Grow Your Own Programmers

Teaching novices how to program solves many problems

By Janet Dight, Datamation, June 15, 1986.

Frustrated by the programmer shortage? Tired of trying to outbid your competition for competent help? Fed up with computer science graduates who'd rather design a compiler than write the application code you need? Then maybe it's time you grew your own.

Teaching novices to program is a trend that's on the rise because it solves so many problems. It's cheaper to train a new programmer than to hire an experienced one. And when you do your own training, you can create the kind of programmers you need.

In-house training programs can be as simple as assigning a staff member to spend a relatively small amount of time teaching a few hires how to program. Or training can involve mass production of programmers using a separate faculty and elaborate training facilities. A closer look at three very different organizations illustrates a range of methods being used to grow programmers in-house.

The Hartford Insurance Group, Hartford, Conn., has a highly organized and well-run program. An employer of approximately 19,000 people nationwide, the Hartford has a DP staff of over 2,000 people, with 100 programmers being "created" at any given time. The Hartford initiated its plan to overcome a programmer shortage and combat the salary wars in the Hartford area because "it's not really productive to compete for experienced people here," according to Bill Sebrell, director of data processing education for the insurance giant. "Not only is it expensive, but it causes turnover, because we're forced to bring in new people at a higher salary than we pay our old people."

Sebrell says there aren't enough trained professionals in the Hartford area to satisfy his company's growth needs. "If we wanted to hire 20 experienced programmers, we would have to recruit from a much larger geographical base, transport people in for interviews, and relocate them. The cost would get prohibitive."

Four programmer trainee classes, with 20 to 30 students in each class, are always in session at the Hartford. At least five seats in each class are reserved for Hartford employees. The company has found that internal recruits tend to stay with the company longer than those from the outside.

For the other openings in a class, college graduates are preferred. People who have two years of work experience get preferential treatment, too. "We find that they make better employees and better students than someone who just got out of college," says Sebrell, "because they have a better idea of what the business world is all about." Finally, the number of minorities and women in each class is strictly controlled to help achieve EEO requirements.

The Hartford uses the Wolfe-Spence test to screen applicants for programming aptitude. Wolfe-Spence is one of a handful of commercially available tests designed to measure programming aptitude and potential (see "In Search of Aptitude"). Says Sebrell, "If you don't have the aptitude for this business, you're wasting time trying to become a programmer. I can teach you all the tools, but if you can't apply them, they're useless."

A training manager, in conjunction with a team from the personnel department, interviews applicants who score above 80 on the Wolfe-Spence test, which has a top score of 100. The training manager makes the final selection and oversees the trainees through the training process. The DP education staff, not the DP managers, hire the trainees. Formerly, when the DP managers did the hiring, they had trouble selecting good applicants when there was little or no work or programming experience on which to base a decision. Many education staff members have a background in personnel and considerable experience interviewing prospective trainees.

The Hartford gets five to 10 qualified applicants for each spot in the training program. Word of mouth draws most applicants; no advertising or other recruitment efforts are used.

Trainees are paid $18,400 to start. They spend the first eight weeks - 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., five days a week - in a classroom learning COBOL, JCL, and structured coding, and working on programming problems. Two full-time instructors share the teaching load.

CLOSE TO THE REAL WORLD

Sebrell tries to make the learning experiences as close to the real world as possible. Students who don't know how to solve a problem are expected to get help from each other, a staff member, or the instructor - as they would on the job. Tests are given, but primarily to give the students an idea of their progress. There are no grades; it's strictly pass/fail.

At the end of the eight weeks, the "draft", as Sebrell calls it, occurs. Just as in the NFL, the DP directors pick the trainees they want. They see the trainees' resumes and have an opportunity to interview them. The DP directors aren't given any information on how well the students did in class. "We certify that teach trainee who graduates is qualified to write COBOL code in our environment," says Sebrell. "My reputation depends on giving the directors a trained programmer, not a problem child." Trainees who do not measure up to expectations are let go, with no apologies.

The drafted trainees move into the DP divisions for nine months of structured on-the-job training, including 50 to 60 more days of classroom work. Sebrell's staff keeps a close watch on how well the trainees' supervisors manage their part of the training process. "We want to make sure the trainees aren't left sitting in front of the Xerox machine," says Sebrell.

Sebrell attributes the success of his program to several key staff members. He has someone who excels at selecting good trainees. He has instructors who are capable of teaching entry-level employees. Most of all, his staff does everything it its power to make sure the trainees succeed.

