Hiring an In-House Developer? Here’s What to Know (and What to Avoid)

Are you planning to hire an in-house web developer but don’t know where to start? Then this guide is a lifesaver for you. 

To get full control over your software, app, or website in your hand, hiring an in-house developer is a game-changer move. Nonetheless, numerous company owners have difficulty adding developers to their teams. Mistakes like these may result in the loss of money and time also make you and the developer feel unhappy together.

If you have chosen the wrong developer for your company’s website, hiring a web developer in-house will be a major problem for your business. Therefore, before the recognition of plans to add an employee who will be responsible for the business’s website, it is important to read this entire blog.

Core Learnings of the Blog:

• What’s the Job profile of an In-House Web Developer?
• What are the Benefits of Hiring an In-House Web Developer?
• What are the Disadvantages of Having an In-House Web Developer?
• What not to do when you bring the in-house web developer?
• What are the other profitable alternatives to an in-house web developer?
• Which Option Is Right for a Business Like Yours?

Let’s discuss them one by one. 

In-House Web Developer: What is it?

In-house website developer, who is in charge of the design, development, and maintenance work of the website. As the only web developer who is employed in the company, in-house developers, unlike freelancers or agencies, work exclusively for one organization, thus ensuring unity in branding, functioning, and security.

Their main duty is to talk with your in-house team – marketing and IT – in order to implement updates, optimize performance, and troubleshoot the technical issues you might have.

Hiring an in-house team definitely proves profitable if you have many IT tasks that require long-term maintenance or want a superhero who can boost your web development skills and efficiency. As is the case today, technology is changing incredibly fast.

For this reason, a technically skilled in-house web developer can be a good choice if you want your business to win the technology race. After that, we will enumerate the advantages of getting an in-house web developer.

Benefits of Hiring an In-House Web Developer

As an in-house web developer, these are the advantages you get after you are hired.

Pros 1. A deeper understanding of the Company’s Goals

One of the many characteristics of an in-house web developer is that they work for your brand exclusively. They are, therefore, able to grasp a deeper sense of what your business objective is, what kind of brand image you would want to project, and what your website users are looking for. 

Pros 2. Faster Response Time and Real-Time Support 

The other important benefit is the fact that there is always technical support available. When unforeseen technical issues arise, the first working web developer will assist the company in finding the appropriate solution, whether it’s a bug you need to eliminate, website downtime, or an update that has to be done at the very moment.

This holds for businesses with a heavy dependence on websites for customer interactions and sales.

Pros 3. Cost-Effective in the Long Run

On the one hand, hiring a typical full-time developer may seem like an expensive way to build the same product compared to outsourcing, but in the long run, it may be more cost-effective.

If you are a business owner who has been paying for website updates, security enhancements, and new features for your web and app, you might consider getting a web developer on your team.

Pros 4. Consistent Quality and Security

Freelancers and agencies may deliver great results, but consistency can be an issue. In-house developers ensure that coding standards, design aesthetics, and security protocols remain uniform across all projects.

They also help maintain a secure website by monitoring potential threats, implementing updates, and strengthening cybersecurity measures.

Pros 5. Seamless Collaboration with Internal Teams

Web development is not something that is done by a web developer alone; the marketing, sales, and IT departments are often involved and require communication.

A developer usually works in the office and collaborates with the abovementioned sections, making it much simpler to use SEO techniques, add other tools when necessary, and or revamp the site due to the users’ suggestions. It is not possible for a third party to be as tightly integrated as an in-house team. 

In a nutshell, an internal web developer provides a lot of benefits for companies in the long run, including more control, better security, faster problem-solving, and cost savings.

The process of hiring an in-house web developer comes with several advantages. Thus, it is not good in all cases. There are some disadvantages you have to face after hiring an in-house developer and sustaining it. So, if you mean business with your organization, then you should know them too.

Downsides of Hiring an In-House Web Developer

Below are the key disadvantages of hiring an in-house web developer.

Cons 1. High Costs

The expenses for employing a web developer in your organization are one of the most natural drawbacks. Besides the salary of the company, they also have to cover the cost of other benefits such as health insurance, paid leave, training, and taxes.

Besides that, the money invested in the needed software, tools, and hardware is also a factor that will increase the whole capital required; thus, outsourcing is a lower-priced solution.

Cons 2. Limited Skillset

One sole developer in the office may lack all the skills needed to fulfil various web development tasks. Web development comprises the frontend, backend, UI/UX design, SEO, and security, to mention a few of the most salient technical aspects.

