How A Time Allocation System Might Be A Tech Company’s Best Friend

The recruiting process in the software industry, particularly in Silicon Valley, is highly competitive. In fact, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for software developers in the first quarter of 2014 was only 2.8%. That compares to five percent in the second quarter of 2009, and 5.5% in the first quarter of 2010. Brilliant engineers can afford to be choosy when it comes to accepting new work, which means that companies hoping to woo this talent must be accommodating in order to bring them onto their team.

While providing excellent salaries and challenging work is important, it is also necessary to have an efficient accounting/payroll system in place to make life easier for both employee and administrator. Many software employees will opt out of working for a particular company if their timesheet system is, well, time-consuming. Implementing a time allocation system to track software developers’ progress on projects might be your company’s best bet for the following reasons:

1) SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS' TIME CAN BE DIFFICULT TO MEASURE

Things move at a lightening pace in the world of software. Whether a software engineer is developing new code, testing for bugs or performing more research, the days are often long and atypical. Much like a writer or an artist, often an engineer will have to take time to develop new methods, incubate ideas, and get in a productive “zone”.

In order to get into their most optimal and productive groove, they may need to step away from a project, work on something else, and come back to it later. However, once these wheels do start turning, their level of productivity spikes rapidly. This creative process ebbs and flows (and will be less productive if progress is disrupted, therefore making it difficult to assign an hourly metric to measure it.

2) THE LAW MAY AFFECT HOW SILICON VALLEY EMPLOYEES TRACK THEIR WORK

According to California Overtime Law, if a software employee spend more than 50% of of their time designing and writing code, and they make more than the required salary or hourly rate, they may be exempt from receiving overtime pay. On the other hand, spending a percentage of their time working on other coding tasks might entitle them to overtime. In this instance, tracking their work based on an hourly system will likely not accurately reflect what they should be entitled to. In such instances, keeping track of projects by percentages is the most desirable method of project management for these Silicon Valley software workers.

3) TIME IS MONEY, PARTICULARLY FOR SOFTWARE EMPLOYEES

It’s no secret that many coders can work long and/or inconsistent hours. Often, there is a period of “crunch time”, when a software developer or team will tackle a project with a looming deadline. This period of crunch time can often involve long days/nights where the team comes together to deliver the product on time and bug-free. The last thing on a developer’s mind during this time is filling out their timesheets!

However, time-tracking is still fundamental, and employees do need to be accountable to their project managers and finance teams. So what’s the solution?

NEXONIA TIME ALLOCATION PROGRAMS MAKE TIME-TRACKING A PIECE OF CAKE

Using a web-based time allocation program, software employees can quickly submit their working time with a couple clicks of the mouse. Removing the need for paperwork or disrupting productivity while they’re in the “zone” or “crunch time” will likely improve employee satisfaction and the company’s bottom line.

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2014-11-24