[JCraig]

At my last position, we were told that it was expected to refactor every time we updated any module. However, we had no list of things that needed to be refactored, no real team programming patterns or standards, and we were rewarded almost solely on implementing new features quickly. Sure, someone could refactor code and make it easier for others in the future, but there was never a reward for that, and often there were questions about why it took extra time to implement.

Without team standards, a list of things to refactor (if available), and rewards or recognition for actually making cleaner, more maintainable code, most developers will do what gets them recognition, pay raises, and such. The thing that often gets recognized is implementing new, visible features.