Hubstaff

Hubstaff
Industry Corporate transparency
Genre Time tracking software
Founded 2012
Founders Dave Nevogt & Jared Brown
Headquarters Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
Area served
 Worldwide
Website hubstaff.com

Hubstaff is a US company that provides staff monitoring through time tracking software. The company was founded after its co-founders wanted a better way to manage their team of freelancers.

The company is an advocate for the introduction of staff monitoring services for United States government roles. This was following a number of large invoices that have been paid by the US government for contracted work, with no proof of the hours spent on the project. Hubstaff was seen as a rising tech company in 2015, when they received a nomination as part of Techpoint’s Mira Awards for The Best of Tech in Indiana.[1]

History

Dave Nevogt and Jared Brown founded Hubstaff after they began to use freelance staff and wanted a better way to manage them.[2] Nevogt was previously the founder of McCordsville-based Innovative Solutions Inc., while Brown had a background as a developer.[3][4]

Following the establishment of the software, the outsourcing of freelance work became more common with the development of sites such as Elance and oDesk.[5] Hubstaff considered that the use of the system allowed for entrepreneurs and startups to focus on the strategic side of the business, rather than operational tasks.[6] The use of freelance management systems became more frequent as web-based startups began to outsource the majority of their operational teams.[7]

In 2014, the company appeared in the Huffington Post as a commentator when looking for red flags when recruiting on LinkedIn. The analysis carried out by Hubstaff included spotting spelling or grammatical mistakes, as it can demonstrate a sloppy attitude towards detail and communication.[8]

Hubstaff were nominees for the Best Tech in Indiana Award in the best Tech Startup of the Year category in 2015.[1]

Service

According to Entrepreneur magazine, Hubstaff matches users with project specialists after each project is reviewed. It was also stated that firms like Hubstaff typically take a commission of the hourly rate, rather than charging for the recruiting and placement of any staff.[9]

Hubstaff also provides ongoing management tools for team projects. This includes time tracking of those involved, an overview of the entire project, and also the ability to send payments.[10] In a post on Inc., Nevogt stated that systems such as Hubstaff gave senior management more freedom.[11]

The service tracks the amount of time contractors spend on tasks, while also taking random screenshots as evidence.[12] For paying subscribers, offline work can also be tracked according to Staffing Talk.[13] Screenshots are said to be spaced at 10-minute intervals, but they are taken at random during each 10 minute segment. Each screenshot can be viewed to get a detailed view of the efficiency of the project.[13]

Reception

Staff monitoring systems or business transparency is said to have both advantages and disadvantages. Early systems were said to be flawed, as the system could be cheated by mouse-wigglers. The underlying criticism of such a system is that planning and thinking stages could be confused for inactivity. However, in most operational roles, such a system can be beneficial for both management and the operational staff.[13]

One main issue staff monitoring systems resolve is the payment of contractors fairly for the number of hours they have worked. In one example, Ars Technica reported a United States Patent and Trademark Office incident that cost $12,533.02 due to an individual quoting she'd worked 266 hours, but with no proof.[14] This led to one of the co-founders of Hubstaff to start a change.org petition against the United States Patent and Trademark Office to start using a business transparency system.

Some roles, such as developers, could have fewer keystrokes, while maintaining a high level of productivity. More code written by a developer doesn't necessarily mean a higher level of productivity according to Staffing Talk.[13]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Hall, Joshua (February 5, 2015). "Nominees Announced for 16th Annual TechPoint Mira Awards Honoring 'The Best of Tech in Indiana'". TechPoint.
  2. ↑ "The Hubstaff Story". Hubstaff.
  3. ↑ "Jared Brown of Hubstaff". Startup Collective.
  4. ↑ Allan, Martha (February 5, 2011). "2011 Forty Under 40: Dave Nevogt". Indianapolis Business Journal.
  5. ↑ "Jared Brown – Co-Founder of Hubstaff.com". ideamensch. January 22, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Building A Virtual Team That Moves Your Business Forward with Dave Nevogt". Eventual Millionaire.
  7. ↑ Gerber, Scott (November 17, 2013). "Does your startup really need to hire in-house developers?". TheNextWeb.
  8. ↑ "8 Red Flags to Watch for on a Potential Hire's LinkedIn Profile". Huffington Post. December 26, 2014.
  9. ↑ Keener, Matt (December 19, 2014). "16 Productivity Tools Useful for Every Entrepreneur". Entrepreneur.com.
  10. ↑ Boss, Jeff. "13 Cool Web Tools to Help You Stay Connected With Your Team". Entrepreneur magazine.
  11. ↑ "Best Advice I Ever Got: Find a Hungry Market". Inc. magazine. March 13, 2015.
  12. ↑ Samuel, Leslie (March 2, 2015). "How To Keep Track Of Your Virtual Team Using Hubstaff". BecomeaBlogger.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Janssen, Kinzy (December 10, 2013). "It's Not Just the NSA: Employers Adopt Surveillance Tactics". StaffingTalk.
  14. ↑ Mullin, Joe (August 12, 2014). "Patent examiners are routinely abusing work-from-home privileges". Ars Technica.
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