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Software Development Companies · Custom software companies
HR for Custom software companies: Client Projects, Bench Time and Developer Retention
A custom software company builds systems to a client's specification, so its income rides on developers being placed on paid projects. Hiring the right skills at the right time and keeping people between projects are the daily pressures.
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Share your requirementsA custom software company builds systems for clients on fixed-price or time-and-material terms. A project team usually has a lead, developers, a tester and a business analyst, formed when the contract starts and reshaped as scope changes. Developers move between client projects, and a gap between projects is unpaid time for the company. Hiring is driven by the next signed contract, so the company is often searching for a skill it needed last month. Some people work from home, some from a client site, and timesheets feed invoices. The wider IT and software page covers what the sector shares.
- Plan
- Hire
- Onboard
- Manage
- Develop
- Perform
- Engage
- Retain
- Exit
- Improve
When HR is weak in custom software companies, you may see
- Hiring follows the contract, not the plan
- A gap between projects costs real money
- Allocation happens by shouting
- Timesheets are filled late and loosely
- Technical assessments vary by interviewer
- Skills stay in people's heads
- Appraisals reward the visible
These are the places the people side of this kind of business tends to give way. The rest of this page works through them.
Who does the work in custom software companies
HR here has to work for each of these groups, not only the office. The set-up below is written with all of them in mind.
- Software developers
- Technical leads and architects
- Business analysts
- Testers
- User interface designers
- Project managers
- Delivery heads
- Technical recruiters
Where HR strains in custom software companies
Hiring follows the contract, not the plan
A signed project needs five developers in a month, and the search starts after the news, not before.
A gap between projects costs real money
People waiting for allocation are paid but not billed, and the best ones start looking elsewhere.
Allocation happens by shouting
Who goes to which client is decided in a hurry by whoever asks first, with little regard for skills or learning.
Timesheets are filled late and loosely
Invoices depend on them, so a missing or guessed entry becomes a billing dispute or lost income.
Technical assessments vary by interviewer
Two interviewers hold different standards, so strong candidates are lost and weak ones get in.
Skills stay in people's heads
Nobody has a current view of who knows which framework, so staffing a new project starts from guesswork.
Appraisals reward the visible
The developer who shows up at client calls is noticed, and the one who fixes quiet problems is passed over.
HR topics for custom software companies
Start with the topics that matter most here: Recruitment and Talent Acquisition; Learning and Development; Performance Management. Then work through the rest. Each topic is written for information technology and software, not in general.
Recruitment and Talent Acquisition
Requisition to joining, the same way every time.
Learning and Development
Training planned from need rather than from the calendar.
Performance Management
Goals, reviews and ratings that hold up in a conversation.
HR Strategy and Workforce Planning
How many people, in which roles, by when — and what they will cost.
Organisation Design
Structure, reporting lines and who is allowed to decide what.
Onboarding and Probation
A first day that is the same for the fifth joiner as the first.
Employee Administration
Records, attendance, leave and the day-to-day HR that must simply work.
Compensation, Payroll and Benefits
Salary structure, payroll inputs and a month that closes on time.
Career and Succession Management
Named backups for the roles that cannot be vacant.
Employee Engagement and Experience
Communication, recognition and the conditions people actually work in.
Employee Relations
Two routes — one for complaints, one for conduct — kept separate.
Policies, Compliance and Governance
Policies a manager can apply, and obligations with owners and dates.
Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Induction, records, incident reporting and follow-through.
Retention and Attrition Management
Who leaves, when, why — and which of them mattered.
Exit and Alumni Management
Resignation to relieving letter, in a defined order.
HR Technology and Automation
Records that survive people, and approvals that do not queue.
HR Analytics and Management Reporting
A short monthly pack management actually reads.
HR Operations and Governance
An HR function that runs the same way every month.
What a working HR set-up looks like
The pieces a custom software companies business puts in place, in an order that makes each easier. Open any card for the detail.
Forecast hiring from the sales pipeline
Share likely contracts with HR monthly so searches begin before signing.
What this coversHide
Forecast hiring from the sales pipeline
Share likely contracts with HR monthly so searches begin before signing.
What this coversHideShare likely contracts with HR monthly so searches begin before signing. See recruitment process consulting.
Use a common technical assessment
One set of tasks and a scoring sheet for each skill, with two interviewers and a short debrief.
