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Software Development Companies · Mobile application companies
HR for Mobile application companies: Release Cycles, Device Testing and Scarce Specialists
A mobile application company builds for phones that its clients and their customers hold in their hands. Release dates, store reviews and device differences set a rhythm that makes scarce specialists hard to hire and easy to lose.
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Share your requirementsA mobile application company builds software for phones and tablets, either for clients or for products of its own. The team has Android and iOS developers, designers who think in small screens, back-end developers for the services behind the screens, testers with a shelf of devices, and a product or project lead. Work moves in release cycles. A build goes to the store for review, a rejection or a crash after launch needs a fix at once, and new phone versions force updates. Strong mobile developers are in short supply and know it. 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 mobile application companies, you may see
- Release days pull everyone in
- Few people can do the work
- Android and iOS skills sit in separate heads
- Testing on many devices is tiring
- Phone updates arrive on their own schedule
- Designers and developers argue over the small screen
- Remote hires drift from the team
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 mobile application 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.
- Android developers
- iOS developers
- Cross-platform developers
- Mobile user interface designers
- Back-end and service developers
- Device and release testers
- Product owners
- Project managers
Where HR strains in mobile application companies
Release days pull everyone in
A build submitted late on Friday, a store rejection on Saturday and a crash report on Sunday turn a release into a weekend for the whole team.
Few people can do the work
Good mobile developers are scarce, so offers fly and a single resignation can stall a client's release.
Android and iOS skills sit in separate heads
One platform's developer cannot cover the other, so leave or exits leave a gap.
Testing on many devices is tiring
Testers check dozens of phones and versions by hand, and the work is seen only when something is missed.
Phone updates arrive on their own schedule
New system versions force changes to released products, and the effort rarely appears in a plan or a quote.
Designers and developers argue over the small screen
What looks right in a design file behaves differently on a phone, and the discussion repeats on every project.
Remote hires drift from the team
Developers in other cities join calls but feel outside the group, and growth conversations are sparse.
HR topics for mobile application companies
Start with the topics that matter most here: Recruitment and Talent Acquisition; Learning and Development; Retention and Attrition 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.
Retention and Attrition Management
Who leaves, when, why — and which of them mattered.
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.
Performance Management
Goals, reviews and ratings that hold up in a conversation.
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.
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 mobile application companies business puts in place, in an order that makes each easier. Open any card for the detail.
Plan a release calendar
A shared view of store submissions, rollouts and holidays so leave and cover are set early.
What this coversHide
Plan a release calendar
A shared view of store submissions, rollouts and holidays so leave and cover are set early.
What this coversHideA shared view of store submissions, rollouts and holidays so leave and cover are set early. The attendance and leave process can use it.
Cross-train on both platforms
Pair Android and iOS developers on small tasks so cover exists.
What this coversHide
Cross-train on both platforms
Pair Android and iOS developers on small tasks so cover exists.
What this coversHidePair Android and iOS developers on small tasks so cover exists. The learning and development process can plan it.
Set a device lab routine
A list of devices, an owner and a way to rotate testing duty so it is shared and recognised.
What this coversHide
Set a device lab routine
A list of devices, an owner and a way to rotate testing duty so it is shared and recognised.
What this coversHideA list of devices, an owner and a way to rotate testing duty so it is shared and recognised.
Budget for platform updates
Reserve time each quarter for system changes and tell clients in contracts.
What this coversHide
Budget for platform updates
Reserve time each quarter for system changes and tell clients in contracts.
What this coversHideReserve time each quarter for system changes and tell clients in contracts. Hours then stop vanishing.
Hold design and build reviews early
A short joint session on real devices before build begins, to settle behaviour questions.
What this coversHide
Hold design and build reviews early
A short joint session on real devices before build begins, to settle behaviour questions.
What this coversHideA short joint session on real devices before build begins, to settle behaviour questions.
Include remote staff in growth talks
Monthly one to ones with remote developers and visible chances to lead.
What this coversHide
Include remote staff in growth talks
Monthly one to ones with remote developers and visible chances to lead.
What this coversHideMonthly one to ones with remote developers and visible chances to lead.
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- Count weekend releases and rejections handled in the last six months.
- List which platform skills are held by only one person.
- Ask testers how their device list was chosen and who updates it.
- Check how many hours went into system updates last quarter and who paid.
- Ask remote developers when they last spoke about their growth.
- Confirm with a qualified professional the employment terms, ownership of work and data duties relevant to a company that builds software used by the public.
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.
- Learning and development process
Cross-platform pairing and skills growth for scarce specialists.
- Recruitment process consulting
A route to find and assess hard-to-hire mobile developers.
- HR reporting and analytics
Simple measures of release load, attrition and time to hire.
- Compensation benchmarking
Pay for scarce mobile skills set against nearby offers.
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.
Industries
Hiring skilled people for industrial component makers: where to find them and how to test them
Sources beyond the neighbouring gate for setters, turners, inspectors and leak test hands, plus a one-hour bench trial built from your own rejected parts.
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Skill-building in plastic moulding and extrusion units: a training plan that survives a busy production schedule
Plastics training dies when it waits for a free Saturday. Tie it to mould changes, purges and cold starts, use one-point lessons and a visible skill ladder, and protect it in peak months.
7 min readRead article
HR Management
How to recognise and address employee workload problems
How to spot an unmanageable workload before it becomes an exit or an error, what to look at, how to talk about it and what to change, without guessing.
5 min readRead articleMore on the GullyHR blog.
Questions owners ask
Start early, assess with a short practical task, move quickly and offer growth as well as pay. Keep contact with past candidates, and consider training capable developers from a nearby platform.
Plan the release calendar early, rotate who is on call and give time back. Fix the causes too, such as late builds and unclear testing, that make weekends necessary.
Yes for basics and reviews. You will not turn an iOS specialist into an Android one overnight, but pairing builds cover for emergencies and makes people more valuable.
Treat device testing as a skill, share the load, show the defects they caught and give a path toward lead or automation roles. Their work is easily invisible.
Schedule regular one to ones, include them in planning and give them leading tasks. Meet in person now and then if budgets allow.
First we would count weekend releases, list platform skills held by single people and compare your pay with nearby offers. A learning plan for cross-cover and a release calendar are a natural first job, with scope agreed in writing.
More on HR for information technology and software
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Custom software companiesProduct engineering companiesSoftware testing companiesEnterprise software companiesWebsite development companiesRecruitment and Talent Acquisition in information technology and softwareLearning and Development in information technology and softwareRetention and Attrition Management in information technology and software
See all HR topics for information technology and software, or another industry.