A company that requires the know-how of a variety of areas may need to have more than one team or may have to outsource. This, however, will come at a cost the company will have to meet.

Cons 3. Recruitment and Training Challenges

Getting the right web developer with all the necessary skills can be a challenging and lengthy process. What’s more, technology is ever-changing, so the staff would have to keep on learning and reskilling continuously.

Employers, in turn, should fund their employees’ additional training so that they can keep up to date with new technology, which can be cumbersome.

Cons 4. Risk of Employee Turnover

One of the in-house web developers may decide to leave the company in favour of a new job, making it possible for the business to lose its site’s critical knowledge and the work that is necessary for the project’s advancement.

The search for a new developer may be time-consuming, and knowledge transfer might not be smooth. Consequently, it postpones the project and causes it to take some time.

Cons 5. Workload Fluctuations

Many companies sometimes do not undertake web development consistently. As a result, decreased productivity during break time poses a threat to the income of the salaried employee, even if they are not made a part of the payroll. With outsourcing, companies can guarantee they are paying only for tasks completed.

Cons 6. Limited Exposure to Industry Trends

Normally, freelancers and agencies juggle projects for diverse blog clients, so they gather knowledge of recent trends, tools, and best practices in the industry.

An in-house developer whose daily job is to work on the same website may also not be as up-to-date with the constant developments of the website’s technologies without the company’s help in giving them tech refreshers through training and innovation.

Cons 7. Scalability Issues

Website development requirements for companies are variable depending on the bands’ growth. A single in-house developer might have a hard time checking the large-scale project’s initial status, then again, in addition to processing the hiring or with help from others.

Organizing the hiring process for scaling an internal team will take quite a long time, but on the other hand, agencies can provide resources instantly when necessary.

And yes, to kick off the discussion, the second most important question of this blog is simply this: What situations do you need to avoid with your in-house web developer?

Whether you are planning to hire a web developer internally or outsource to a web development company, this question is equally important for you to know to prevent any kind of conflict or unnecessary delay in your website-related matters.

What not to do when you bring an in-house web developer?

Here’s a deep dive into what not to do when bringing in an in-house developer:

Mistake 1. Lack of Defining Clear Roles and Responsibilities

The roles of a developer generally involve coding, software development, IT support, and cybersecurity, but they also include graphic design.

So, developers, as they are required to have maximum proficiency in coding and software development, should remain with their specialized tasks rather than wasting time on other unimportant and unrelated ones.

What to Do Instead: 

Definitely make the exact tasks that the future employee will perform the core of the communication at the beginning before starting their work in your firm. If you need several technology skills, perhaps you should try building a small tech team or outsourcing the tasks.

Mistake 2. Not Defining Clear Goals and Expectations

Hiring a developer without a roadmap for what they’ll be working on. Without clear project goals, developers can feel lost, and your business won’t get the results you expect.

What to Do Instead: 

Before onboarding a developer, outline a 3-to-6-month plan, including:

• What are your key projects?
• What is a suitable time for your projects, including when to start, when to end, etc? 
• What do you want?

To resolve these issues, you can get help from user-friendly project management tools like Jira, Trello, or Asana. It helps you keep everything organized and makes it easy to access the project updates. 

Mistake 3. Micromanaging Their Work

Dealing with it by honestly lowering the frequency of meetings to a state where they can do whatever they want and presenting a complete plan that includes all the details of a project to them and then requiring them to justify it.

Developers require concentration and liberty in conceptualizing, altering, and working without any restriction or fear. Continuous distractions can harm output, causing employees to lose motivation to work effortlessly. 

What to Do Instead: 

Replace continuous supervision with micromanagement habits by implementing planned and structured meetings instead of one-on-one meetings. But the most important thing is to trust your developer’s expertise.

Mistake 4. Ignoring Company Culture and Team Integration

Your developer should be treated as an employee and not as a 3rd party. It is very likely that if they feel that they are far from the team, they will not be able to invest 100% of their efforts in the company.

What to Do Instead:

• Include them in team meetings.
• Foster collaboration with designers, marketers, and sales teams.
• Ensure they understand the company’s vision and goals.

A well-integrated developer is more likely to stay long-term and contribute beyond just writing code.

Mistake 5. Not Providing the Right Tools and Resources

Expecting high performance without investing in proper tools, software, or training. Developers need high-performance computers, access to the latest development tools, and sometimes even cloud servers.

