A consultant joins your IT services company on Monday. They're expected at the client site Tuesday morning. Between the two, you need to create their time tracking access, explain how to log time, train them on the tool, show them which project to log against, give them entry frequency instructions, and hope they retain all of this amid the dozens of other onboarding details (health insurance, meal vouchers, collective agreement, client access badge, computer equipment, emergency contacts).
If the tool is complex, the consultant won't use it. If training takes 30 minutes, it will be forgotten in 48 hours. If the engagement assignment isn't done before their first day, they'll log against the wrong project -- or not log at all.
At an IT services company with 20% turnover, this scenario repeats dozens of times per year. And each time, the same effort is invested to train a consultant who may leave in 12 months. The problem isn't turnover -- it's structural in the industry. The problem is designing time tracking onboarding as if turnover didn't exist.
The Turnover Problem and Recurring Training
Turnover in French IT services companies is a structural reality. Numbers vary by source, but a consensus emerges around 15 to 25% annually for mid-sized companies.
Key figure: With 20% turnover and a 50-consultant workforce, an IT services company integrates and trains 10 new consultants per year on its internal processes -- including time tracking. If each onboarding takes 30 minutes of manager time + 30 minutes of consultant time, that's 10 hours per year spent exclusively training people on a tool that should be intuitive.
But the real cost goes well beyond initial training time.
The Hidden Cost of Repeated Onboarding
| Cost item | Time per onboarding | Estimated cost (loaded) | Annual total (10 consultants) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tool training by manager | 30 min | EUR 35 | EUR 350 |
| Guided first entry | 15 min | EUR 18 | EUR 180 |
| Error corrections month 1 | 45 min | EUR 52 | EUR 520 |
| Follow-ups for missing entries | 30 min/month for 3 months | EUR 105 | EUR 1,050 |
| Support for recurring questions | 15 min/month for 2 months | EUR 35 | EUR 350 |
| Total | ~3.5h over 3 months | ~EUR 245 | ~EUR 2,450 |
This table doesn't account for the most insidious cost: days not logged during the learning period. A consultant who doesn't master the tool forgets to log, logs late, or logs incompletely. Result: activity reports to correct, delayed billing, potential lost revenue.
Concrete example: A 35-consultant IT services company analyzed the entries of its last 8 hires during their first 3 months. Result: 12% of working days had not been logged in the first month, 5% in the second month, 2% in the third month. At an average daily rate of EUR 450, these unlogged days represent a billing risk of 450 x 0.12 x 20 days x 8 consultants = EUR 8,640 in revenue at risk just from the first month of new hires.
The question isn't "how to better train consultants." The question is "how to design a tool and process that don't require training."
The 3 Criteria for a Tool That Requires No Training
A time tracking tool that requires training is a poorly designed tool for the IT services context. The consultant is an autonomous professional, often senior, accustomed to quickly adapting to new environments (they regularly change clients, teams, and technologies). If the tool is well-designed, they'll be able to use it in under 2 minutes.
Three criteria assess whether a tool is truly "zero training":
Criterion 1: The engagement is pre-assigned
When the consultant opens the tool for the first time, they must see their engagement. Not a list of 200 projects in a dropdown. Not an empty screen with a search field. Their engagement, their client, their period.
The assignment must be made before the consultant's first day by the engagement director or administrative manager. This is a configuration task, not a consultant task. The consultant doesn't search, doesn't choose, doesn't make mistakes. They confirm.
Key takeaway: If the consultant has to search for their engagement in a list on day one, onboarding has already failed. Pre-configured assignment is the first criterion for a tool suited to IT services companies.
Criterion 2: The entry gesture is obvious
A tool that requires a user guide isn't intuitive -- it's complex with documentation. Time entry for a consultant on a staffing engagement comes down to one question: "Were you on your engagement today?" The answer is yes (full day), yes (half-day), or no (absence).
The interface must reflect this simplicity:
- A visual calendar showing the current month
- Business days pre-filled as "worked"
- The ability to modify a day in one click (absence, half-day)
- An automatically calculated total
No 8-field form. No activity subcategories (unless the client requires them). No mandatory comment. The minimal gesture for the most common case -- a full day on engagement -- should be a simple confirmation click.
Criterion 3: The tool is immediately accessible
The consultant shouldn't need to install an application, configure a VPN, or wait for an administrator to manually create their account. Access should be:
- Instant: a link, an email invitation, immediate login
- Mobile: accessible from a smartphone without a dedicated app
- No technical prerequisites: no plugin, no specific browser version
| Criterion | IT-services-adapted tool | Poorly adapted tool |
|---|---|---|
| Engagement visible at first access | Engagement is pre-assigned | Consultant must search through a list |
| First entry time | < 30 seconds | > 5 minutes with guide consultation |
| Accessibility | Web link + mobile | App to install + VPN |
| Learning curve | Nonexistent | 1 to 3 training sessions |
| Support needed | None in the first month | Recurring questions for 2-3 months |
The 2-Minute Onboarding Kit (Step-by-Step Process)
An effective time tracking onboarding takes four steps, split between the manager (before arrival) and the consultant (on day one).