"You can solve your growth problems," Sebrell declares, "solve your turnover problems, and get a better and more long-lasting employee, if you grow your own programmers."

Liberal arts students fit into the Morgan Stanley Environment better than computer science graduates

A dearth of programmers with particular skills prompted L.L. Bean, the Freeport, Maine, sportswear and sporting goods manufacturer, to grow its own programmers six years ago. In 1980, L.L. Bean adopted coding standards based on structured methods, but couldn't find graduates of computer science or other DP training programs who knew enough to implement them properly. "They had no introduction to structured techniques at all," according to Pam Allen, manager of systems and programming. "They weren't even getting a good business background - it was basically just programming. So we established some standards and guidelines and put together our own training course."

When notices about the pilot training program were posted throughout the company, to Allen's surprise almost 100 people applied. "We had people from our retail store and our manufacturing facilities, people who were packing orders in the distribution center, and people working on telephones," recalls Allen. "They came from all over the company. We were looking for people who could demonstrate the analytical aptitude to do the job, and we got a lot of excellent candidates."

Like the Hartford Group, L.L. Bean screened the applicants on the basis of their Wolfe-Spence test results. The promising candidates then went through a series of interviews. The first class had six students - all of whom are still members of the DP department.

The trainees went through a four-month training course taught by a combination of in-house personnel and outside consultants. The basic concepts of DP and problem solving were taught first; then the students were introduced to COBOL and programming. After completing the course, the trainees moved into the systems and programming department and were thrown into what Allen calls "some very heavy-duty development work."

Over the next few years, both the program and the department grew. Finally, to cut the training time, Allen began looking for people with some DP background - some COBOL Programming and a familiarity with structured techniques. The Wolfe-Spence test was still used to screen the applicants, because, as Allen says, "just graduating from a program doesn't mean you'll be a good programmer."

ON THE JOB IN ONE MONTH

The experience requirement drastically reduced the number of applicants - to less than 20 for the next training session. Allen dropped the class size to four. But, she says, "we're able to get then on the job in one month instead of four." Allen was adamant about having a one-month orientation program. She says, "I felt very strongly that we had a culture and a method that had to be learned, and that the new people needed a chance to get their feet on the ground."

Since changing the requirements, Allen has had some second thoughts. "Bad habits can form very quickly," she says with concern, "and if a trainee comes in with those kinds of habits, our orientation and teaching techniques don't always correct them."

But that one doubt aside, she's pleased to report that "it's been a very positive program for us, and we're very proud of it."

At the time L.L. Bean decided to institute the training program, the systems and programming department consisted of only four people. Today that department has 40 staff members, and 65% of the staff is homegrown, according to Allen.

When it comes to training your own programmers, however, nobody does it like Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc., a major Wall Street investment bank. Theirs is the Rolls Royce of training programs.

Morgan Stanley started its entry-level training program in 1979, a time when significant growth in MIS was necessary to meet corporate expansion plans. Since good entry-level MIS talent was hard to find, Morgan Stanley decided to create its own. And the firm decided to go first class.

Morgan Stanley also hires recent college graduates, selecting only the best. "The people we bring in have very, very high grade point averages," reports Terry Ebert, manager of MIS training/recruiting. "They are aggressive, articulate, and extraordinarily intelligent."

Ebert recruits from the top 25 universities in the country, and he recruits from all majors, "art history to zoology", although economics and finance are most common. Only about 10% of new hires are computer science majors.

"It's easier to get the best people out of economics, history, or philosophy programs than it is out of computer science programs," Ebert says, "because there is less competition for liberal arts students. I can get top people less expensively than I can from computer science programs." Besides, he says, "if you give me the very brightest people I can get my hands on, I can train them to do anything."

Ebert also feels the liberal arts students fit into the Morgan Stanley environment better than computer science graduates. "They are more like investment bankers than like programmers. They attack problems from a business perspective rather than from a technical perspective. And because our trainees look, talk, and act like our users - they have similar academic and intellectual backgrounds - we have much greater credibility with our internal clients."

HIGH COST BUT LOW TURNOVER

Morgan Stanley advertises in the New York Times to pick up other good people. Over 5,000 resumes are received every year. Ultimately, only 50 people are hired. Recruiting costs are high. But Ebert feels the high costs are offset by a relatively low turnover level and a high caliber of trainee.

Eight hires are brought in every eight weeks, at a starting salary of $27,700. New hires start in the computer operations room. For their first two months, they work 60-hour weeks on round-the-clock shifts, running the computer room. There are no professional operators in the computer room other than the trainees. Former trainees act as supervisors. For the next 18 weeks, the trainees continue to work as operators, but the emphasis of their training changes to programming.

