Recruiting skilled Web developers can be tough for online travel agencies (OTAs). But one way for a company can lure the smarties is by earning a reputation as being an engaging place to work.
Case in point: Booking.com, which is thrashing its competitors in European hotel sales.
The OTA has an industry reputation for trusting its developers, not micro-managing them.
In one example, its developers have the authority to release an experiment into the wild to 100% of users without anyone's permission.
Well, that's a bit overstated. Spokesperson Anoeska van Leeuwen gave Tnooz a more nuanced policy statement:
Our developers are first and foremost data-driven (versus opinion-driven). Once an experiment has proven over time to lead to a real business benefit the development team can turn the experiment full on.
I can't point to a single experiment for competitive reasons, but I guess since we run multiple tests each day, our current website is the best proof of what went well.
We also strongly believe in the manifesto for agile software development.
Sister company Kayak has a similar approach. About 20% of its users see an experiment from its developers every day.
Sometimes it's the little things, like trusting your developers and giving them freedom, that can make a difference.