What this coversHide
Use a common technical assessment
One set of tasks and a scoring sheet for each skill, with two interviewers and a short debrief.
What this coversHideOne set of tasks and a scoring sheet for each skill, with two interviewers and a short debrief.
Keep a skill matrix
A simple grid of people against skills with levels, updated every quarter, used to staff projects and plan learning.
What this coversHide
Keep a skill matrix
A simple grid of people against skills with levels, updated every quarter, used to staff projects and plan learning.
What this coversHideA simple grid of people against skills with levels, updated every quarter, used to staff projects and plan learning. Competency and talent management builds it.
Plan allocation ahead
A weekly view of who is free in four to six weeks so gaps are filled with learning or internal work, not idleness.
What this coversHide
Plan allocation ahead
A weekly view of who is free in four to six weeks so gaps are filled with learning or internal work, not idleness.
What this coversHideA weekly view of who is free in four to six weeks so gaps are filled with learning or internal work, not idleness.
Fix a timesheet rhythm
Daily or weekly entry with a lead's review before invoice date, so numbers are right the first time.
What this coversHide
Fix a timesheet rhythm
Daily or weekly entry with a lead's review before invoice date, so numbers are right the first time.
What this coversHideDaily or weekly entry with a lead's review before invoice date, so numbers are right the first time.
Appraise on delivery and teamwork
Review code quality, delivery, mentoring and client feedback with peers, not only by project manager impression.
What this coversHide
Appraise on delivery and teamwork
Review code quality, delivery, mentoring and client feedback with peers, not only by project manager impression.
What this coversHideReview code quality, delivery, mentoring and client feedback with peers, not only by project manager impression.
Start by checking where you stand
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These checks take an afternoon and tell you which of the topics above to start with.
Share your requirements- List signed and likely projects for the next quarter and the skills each needs.
- Count developers who were unallocated for more than two weeks last quarter.
- Check how many interviewers use the same questions and scoring.
- Ask three leads who knows a given framework in the company and compare lists.
- Look at how many timesheets were corrected after invoices went out.
- Confirm with a qualified professional the employment terms, confidentiality and ownership of work, and client contract duties relevant to a company building systems for others.
Confirm with a qualified professional. What applies to you depends on your business, your state and your arrangements, and it changes. This page describes practice. It does not state a legal position.
How GullyHR helps
The services below fit this kind of business best. Each starts by recording where you stand, and every later report compares against that. We do not promise outcomes.
- Recruitment process consulting
A hiring routine that follows the pipeline and uses one standard of assessment.
- Competency and talent management
A skill matrix that supports allocation and learning plans.
- Employee onboarding process
A first-month plan that gets a developer onto a client project quickly.
- Performance management process
Appraisals that reward delivery, quality and mentoring.
Start with a free conversation, or see the paid HR Diagnostic.
Our HR transformation approach
- 1
Assess
Understand the business, its workforce, current processes and HR challenges.
- 2
Identify gaps
Find the missing, weak, inconsistent or person-dependent processes.
- 3
Design
Create the structure, processes, policies, SOPs, dashboards and systems needed.
- 4
Implement
Help HR and department managers actually adopt the new system.
- 5
Automate
Digitise repetitive and approval-based workflows where it is worth doing.
- 6
Measure
Track hiring, attendance, employee cost, performance, training and attrition.
- 7
Improve
Strengthen the people-management system continuously, not once.
Blogs worth reading first
From the GullyHR blog: one on HR in information technology and software, and one on each of the topics this page points to.
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Questions owners ask
Share the sales pipeline with HR each month, keep a warm list of past candidates and screen by skill early. Then hiring begins when a deal is likely, not after it closes.
Plan allocation four to six weeks ahead and use gaps for learning, internal tools or helping with proposals. Idle waiting is costly and pushes good people to leave.
Use the same tasks per skill, a written scoring sheet and two interviewers who compare notes. Review the questions twice a year as technologies change.
Yes, if it is simple and refreshed quarterly. It lets you staff projects faster, plan learning and see which skills are held by one person.
Make entry daily or weekly, have the lead review before invoicing and explain how the data is used. People fill them honestly when they see the purpose.
First we would list your next quarter's projects and skills, count unallocated days and compare how interviewers score. A shared assessment and a skill matrix are a natural first job, with the scope written down for your approval.
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