Why Do I Need a Confidentiality Agreement?

A confidentiality agreement also called a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is an important legally-binding document that protects your intellectual property and other sensitive data. An employee agrees to avoid disclosing the company’s information, practices and processes, data and clients/customers. This document which should be notarized will restrict an individual from sharing or disclosing information that could be damaging to your business. The agreement also outlines what type of information is protected and the remedies in the event of a breach, such as agreeing to compensate the company for any and all damages that arise as a direct result of the former employee’s alleged disclosure.

Some NDAs are in effect indefinitely, while others are valid for a particular time frame. Tech companies frequently specify a timeframe, as some information is only relevant or valuable for a matter of weeks, months or years. For instance, a developer who worked for Google in 2009 would likely possess little information that would be relevant to competitors in 2017, since the tech and search landscape has evolved in a very dramatic fashion. So Google might implement a three- or five-year prohibition on working for a direct competitor.

These agreements must be reasonable, or they may not be enforceable in court. If you were to prohibit employees from working with any and all other IT service providers forevermore, then it’s virtually certain a judge would deem this to be unreasonable and unenforceable.

Companies can include confidentiality-related clauses in their employment contracts too. For example, it’s common practice for tech companies to impose a prohibition on working for specific competitors for anywhere from one to five years after they leave the company. This prevents the talent from intentionally or unintentionally providing proprietary information or insight to the competition.

What are the Challenges Surrounding Confidentiality Agreements?

For employees who are working in another region whether it’s in another state or in another country you may encounter some challenges, because it can be difficult to craft an agreement that is valid in both jurisdictions. This is a significant problem in outsourcing, since you could find the confidentiality agreement is not worth the paper it’s written on. Even determining which jurisdiction’s laws prevail can be a major obstacle.

Another issue surrounds enforcement and litigation. Even if you hire an attorney to draft a legally-sound confidentiality agreement that covers you in all relevant jurisdictions, you may still face challenges if you actually need to enforce it. This gets tricky because your company may need to hire an attorney in another state or even another country. This long distance legal work can get very expensive, so it’s a key consideration. If you’re not willing or financially able to enforce the NDA or confidentiality agreement for an employee who is living/working in another region, then that document holds little water.

Legal soundness is yet another key point to weigh. Many companies take the fast and easy route by using one of the many non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement templates online. But these generic documents frequently omit key clauses and essential information. This is one area where you want to ensure that you’ve covered your bases by investing in an attorney’s services. An experienced business lawyer can examine your unique needs, drafting an agreement that will offer maximum protections to your company and its interests.

Projects that are outsourced overseas carry the highest risk in terms of confidentiality agreement breaches. The distance makes enforcement quite costly and complex, and that says nothing of the struggles associated with long distance project oversight. Deception is also far harder to detect at a distance. These factors make vetting and reference checks all the more vital during the recruiting and hiring process.

Vetting Software Developers and Tech Staff

Vetting is an important part of the hiring process for software developers, app developers, IT experts and other tech staff, as you’re entrusting these individuals with access to potentially valuable intellectual property and data. There’s virtually nothing stopping a developer from swiping source code for a proprietary software program, removing your company branding and other identifiers before selling the software on the open market (or worse, selling to a competitor!).

Vetting allows you to identify individuals who are more likely to be ethical and honest. You can also ask if the person shared information gleaned from prior employers. If an individual has a history of sharing one company’s data with another, then this is a huge red flag.

IT professionals may also have access to extensive databases. A large, niche-specific customer list can carry tremendous value on the open market, and this type of breach can have a devastating impact on your company’s image. A single incident involving a customer list disclosure holds the power to obliterate the public’s trust in your business.

The frightening part is that you may never discover that these breaches have occurred. For example, you may fail to realize that your lead developer has sold your proprietary enterprise software to the competition. This is a major concern across all industries, and it leaves many companies hesitant and considering different strategies to hire temporary tech and IT staff. It can get particularly challenging if they would require access to sensitive data.

Even the most legally-sound confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement may not phase an unethical person who has ulterior motives. They believe that with the right precautions, their betrayal will never be discovered. There is one point working in your favor, however: this type of person virtually always has a spotty history. For this reason, it’s important to thoroughly vet your developers and IT staff, performing background checks when necessary and contacting references. You can also implement tech measures to provide added peace of mind, such as sophisticated security and logging software, that monitors activity and regulates permissions to restrict access to sensitive data.

