How does the staff augmentation process work?

Staff augmentation has become an invaluable option in the IT staffing services market as businesses adapt to the unique challenges of the pandemic.

The general trend of globalization has inspired a lot of businesses to hire remotely. But unfortunately, businesses might experience a new barrier to their recruiting route; the global market for skilled talent has been tightening for years, and finding the right team members is increasingly difficult.

The talent pool for extremely qualified professionals is quite restrictive, so staffing difficulties have become routine. Staff augmentation is a solution that allows companies to overcome this challenge.

Designed to address business needs, augmented staff provides companies with experts that have the right education, experience, and skill set.

IT staff augmentation allows a company to add staff to their teams based on the additional skills required to support their initiatives. Resources are employed by the staff augmentation firm.

When Is Staff Augmentation the Right Model?

Project Length

While staff augmentation can help to meet the demands of an organization, it’s not a perfect solution for every scenario.

Staff augmentation services are typically best utilized in shorter-term projects. If an enterprise needs to engage a contingent worker on a longer project, the project outsourcing model might be a better option than team augmentation. However, I staff augmentation providers are often able to manage both scenarios depending on the project requirements.

Confidentiality

Some projects involve critical intellectual property. In these instances, businesses should carefully evaluate the staff augmentation services they are considering. Staff augmentation solutions should be carefully evaluated in these instances.

However, the rationale for keeping teams in-house is more often attributed to psychological comfort than hard evidence. Objectively, an agreement signed with a contractor is as bulletproof as one signed with a full-time employee.

How Does the Staff Augmentation Process Work?

Staff augmentation works similarly to any other outsourcing strategy you may encounter. But it’s still quite different from other outsourcing models.

Imagine you are going to onboard a resource from a staff augmentation business. First, you’ll need to fully explain your project, including its development and deployment phases. You will then need to provide a job description (JD) and resource expectations in terms of the performance of your development team, working hours, duration, etc. After you have provided the job details, the staff augmentation company ensures complete integration with your project. They will get you the greatest available talent to fill your skill gaps while reducing costs and time on hiring and training employees.

Make Staff Augmentation Work For Your Business

The staff augmentation model can be highly effective if implemented correctly. Here is a list of the ways you can augment your team with external resources on a short-term basis for long-term success.

1. Select projects that have a limited time requirement.

Staff augmentation works best for one-time projects. Typically, software development projects can get the most out of the benefits of staff augmentation. If you are looking to develop a website or a mobile app, staff augmentation is an excellent option.

Hiring a developer for a specific project is a smarter decision than hiring one full-time for a one-time project.

2. Identify talent gaps in your organization.

Whether through evaluating existing project needs or laying down the plans for new projects, performing a talent audit within the company can help pinpoint the current talent deficits.

Once you have identified the gaps, you need to determine whether the resource is necessary on a long term basis or if the requirement would be limited to a particular project. In the case of the latter, staff augmentation is the way to go for bridging the gap.

3. Identify the unique skill-set requirement.

Once you have determined the specific skill-set and project role you are looking to hire for, you’ll begin the process of finding a partner to make the right talent available to you. The company that you partner with is tasked with sourcing the right talent, thoroughly vetting them to ensure that you build a quality product at a faster rate.

Staff hired on a short-term basis also have the added advantage of being more experienced in handling projects similar to yours, bringing their own skill sets to the table.

Developers who face a range of challenges on different projects have acquired a greater breadth of knowledge than an engineer who has been working on a single project for a longer period of time.