How Instaffo saved €197.000 by catching engineering bottlenecks early
In Just 4 Months Instaffo Unlocked 1,816 Additional Productive Hours
In just 4 months, Instaffo set the stage to save €197,000 by catching engineering bottlenecks before they impacted delivery and retention. After growing from one to three product teams, the fast-growing job platform needed deeper insights than traditional metrics could provide. By implementing Flea's developer experience platform, they achieved the following results:
Productivity Gains + Risk Mitigation
Productivity Gains
€77.000
1.816
Additional Productive Hours unlocked
Risk Mitigation
€120.000
35%
Potential Turnover Risk Addressed
Developer Experience
+4,5%
88 →92
DevEx Score Improvement
Response Rate
90,5%
Average Survey Response Rate
With a constant 90.5% survey participation rate, Instaffo achieved a 197x return on investment while significantly outperforming the industry average score of 78.
"I'm strongly convinced that you can only improve things that you can measure somehow. With developer experience and productivity, there aren't any super clear measurements - you always need to see it in context."
Nikolai Gulatz
CTO & Co-Founder at Instaffo
During Growth Instaffo Required More Context Than Engineering Metrics Alone
Instaffo operates Germany's fastest-growing job platform for Tech, Marketing, Sales and Finance professionals, connecting over 150,000 quality-verified talents with 1,800+ companies. Following a €10M funding round, the company grew to 80+ employees, with 23 professionals in their product engineering organization across three product teams.
After growing from one to three product teams, Instaffo needed deeper insights than traditional engineering metrics could provide. While hard metrics like velocity or mean time to recovery tell part of the story, understanding the full context of developer experience required a more comprehensive approach.
Traditional Metrics Failed to Surface Critical Issues
After growing from one to three product teams, Instaffo's engineering organization faced several critical challenges that traditional metrics couldn't address:
Holistic, Context-Rich Developer Experience Insights via Team Feedback
After evaluating several alternatives including GitLab's productivity reports, custom monitoring tools, and quantitative developer productivity platforms, Instaffo chose Flea's developer experience platform for its unique approach. Unlike traditional engineering metrics that lack context and qualitative insights, Flea provides a comprehensive framework analyzing 45 scientifically validated DevEx factors that impact developer productivity and retention.
The solution comprised four key components, each addressing a specific challenge Instaffo faced with traditional metrics:
2-Hour Setup, 90.5% Response Rate, Closed Feedback Loop
Before Flea, Instaffo relied on basic quarterly developer surveys. The transition to a comprehensive developer experience platform followed a structured approach that ensured quick adoption and immediate value.
Quick Setup & Onboarding
Rapid deployment process with minimal disruption to existing workflows.
2-hour setup time
Automated Surveys
Automated quarterly surveys with smart reminders to ensure high participation.
90,5% response rate
Seamless Integration of Results
Actionable insights feed directly into OKRs
Data-driven discussions in 1:1s and team meetings
Clear tracking of improvement initiatives
Closed feedback loop
€197.000 Value Created Through Early Problem Detection
Within four months of implementing Flea, Instaffo achieved a 4.5% improvement in their overall Developer Experience Score (88 → 92). This score, measuring key factors like technical enablement, team dynamics, and career growth, placed them well above the platform average of 78% - indicating exceptional engineering team health.
€77.000 in additional productive hours gained
By identifying and addressing key bottlenecks early, Instaffo achieved measurable improvements in team productivity:
Productivity Increase
+4,5%
88 → 92 DevEx Score Improvement
Additional productive hours
1.816
23 engineers × 1,880 hours × 4.2%
Realized Value
€77.000
Based on €80,000 annual developer cost
Critical Issues With Tech Debt and Documentation Quality Have Been Surfaced and Improved
High Workload Preventing Tech Debt Management
Problem
Initial survey exposed a critical technical debt score of 50/100 as high workload was preventing focus on refactoring
Action
Integrated technical debt into OKR cycles, set up dedicated team for design system improvements
50 → 84
+68%
Result
Technical debt score improved to 84/100 (+68%) after successfully implementing critical design system updates
"We had several long-running issues that had been dragging on, ultimately leading to dissatisfaction. There was a lack of organization and resource commitment to address these problems."
- Nikolai Gulatz, CTO
Lacking Documentaton Quality
Problem
Documentation gaps significantly impacted testing velocity and delivery quality, particularly for core components with complex business logic
Action
Implemented structured documentation requirements with dedicated engineering time
70 → 90
+28,5%
Result
Documentation quality score increased from 70 to 90 (+28.5%), significantly reducing testing bottlenecks
"I had documentation issues somewhat on my radar, but I thought it was just my problem. The survey revealed it was actually affecting the entire team's ability to ship features."
- Nikolai Gulatz, CTO
€120,000 in potential turnover costs avoided
Flea's analysis revealed career development concerns across 35% of Instaffo's engineering team (8 of 23 developers) - more than double the typical rate of 16.6% seen across Flea customers. With career progression being the #1 driver of software engineer turnover in industry studies**, early intervention helps protect against potential turnover costs:
Career Development Concerns
35%
of Instaffo's dev team state dissatisfaction
Risk Indicators
2.1x
Higher career concern rate than benchmark
Potential Impact
€120.000
1.5× salary (avg. industry replacement cost)
Critical Issues With Career Clarity and Team Connection Have Been Surfaced Before Impacting Retention
Missing Career Framework
Problem
35% of engineers expressed direct frustration with career progression. Clarity of career path scores dropped further from an already comparatively low 68 to 66.
Action
Added "Introduce a career framework for frontend and backend roles" as a key initiative in current OKR cycle
68 → 66
-3%
Status
Implementation in progress, actively working to define clear career progression paths
"I appreciated that the need for a career framework came bottom-up from the developers requesting more guidance, rather than me saying from the top down, we need some career framework now so we can evaluate you all and have feedback conversations."
- Nikolai Gulatz, CTO
"Without career goals, it's hard to know what skills and knowledge I need to acquire. It's harder to get specific feedback on my performance and how it aligns with my career goals."
- Software Engineer, Instaffo
Missing Team Connection
Problem
Team connection scores dropped significantly from 94 to 84 (-10.6%) in just one quarter as engineers noted feeling isolated from their colleagues outside of formal meetings and work discussions.
Action
Implementing virtual coffee rounds, casual check-ins, and online team events.
94 → 84
-11%
Status
Early stages of implementation, with initial positive feedback from team members
"Working remotely makes it hard to feel connected, there's no casual chat, just tasks and screens. Sometimes it feels isolating, like I'm just sending messages into the void."
- Software Engineer, Instaffo
Better Insights, Seamless Processes, and Data-Driven Decisions
"Now I can sleep calmly at night knowing we'll catch critical issues before they impact our delivery."
Nikolai Gulatz
CTO & Co-Founder at Instaffo
The transformation provided three core strategic advantages:
Holistic View of Leading Indicators
Comprehensive visibility into 45 DevEx areas typically marked as blind spots
90.5% participation rate enabled truly representative insights
Flexibility of anonymous and named responses ensuring candid feedback
Developer feedback revealed issues before impacting standard engineering metrics
Seamless Process Integration
Natural enhancement of established management rhythms and workflows
Insights enhanced regular 1:1- and team meetings
Teams incorporated feedback into OKR planning cycles
Flea's recommended actions provided clear starting points for solution development
Data-Driven Decision Making
Identify problems while still manageable
Allocate resources based on concrete evidence
Track improvement impact through consistent metrics
Maintain high team engagement with minimal time investment
Join Instaffo and other leading companies in building a more productive, engaged engineering team with Flea.
Because developers know best.
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