This is one advantage of working with a tech staffing firm like iTech, as we have the experience required to find trustworthy and skilled talent. In fact, many of our developers and IT professionals have worked for many of our clients, proving themselves as ethically sound individuals. Additionally, we work with IT professionals and developers from across the globe, sending talent to work for clients across the U.S. and beyond. This gives our clients an advantage in terms of accidental disclosures, as there is little chance that a former tech staffer will subsequently make an accidental disclosure to a direct, local competitor. In contrast, if you’re limited to local talent, there is a good chance temporary staff may go on to work for a local competitor.

Our company serves clients throughout the Texas Triangle (Houston, Austin and Dallas) and across the United States. We work to gain a firm understanding of your unique needs and your development project specs, which we then use to craft the perfect job description. iTech’s team oversees the entire recruiting process, providing you with a talented tech team that will maximize your company’s productivity. We invite you to contact us to learn more about our service offerings.

The post Reduce Hiring Risk: Confidentiality Agreements and Employee Vetting first appeared on iTech.

As you’re developing your hiring process for software developers, IT professionals and other tech staff, you’ll need to have a firm understanding of what these staff do in the course of their job and how they do it. For this reason, it’s advisable to work with your tech team leaders or department managers to develop the exact protocol for hiring.

Questions Your Software Developer Hiring Process Should Answer

Some aspects of your tech hiring process will be common to the entire division, whereas other elements will be specific to certain subdivisions or positions. To get started, you’ll want to spend some time on the following considerations:

• What kind of development methodology do you utilize? Virtually all modern tech teams have transitioned from a waterfall methodology to an agile methodology. Scrum is king. That said, many companies will adapt the standard methodologies to suit their unique requirements. For this reason, it’s critical that you understand the standard development methodologies and identify any areas where your company’s methodology departs from the traditional path. You may then consider candidates’ qualifications with an eye toward using your particular methods.

• How does your tech team coordinate and manage workflow? Methodology aside, how does your team coordinate workflow on a daily basis? Do you hold daily meetings or require team members to provide status reports? Do you use a portal like Jira to help coordinate your workflow? Do you have development team leaders and group captains that lead smaller sub-groups of 5 or 10 people? Understand how information is shared, how duties are determined and assigned and how everyone communicates/coordinates as the project progresses from phase to phase all contribute to job performance. Knowing these particulars can help you find individuals or teams of developers with the right mix of soft skills to fit in from the start.

• What’s your company culture? Your company culture can have a major impact on the day-to-day lives of your staff. For example, if you have a very relaxed company culture, where it’s acceptable to wear casual attire and bring your dog into the office, then this must be conveyed to staff. Conversely, if your company prefers a more rigid, formal, pet-free work environment, then new team members will need to be aware of this information.

In fact, company culture is essential information that should be mentioned during the hiring process, whether it’s a permanent employee or a temporary employee. Many companies assume that cultural fit is less important when seeking temporary team members, but a mismatch in this area can have a very adverse impact on productivity (both for the temporary staff and your permanent employees). So it’s vital that all you hire for cultural fit so the talent feels comfortable in your company’s unique workplace environment.

Hiring for Permanent vs. Temporary Staff

You’ll want to consider how the hiring process may differ for permanent staff versus temporary staff. Generally, the process is going to be more comprehensive for your permanent team members, regardless of whether they’re part-time or full-time employees. Temporary talent, by contrast, generally only needs to provide themselves with the information required to complete the project at hand.

Temporary software developers and tech staff do require some degree of post-hiring integration in most cases, particularly for more comprehensive, multi-month projects. Again, screening for the right soft skills during the hiring process will help make this process as smooth as possible.

That having been said, temporary tech staffing services may be a good solution if your company lacks the consistent work that you’d need to justify hiring a new employee. A tech staffing firm like iTech can work with your company to understand your short-term needs. Then, we can work to assemble a team that can work on-site, enabling you to leverage your in-house tech professionals in conjunction with temporary staffing resources. This software developer hiring solution is not only cost-effective in the short-term and in the long-term, but it’s also an opportunity to take on projects that you might otherwise be forced to pass up. Savvy company leaders will also use this opportunity to refine their hiring process for software developers and IT staff, helping new talent go from 0-to-60 much faster.

