As I am aware most of the IT companies works with hourly model. Where we track everyone's hours and based on the hours spent user would receive the amount.
Now this is not very practical when you have salaried employees who are paid for the whole day based on their in out time. I am thinking to change it a bit and make it task based.
i.e. For example a developer would have list of tasks and time based on his role. So if he has x number of tasks for the day and he completes it without 6 hours instead of daily time of 8 hours. We don't want to cut any salary but we will appreciate it and would give him full salary of the day.
Theoretically everyone would accept this and would love this process. But practically from the management's prospective, I am bit confused about its implementation.
I would really like to know your views. Even if you think it's ridiculous idea please share your point. As this would help me in decision making. Saving Changes...
Thomas WalentaGlobal Project Economy ExpertHackenheim, Germany
Hi Dhvani,
in many countries where you find employment laws and unions (like most over Europe), an employment contract and a customer contracts are totally unrelated. Employees receive a fixed salary and maybe incentives based on annual individualized goals. No dis-incentives.
The thinking is that the risk of performance is owned by the company and not the employee. I agree that web-based engagements and many countries with less worker related history and settings may not follow that thinking.
If you want to motivate people to do the work faster and with less cost, money is not the best lever anyhow. Building teams and supporting employees is a better way, e.g. servant leadership.
Thomas
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1 reply by Dhvani Kotak
Sep 20, 2021 5:58 AM
Dhvani Kotak
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Hello Thomas,
My focus is not on deducting the salaries. I want to give more flexibility to developers to work on their own time.
For example, if I have given a task to team, with fixed salaries, I dont want to fix them in hours, that they have to work for 8 or 9 hours on that. I am fine if they complete it within 4 hours and use other hours in their own development or in any other activity. I am still fine to give full salary without any hesitation.
Counter part is there will be very few people, who will try to do mischief here. Some I would still like to serve till my work is not getting affected. But I dont want them to make it habit. Eventually I doubt that would harm.
If I’m interpreting this correctly, you have development-based productivity and efficiency issues that you view as impacting your bottom line. Hence, you want to restructure your compensation program to, in essence, incentivize the development team to “work harder.”
In your proposed incentive program, you suggest, based on my interpretation, the following two characteristics:
- [1] Cut the salary of a developer who does not finish a task in the estimated time frame.
- [2] Give a developer time off correlative to the amount of time they finish a task ahead of the estimate.
You recognize this is a complicated scheme and are asking how you would manage/track its implementation. I use the term “scheme” as this type of structure (depending on different factors) would be illegal in many countries and is additionally (in my opinion) counterintuitive to your objective. Here are some thoughts in that regard:
- Your measurements are predicated on your “estimation mechanism.” Is it possible that your root issue exists there versus the performance and efficiency of the development team?
- The incentive mechanism you described is a “double-edged sword.” Suppose you give a developer time off related to them finishing a task ahead of schedule. In that case, you are a) losing development opportunity, and b) you incentivize the developer to take shortcuts and to “game the system” for the “carrot.”
- The scheme will have a demoralizing effect on the developers, which will impact your objectives more than the current-state situation.
There are countless opportunities, but at a general level, I would suggest a focus on the following:
- Evaluate your estimation mechanism, make sure the developers who do the work have a “say” in that process. Look to see what impact “winning the bid” is having on the quality of your estimates, etc.
- Create an incentive program wherein developers have an opportunity for a bonus when a “package of activities” has been completed per a “fair set of KPI’s” (Key Performance Indicators). It would help if you also involved them in the discussion of these KPI’s to cultivate a “vested interest.” This vesting and the financial incentive will change the dynamic of your development team.
Bottom Line: Involving the developers in the solution will create “goodwill” that will have an immediate positive impact on the team, but the real value will come from their future outputs when they realize the incentives they helped create.
George
Thank you George, You get me right.
I agree with you putting developers in decision making will ofcourse give the best results.
I will think around pointers you shared. Saving Changes...
in many countries where you find employment laws and unions (like most over Europe), an employment contract and a customer contracts are totally unrelated. Employees receive a fixed salary and maybe incentives based on annual individualized goals. No dis-incentives.
The thinking is that the risk of performance is owned by the company and not the employee. I agree that web-based engagements and many countries with less worker related history and settings may not follow that thinking.
If you want to motivate people to do the work faster and with less cost, money is not the best lever anyhow. Building teams and supporting employees is a better way, e.g. servant leadership.
Thomas
Hello Thomas,
My focus is not on deducting the salaries. I want to give more flexibility to developers to work on their own time.
For example, if I have given a task to team, with fixed salaries, I dont want to fix them in hours, that they have to work for 8 or 9 hours on that. I am fine if they complete it within 4 hours and use other hours in their own development or in any other activity. I am still fine to give full salary without any hesitation.
Counter part is there will be very few people, who will try to do mischief here. Some I would still like to serve till my work is not getting affected. But I dont want them to make it habit. Eventually I doubt that would harm. Saving Changes...
You have to monitor results not effort. Management tends to be overly concerned about effort - time sheets, activity, at-the desk, etc.
In order to re-focus on results oriented management you have to set deliverables and expectations, leaving effort to the individual accountable for the results. Set the task, agree on expectations and let the individual/worker monitor and measure effort.
If you are really worried about "monitoring everyone" then install time clocks (or cameras) and stop giving the impression that you are, or are interested in being an "enlightened manager".
I will think on your pointers. Dont want to monitor everyone, but would like to randomly verify.
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1 reply by Keith Novak
Sep 20, 2021 8:27 PM
Keith Novak
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If you have ethical staff, it is not necessary to put a camera on everyone to monitor charging. Workers can self-report what hours they charge to what projects in the chosen business system. There may be situations where based on the charging reports, you question what someone is working on or how much time they charge to projects vs. overhead.
Where I have been required to keep a close eye on project charging, we monitor the data, rather than the people. If we see unusual charging patterns, then we ask questions. We generally use it to evaluate overall performance more so than to watch individuals.
I have seen applications where you can track your hours among various activities by logging in and out of each one throughout a day, but where I have seen them used, they are a job aid to make it simpler for people to accurately keep track.
Saving Changes...
Peter RapinSubject Matter Expect; Project Delivery| Independent ConsultantOntario, Canada
Careful in measuring performance only in terms of effort (hours = costs). KPIs, as mentioned before, should include for quality, customer satisfaction, team work, innovation, communication, etc. Any kind of staff monitoring, reward and/or bonus system needs to look at the total picture. Completion of task in four versus six hours is only part of the performance consideration.
Estimated level of effort and actual level of effort are two different beasts. Like comparing apples to bananas - their only commonality is being edible fruit. Saving Changes...
I will think on your pointers. Dont want to monitor everyone, but would like to randomly verify.
If you have ethical staff, it is not necessary to put a camera on everyone to monitor charging. Workers can self-report what hours they charge to what projects in the chosen business system. There may be situations where based on the charging reports, you question what someone is working on or how much time they charge to projects vs. overhead.
Where I have been required to keep a close eye on project charging, we monitor the data, rather than the people. If we see unusual charging patterns, then we ask questions. We generally use it to evaluate overall performance more so than to watch individuals.
I have seen applications where you can track your hours among various activities by logging in and out of each one throughout a day, but where I have seen them used, they are a job aid to make it simpler for people to accurately keep track. Saving Changes...
