IT companies have leveraged IT staff augmentation to quickly fill resource gaps with some of the world's finest talents. This staffing model helps provide them with the additional expertise and capacity the project requires without hiring long-term in-house tech professionals.
What Does Staff Augmentation Mean?
Let's define the term and discuss how the staff augmentation process works. And we'll also explore the 13 ways to implement this strategy for your technology projects successfully.
Staff augmentation brings in additional contractors or temporarily employed workers to supplement a company's internal team, bridge a resource gap, and fulfill project or operational needs.
Let's look at a typical scenario where IT companies do this through staff augmentation:
You receive a project that needs niche skills exclusive to that project. However, you need an in-house developer with that specific skill set or specialization. You can partner with an offshore software development company to hire the necessary resources temporarily. The outsource IT vendor would assign one of their resources to your project for a specified period of time. At the end of the engagement, because your resource is contractual, they must return to their job with the vendor.
Tech companies find staff augmentation to be a viable and cost-effective option. It allows you to outsource the time-consuming process of hiring and recruiting and also managing new employees. Staff augmentation is beneficial for projects with fluctuating workloads.
Basically, the ability to hire talent on demand is critical for companies experiencing growth. Companies can temporarily hire developers with the required specialized skills or industry-specific expertise that they do not have in-house. As a matter of fact, it is an attractive solution for companies that want to scale up or down their tech workforce quickly.
How Does the Staff Augmentation Process Work?
The IT staff augmentation process usually starts with identifying a requirement for an additional developer.
After that, you must identify the exact profile requirements of the developer you're looking for in terms of skill set, technical knowledge, and soft skills. You have to shortlist a few qualified potential candidates from various staffing agencies specializing in the skill sets you seek afterward.
At this point, the recruitment process is complete. The developer is assigned to the team of the pre-defined period on the project's needs. These assignments can be long-term or short-term, depending on the requirement. Nevertheless, the ultimate goal is to finish the work on time within the budget.
Additionally, understanding the staff augmentation process helps you prepare better and ensures you hire a developer who can deliver those tasks you need help with.
13 Best Practices for Staff Augmentation
Want to make the most out of staff augmentation? It's not just about hiring the right people, there's more to it. Being that said, let's go over the 13 best practices for team augmentation to help ensure a productive and successful partnership.
Defining your project scope and requirements
- Define your project scope. A clearly defined project scope helps you determine the gaps and hire for the specific skills and experience needed.
- Define your requirements. It's crucial to outline your requirements and expectations clearly. Due to the fact that this will help you find a suitable candidate and avoid getting someone who doesn't meet your expected outputs.
Implementing and Managing Staff Augmentation
- Select the best resource augmentation vendor. Make sure they have a proven track record of success. Review the detailed proposal on the support and also services they can provide.
- Screen the candidates well and fast. A thorough screening process helps ensure the candidate is qualified for the job and has the necessary skills and background to perform the job effectively.
- Provide proper onboarding. An interactive onboarding session will help your resources acclimatize to the work culture faster and also learn the ropes. This increases the chances of better performance and better retention.
- Utilize advanced tools and technologies. Ensure alignment in the tools and technologies being used. Using cutting-edge tools helps give you that competitive edge.
- Provide support. You must ensure your new hires have the necessary support to succeed. Overall, your role is to guide them through the learning curve and help them get up to speed.
- Assign a project manager. Ensure performance is managed, above all. You can trust your provider to perform at an optimal level. Basically, your role is to properly work how your augmented staff performs and delivers the pre-agreed tasks.
- Regularly track progress. Your project manager should oversee operations with staff augmentation talent. Especially how they are collaborating with your in-house team.
- Provide feedback. Undoubtedly, it is beneficial to provide timely feedback. Your contractor may have other methods of delivering tasks and also may need to know if they're doing a good job. Your provider will be grateful for it and will be able to perform better.
Assessing and Documenting the Staff Augmentation Outcomes
- Assess overall effectiveness and outcomes. At the end of the project, assessing the results and finding your areas of improvement is essential. It will be helpful to seek feedback from project stakeholders at this point.
- Document everything. Resource augmentation providers are temporary hires. Detailed documentation of the processes and tools used will be helpful for future reference.
- Initiate knowledge sharing. Knowledge exchange between your in-house team and your staff augmentation provider can benefit your company. Sharing knowledge and experiences can help
Final Thoughts
Hiring the best developers from reliable resource augmentation companies does not automatically guarantee success. The success of your project is a shared responsibility. Moreover, if you follow the 13 best practices, you maximize your collaboration with the talent and increase your chances of success.
If you're looking to augment your team and want to partner with a reliable staff augmentation provider with a proven track record of success, LANEX can help! Click here to contact us today!