At iTech, we have special expertise in IT consulting and temporary on-site staffing services. This means we’re well-positioned to provide you with the talent and the advice you need to enjoy maximum productivity beginning with day one. With strategic offices in Dallas, Texas and South Burlington, Vermont, among other regions, including Canada and India, We know that time is money and our team works with companies across the United States and beyond to provide on-demand developers and IT professionals suited to your project specifications. We encourage you to contact iTech today to learn more about how we can add value to your team.

The post Why the Software Developer Hiring Process Is So Important first appeared on iTech.

In today’s competitive hiring environment, it’s easy for a company to make compromises when hiring a developer for a temporary project. In extreme cases, companies may end up vetting temporary software developer candidates based solely upon their availability.

Short-term compromises are common when hiring temporary staff, but in the long-run, these compromises can make it difficult to build a truly quality product. If you’re hiring for a temporary IT project, you’ll want to keep the following considerations in mind.

Permanent vs. Temporary IT Staff

On a permanent team, you want a blend of experienced IT staff and younger developers that can be molded into ideal, loyal senior developers. What you don’t want is to recruit temporary staff members that you will only need for a short time. Many companies hire temporary developers simply to mine the specific skills required to complete a single project. While temporary staff members offer a perspective that is broader than that held by your company’s permanent employees, they are not invested in the long term success of your company’s initiatives.

If you’re hiring for a one-time IT project (for example, an app) and need to hire temporary staff, you may lack the technical expertise required to effectively evaluate your candidates’ relevant capabilities. However, you should still be able to rely on a candidate’s portfolio. Any temporary developer worth their salt has a portfolio that accurately reflects their ability.

When evaluating a temporary candidate, skip the theory. Skip bulleted skills sections. And skip the Famo.us-style coding tests. Instead, ask to see and use an app (or two) that your candidate has built. This allows you to immediately gauge the candidate’s skills and expertise or lack thereof. Was using the app intuitive and easy? How fast did it load? Was the touch screen user-friendly and easy to navigate? Were the statements, wording, and messages simple and clearly communicated? Did the developer look at the interface in terms of accessibility and usability for all users?

The Value of Communication Skills in Developers

Most software developers aren’t known for their excellent people skills, however, while a permanent staff member doesn’t need to be particularly gregarious or charismatic in order to fit in at the company, they do need to be able to build rapport reasonably well in order to collaborate on the project. If a company doesn’t have dedicated IT staff on hand to liaise between the temporary developer and the rest of the company, then it should put extra emphasis on finding a temporary software developer with excellent communication skills.

Temporary developers must be active communicators and active listeners. It’s likely that these individuals will work more independently than many others at the company, so they must have the ability to keep fellow employees in the loop. Also, as experts, they need to know how to translate that knowledge in a simple, direct way, to communicate with less technical members of your company.

Most importantly, according to a study done in 2013 on soft skills and software development, 88% of job postings for software developers required excellent communication skills as part of their criteria. It’s commonly known that in order to be a good software developer, you need to understand the end user, and the human element of design. (At iTech, we understand this in other words we hire people who get people.)

Hiring a Temporary Software Development Team vs. Individual Developers

Effective development teams are shown to be more creative and more productive, but, when you are dealing with temporary projects and short-term relationships, the bond between team members may not be as strong. Despite your best efforts to build camaraderie, team chemistry is not something that can be developed in a short time.

You can, however, hire established teams instead of hiring multiple individual developers. A team that already works together already knows how to get along, how to delegate tasks, share input, and maximize productivity. Teams require less management and the refined team dynamics result in fewer interpersonal conflicts. This immediately translates into fewer headaches from a project management perspective. At iTech, we coordinate business and technical teams, in addition to fulfilling your needs for individual developers.

Don’t be intimidated by the current market demand for software developers. You don’t want to hire just any temporary software developer, you want to hire an excellent temporary software developer. Just as you don’t want to create just any product or mobile app; you want to create an excellent one. At iTech, we hire the best, work with the best, and retain the best employees from across the globe. Contact iTech to find out how we can help insource the top talent you need to build your next excellent product.

The post The Unwritten Rules of Hiring Temporary IT Staff: Software Developer Edition first appeared on iTech.