in
Forums
Hello all,
I've been a manager in software quality for over 5 years but in every company I've worked, software testing has been done by only exempt employees. I've now moved to a company that uses a lot of non-exempt workers. So, besides the joys of dealing with approving hourly timecards, what should I modify? Should I do anything differently with non-exempt workers?
- Shelley
New to managing non-exempt employees - looking for advice
Hi Shelley. Be sure you understand the different rules / laws that surround non-exempts. Your company may have some rules as well.
Other than that. If the testers are individual contributors then it doesn't matter that they are exempt or non-exempt. Feedback, coaching, one on ones, delegation all work the same way. Even if they are not individual contributors there is no change to the basics.
New to managing non-exempt employees - looking for advice
Process improvement with an eye toward efficiency/effectiveness training would be even more important with these folks than it is in a typical QA shop. Not that it's right, but with a group of salaried workorers, the temptation is to just have them put in extra hours when there is a heavy workload or a tight deadline, and it's an "easy" choice because there's no immediate extra cost to the company. With a pool of hourly workers, you have the opportunity to save all those overtime/time-and-a-half charges if you can balance the workload and get them accomplishing more in less time.