trends and technologies at a higher rate than senior web developers, which means this is a welcome contribution to your tech stack staying modern. Isn’t this beautiful already?
• Quite a few juniors today are already leveraging AI-assisted coding. Their help and contribution will push AI adoption, making them more efficient from day one

How does this piece of info settle in your process of thinking? What else can you think of that can optimise your budget spending on web developers in the long run?Well, I want to add one more idea and talk about:

How to create a culture of learning and innovation

I’ve noticed that some senior web developers are exposed to the possibility of becoming stagnant. If there’s nobody asking “Why?”, if there’s no fresh talent to bring new ideas and question how the process and all the moving parts come together, companies—could be your company, could be mine—will often see that innovation slows down.

How do you avoid this from ever happening? That’d be the next question. Well, by hiring junior web developers, your company can, will, should, and would:

• Encourage mentorship, which will strengthen the skill set of your team, boost overall resource capability, and, at the same time, make redundancy stronger too
• Increase knowledge sharing, which in turn ensures that general expertise isn’t isolated with just a few people
• Foster a collaborative culture where both levels are engaged—seniors often teaching, and juniors staying motivated by learning

Junior web developers: a long-term investment, not a short-term cost

Many businesses—and your business could be one of them—often hesitate to hire a junior web developer because they worry about training time and productivity. This is totally understandable and natural to worry about. To me, the reality looks a bit different. I see a company that invests in its junior web developers today as a company that will have a stronger, more cost-efficient, and more adaptable team tomorrow.