What to Do Instead:

• Ask your developer about their preferred tools.
• Invest in industry-standard software (e.g., GitHub, Docker, AWS).
• Provide continuous learning opportunities (e.g., online courses, tech conferences).

Mistake 6. Setting Unrealistic Deadlines

Expecting a full-fledged website or software to be built in an impossibly short time. Rushing projects leads to poor-quality code, technical debt, and unnecessary stress.

What to Do Instead: 

The Agile development method is the best for setting up effective deadlines. Discuss with your team to develop and build realistic timelines based on this principle. You can start by breaking your projects into small, manageable tasks and segregating them based on priority. 

Mistake 7. Not Understanding or Valuing Their Work

To create a better work environment for your developers, you need to understand the complexity of the project. Coding is not a piece of cake. There is so much knowledge and skill required to build a workable software.

So, if you don’t appreciate your developers’ efforts, it leads to a negative influence on the work quality. So, you must properly allocate the necessary time, budget, or respect to the role.

What to Do Instead:

Learn the basics of software development and coding. This is not to do it yourself but to understand what’s involved. Give developers the space and respect they need to solve problems efficiently.

Mistake 8. Expecting Instant Results Without a Learning Curve

Many business owners assume that new in-house developers can give results from the first day of joining. But that’s not right. But that’s not true.

In the beginning, every developer needs to understand your existing systems; only then can they provide you with a better outcome. Every company has different tech stacks, workflows, and processes. Developers need time to adapt.

What to Do Instead:

• Give them a proper onboarding process (including documentation and training).
• Allow a ramp-up period where they can learn the codebase and company workflows before jumping into major projects.

Mistake 9. Ignoring Security and Best Practices

In the last couple of the last few years, cybercrime has realized a constant increment, which is why companies should pay attention to their websites’ security. 

What to Do Instead:

• Implement secure development workflows.
• Train developers on security best practices.
• Ensure they follow compliance requirements with all your data, especially if handling customer data.

Mistake 10. Underpaying and Overworking Them

Hiring a developer for a low salary and expecting them to work long hours. Good developers have options. If you underpay or overwork them, they’ll leave for a better opportunity.

What to Do Instead:

• Provide a competitive salary and perks
• Appreciate their contributions.

To get hassle-free coordination with your in-house developer, you need to manage these mistakes and avoid them properly. 

However, if you are looking for a better option for hiring someone permanently, this is your call. 

Want a reliable development partner?

Outsourcing web development helps businesses save time, reduces costs, and gives access to top expertise. Since 2007, Pixlogix has successfully completed more than 8000 projects from all over the world.

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Get in touch with us to start your first free consultation!

FAQs

What if you do not provide the proper onboarding for an in-house developer? 

Bad onboarding will result in confusion among new employees, taking longer to reach the expected productivity, and making that associate feel alone and disjointed, causing delays in the project and efficiency issues. 

How does a lack of collaboration affect the efficiency of an in-house developer?

A scenario where one team member is isolated from the rest of the group tends to be the point where miscommunication and project delays happen. In other cases, business projects may have confusing goals, and the developers might not be familiar with the technical implementation. 

What’s wrong with giving too many responsibilities to an in-house developer?

Requiring such a range of responsibilities from a developer, such as design, backend, frontend, SEO, and security, can induce them to the point that they will soon experience burnout, which will, of course, result in decreased productivity and, therefore, lower quality work. 

What’s the result of your not providing the right tools and software? 

Your business will not reach at least the best level if you do not have all the necessary instruments, like code editors, project management software, and testing tools.

The developer will, as a rule, be much slower and far less productive without the proposed tools. It is no wonder that without these, efficient production and productivity might be as serious issues as they can be. 

Why is it of utmost significance to set realistic deadlines for an in-house developer?

Setting unrealistic deadlines can contribute to many issues, such as disunifying the team, causing overly high levels of pressure and errors, and finally, leading to low-quality outputs that may be a reason for the decline of the business. 

Final Notes

An in-house developer could be highly beneficial for a company, yet this will only be the case if the process is managed properly. The blunders like unclear job descriptions, a lack of orientation, micromanagement, and unreasonable expectations, which are brought in by bad management, must be avoided.

By providing a developer with the proper set of tools, effective teamwork, and opportunities for advancement, you will make them a better version of themselves. Spend your resources judiciously, and your developer team will thrive!