Question for other IT folk
Feb. 7th, 2018 09:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenayFor the last few years, my company has been doing a Drive To 85 initiative (they love titles like that), which has different meanings for different areas, but for IT, it means that we're supposed to aim for at least 85% of our time to be logged on development/maintenance work.
Preferably 90%, but they're settling for 85% right now.
The definition of this is that all time at our desks working on stuff or in meetings (staff, project) is logged as development time. All other time (vacation, statutory holidays, sick, appointments, annual review, training, personal development) is logged as non-development time. The 85% is calculated from that.
I got curious, because I've realised that the last time we were offered any kind of training course (other than access to on-our-own-time on-line courses) was before the initiative began, so I did some maths.
If I take my full four weeks of vacation, all the statutory holidays (rare), company average sick time (we got told it, as a reason for why we only get 8 days), a couple of doctor's appointments, and actually log a couple of hours for my annual review...I just about clear the 85% mark. JUST. If I were to log any training time or personal development, I'd be at less than 85%. And anyone with more than four weeks of vacation immediately goes below 85% unless they never get sick. None of us will ever hit 90%, unless we stop taking our full vacation time.
We were told the 85% goal is standard for the IT industry and achieving it is a sign of a good IT shop. So my questions are thus:
1) Is this a measure any of you have ever heard of?
2) Does your company/department have this goal?
3) If it does, how is it calculated? How do any of you achieve that while actually attending any training/workshops/conferences? (I've heard people in other companies still actually do this kind of thing, which sounds like a strange and delightful concept that I miss.)
I'm not expecting to use this info in my current job, but it would be helpful to get some idea of what to expect at another company on this front.
Preferably 90%, but they're settling for 85% right now.
The definition of this is that all time at our desks working on stuff or in meetings (staff, project) is logged as development time. All other time (vacation, statutory holidays, sick, appointments, annual review, training, personal development) is logged as non-development time. The 85% is calculated from that.
I got curious, because I've realised that the last time we were offered any kind of training course (other than access to on-our-own-time on-line courses) was before the initiative began, so I did some maths.
If I take my full four weeks of vacation, all the statutory holidays (rare), company average sick time (we got told it, as a reason for why we only get 8 days), a couple of doctor's appointments, and actually log a couple of hours for my annual review...I just about clear the 85% mark. JUST. If I were to log any training time or personal development, I'd be at less than 85%. And anyone with more than four weeks of vacation immediately goes below 85% unless they never get sick. None of us will ever hit 90%, unless we stop taking our full vacation time.
We were told the 85% goal is standard for the IT industry and achieving it is a sign of a good IT shop. So my questions are thus:
1) Is this a measure any of you have ever heard of?
2) Does your company/department have this goal?
3) If it does, how is it calculated? How do any of you achieve that while actually attending any training/workshops/conferences? (I've heard people in other companies still actually do this kind of thing, which sounds like a strange and delightful concept that I miss.)
I'm not expecting to use this info in my current job, but it would be helpful to get some idea of what to expect at another company on this front.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-08 08:34 am (UTC)HOWEVER - I have been at companies where we were expected to give 40 hours a week on client work, and then training/admin/workshops also had to fit into the week in the form of unpaid overtime. Because that was "what you did" as a consultant.
(Vacation time/sick time did not factor in though.)
no subject
Date: 2018-02-08 12:12 pm (UTC)The message I'm getting is that nobody has ever heard of it, which is probably why my extensive Googling couldn't pick up any trace of it or how other companies calculate it. I suspect my company thinks we'll never check their claims about how "market standard" our pay and conditions are. What I did find was a lot of recommendations that companies should provide certain minimum levels of training etc. each year, to ensure their employees maintain skill levels and help with staff retention.
I have been at companies where we were expected to give 40 hours a week on client work, and then training/admin/workshops also had to fit into the week in the form of unpaid overtime. Because that was "what you did" as a consultant.
Yeah, this kind of thing is what I'm aiming to avoid. Which is why I don't particularly want to go the full consultant route, unless the consultancy I'm working for has some enlightened views on these matters.
I've seen some fun recommendations that IT folks should spend a minimum of twenty hours a week of their own time AS STANDARD on training and upgrading skills which...well, it might be doable in the short-term, but given the hours we tend to work, that's turning a 40-50 hour week into a 60-70 hour week. Seems like a guaranteed way to burn yourself out very fast.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-08 08:16 pm (UTC)That is ridiculous!
Well, actually, I guess if you are trying to get a new, much more highly paid job, then it makes sense to do that on your own time. But not as something that will benefit your current employer and not you (unless it comes with a pay rise).
no subject
Date: 2018-02-08 10:27 pm (UTC)I mean, I'm doing a fair bit of stuff on my own time right now because I'm going to be looking for a new job and I want that job to pay better. Doing a bit of training/research on our own time (within reason) to keep ourselves market-ready is probably sensible. Learning a new skill when it's going to benefit us, professionally or for a fun personal project, is great if we want to.
But doing twenty hours a week as a standard part of our lives is unsustainable, ridiculous, and not going to benefit anyone. Not even our current employe, because we'll burn out after six months.
A good employer who wants their staff to stay up to date with current technology and skillsets will provide time to do the necessary research and training. It's an investment *for them*.
Honestly, there are some deeply awful things out there being recommended to baby developers that make me want to cry for them.
no subject
Date: 2018-02-19 03:31 am (UTC)