"When they come out of that program, they have, in effect, paid for their training by working for us as operators," says Ebert. "The typical person takes six months to a year to learn operations; our people can learn it in eight weeks on a part-time basis."

"The programmer shortage hasn't gone away, but there's no shortage at the entry level."

After the six-month operations and programming training, the trainees move into the systems development and applications programming group, where they are eased back to a 50-hour work week. They continue taking courses in programming techniques, and database tools, and work under the guidance of more senior programmers.

"We also begin training them in the (securities) business," Ebert says. "About half our MIS staff are licensed brokers. We want (our trainees) to really understand the fundamentals of the business and to begin to identify as business professionals." Professors from MBA programs are brought in to provide instruction in corporate finance, managerial accounting, and capital markets.

"I've worked in other shops," reports Ebert, "where people say, 'I work for Morgan Stanley, and I'm in MIS.' That's a very different perspective, and it translates into lower turnover and the ability to take a business perspective."

As might be expected, the trainees are not a docile group. They are in fact difficult to manage, according to Ebert. "You must have strong middle management, because these are very, very bright youngsters who won't do something simply because you tell them to. They want to know why and what you're going to do with it. That's the way it should be," he admits, "but it can be tough to deal with."

Ebert advises people who want to embark on a program like this to be sure they have full support from senior level management. Disruptions within the department are bound to occur. Be prepared, he says, to teach business skills as well as programming skills, and make sure you have strong MIS management too.

Growing your own programmers seems to be on the increase because it works so well. None of the companies I talked to voiced any complaints. But Chester Delaney, of the Chase Manhattan Bank in New York, feels that although creating your own programmers isn't a problem, hanging onto them may be.

Says Delaney, vice president and manager of systems training and standards for Chase, "If you're located in a large city or a highly competitive market, you may find that you're training people for your competitors. After a trainee has graduated from your class, gained a year or two of experience, and gotten over being grateful for the chance to get into programming, he may walk across the street --particularly if that street is here in New York City - and get a $10,000 raise. Once you've got a couple of years' experience, you're prime meat on the market."

Delaney also believes that companies don't need to train programmers totally from scratch. "You can find people with basic entry-level programming skills by the hundreds. Not computer science graduates, but people who have gone to an adult education or commercial programming school that puts them through three to six months of COBOL, assembler, JCL, etc. - things that are typical of an entry-level training program," he says. These people have been trained at their own expense, and are therefore fairly highly motivated. "The programmer shortage hasn't gone away," Delaney says, "but there is no shortage at the entry level. And these people need only two weeks or less of training."

If you do decide to start growing your own programmers, talk to companies who have this type of program, and learn from their experiences.

TEACH STUDENTS SLOWLY

Frank Fella, owner of the Diogenes Co., a Cincinnati-based DP training consulting firm, says many companies try to do too much at once. They sequester students in a classroom for 15 weeks and try to teach them everything there is to know about programming. By the fifteenth week, the students often can't remember what they were taught in the third week. Fella recommends instead that companies use a phased approach, where the trainees spend six weeks learning programming fundamentals, then go out on the floor to use them. Then, he says, send them back to the classroom for a week to learn more advanced material, and repeat that cycle until their training is completed.

If you use your own staff to teach the trainees, the quality of instruction becomes an important consideration. "The staff members who have the talent to teach the class," Fella says, "are usually too busy to do it. Often the mediocre people volunteer to do the training, but aren't any good at it." Companies should recognize that teaching and data processing are two different areas of expertise, and that it's difficult to find someone who can do both well.

It's also important to devote enough physical resources to the trainee program, says Gopal Kapur, president of Kapur & Associates in Danville, Calif. Kapur frequently teaches trainee development classes. Companies often forget to provide their trainees with the tools they need to learn.

"The trainees need computer time during the day while class is in session, and plenty of access to terminals and printers," he says. They also need adequate classroom space, blackboards, training manuals, and even a place to go during class breaks.

DP training professionals and in-house trainers also emphasize the importance of looking for good managerial potential as well as good programming aptitude. Creating programmers can have a positive and immediate impact on a department's technical needs. Properly selected and trained, however, those programmers can grow to be tomorrow's senior level analysts and DP managers.

(Janet Dight is an author and consultant in Colorado Springs. Her first book, Breaking the Secretary Barrier, was recently published by McGraw-Hill.)