Before the Consultant's Arrival (5 minutes, manager side)
Step 1: Create the consultant's account. Name, email, start date. This should take less than a minute.
Step 2: Assign the consultant to their engagement. Select the client, the engagement (already created in the system), the daily rate, and the expected start and end dates. The consultant will see this assignment on their first login.
Concrete example: The engagement director receives confirmation of a new hire on Wednesday. In 5 minutes, they create the account and assign the engagement. The consultant arrives Monday, opens the tool, sees their engagement at "Groupe Alpha" with the correct purchase order reference. All they have to do is log.
The Consultant's Day One (2 minutes)
Step 3: First login. The consultant receives an invitation email with a link. They click, create their password, and land on their dashboard. Their engagement is already visible. The current week is displayed.
Step 4: First entry. The consultant confirms their day. One click. They immediately understand how it works. The next day, they'll repeat the same gesture in 10 seconds. The following week, it's become a reflex.
The Complete Onboarding Checklist
Here's the checklist that the engagement director or administrative manager can follow for each new consultant:
- D-3: Create the account in the time tracking tool
- D-3: Assign the engagement (client, purchase order reference, daily rate, dates)
- D-1: Send the invitation by email to the consultant
- D: Verify the first entry at end of day
- D+5: Verify the first week is complete (5 days logged)
- D+30: Verify the first month is complete (activity report exportable without corrections)
If the consultant has logged without errors during the first week, onboarding is complete. No additional training is necessary.
Key takeaway: Time tracking onboarding should never require a dedicated meeting. If the tool is well-designed and the engagement is pre-assigned, the consultant is autonomous in 2 minutes. Investing in an intuitive tool saves hours of recurring training -- especially with 20% turnover.
Automating Engagement Assignment
Engagement assignment is the most frequent friction point in time tracking onboarding. If it's not done before the consultant arrives, they land on an empty tool and don't know what to log. If they're assigned to the wrong engagement, their entries are wrong and the monthly activity report will need corrections.
Why Assignment Is Often Late
In most IT services companies, assignment in the time tracking tool is a separate action from the operational assignment. The engagement director places the consultant at the client (contractually, logistically) but forgets to configure them in the tracking tool. The consultant starts their engagement, forgets to request access, and three weeks later, the administrative manager discovers they have no entries for this consultant.
The causes are always the same:
- Non-integrated process: tool assignment isn't a formal step in the hiring or engagement start process
- Unclear responsibility: nobody knows if it's the engagement director, HR, or the administrative assistant who should make the assignment
- Pure oversight: in the urgency of engagement kickoff, admin tasks take a back seat
Assignment Best Practices
For assignment to work systematically:
Integrate assignment into the hiring process. Assignment in the time tracking tool must be a checked item on the integration checklist, just like health insurance or computer equipment. If it's not on the checklist, it will be forgotten.
Designate a single responsible person. One person is responsible for assignments: the engagement director or the administrative manager. Not "everyone" -- when everyone is responsible, nobody is.
Prepare the assignment as soon as the contract is signed. Once the consultant has signed, their account can be created and their engagement assigned. The fact that they don't start for another two weeks is no reason to wait. On the contrary: the earlier the assignment is made, the lower the risk of forgetting.
Manage engagement changes. A consultant who finishes one engagement and starts another should see their new assignment automatically. The old engagement closes, the new one opens. If this change isn't reflected in the tool, the consultant will log against the old engagement and the activity report will be wrong.
Key figure: IT services companies that integrate tool assignment into their onboarding checklist reduce first-month entry errors by 90%. The consultant logs against the right project from day one, the activity report is correct from the first month, and billing isn't delayed.
The Case of Multiple Engagements
Some consultants are assigned to multiple simultaneous engagements (shared time, short engagements, internal consulting + external engagement). In this case, the tool must allow viewing all active engagements and splitting time between them.
The rule is simple: the consultant should never have to guess which engagement to log against. Their active engagements are visible, with their respective dates. If they work 3 days per week at client A and 2 days at client B, this split should be obvious in the interface.
Impact on Data Quality and Billing
A successful onboarding isn't measured by the number of consultants trained. It's measured by the quality of data produced from the first month.
The indicators to monitor for each new consultant:
| Indicator | Target | Warning signal |
|---|---|---|
| Entry rate at D+7 | 100% of days logged | < 80% (missing days) |
| Assignment errors at M+1 | 0 errors | Logged against wrong project |
| M+1 activity report exportable without corrections | Yes | Corrections needed |
| Support requests | 0 | > 2 questions about how it works |
If these four indicators are green from the first month, onboarding is a success. The consultant is autonomous, their data is reliable, and the staffing billing process can proceed without friction.
Time tracking onboarding at IT services companies isn't a training project. It's a tool and process design problem. A tool that requires 30 minutes of training is a tool ill-suited to the IT services context, where turnover is structural and every new consultant is a new onboarding to complete.
The three levers are clear: pre-assigned engagements (the consultant sees their engagement from day one), radical interface simplicity (one click to confirm a day), and immediate accessibility (a link, not an installation). With these three foundations, onboarding is reduced to 2 minutes -- and time tracking stops being a friction point between the company and its consultants. See also our general onboarding guide for adoption principles applicable to any team.