The competition for top IT professionals is fierce, and it’s only getting more competitive as the demand for skilled workers outpaces the supply.
Traditional recruitment is costly and slow, and businesses don’t have time or money to waste. One way to quickly get the technical expertise you need is to supplement your team with staff augmentation services. Staff augmentation is a model that involves hiring additional employees from an external agency to join an existing team.
There are many benefits to using staff augmentation services, including:
- Increased productivity
- Improved quality of work
- Cost savings
This post will outline best practices to get the most out of your next staff augmentation engagement.
What is staff augmentation?
Staff augmentation is an outsourcing strategy that involves hiring additional employees from an external agency to supplement an existing team. These workers are typically employed to fill specific skill or experience gaps.
Those employees will join your team on a temporary or project-based basis. For example, if your business is working on a big analytics project and needs extra help with data analysis, you might augment your team with a few data scientists from an external agency.
Staff augmentation differs from project outsourcing because it’s not about hiring an external agency to complete a specific project. Instead, it’s about adding specific expertise to an internal team to help get the job done.
Benefits of staff augmentation
There are many benefits to using staff augmentation services, including:
Increased productivity
You can get more work done in less time by supplementing your team with additional workers. This is especially helpful when you’re working on a time-sensitive project or need to meet a tight deadline.
Improved quality of work
When you work with a staff augmentation service, you can access the agency’s curated talent pool and add new team members to fill skill and expertise gaps.
Cost savings
Because the employee receives their salary and benefits from the agency, staff augmentation can help reduce operational costs for you. It can also save you money in the long run by reducing turnover and training costs.
How to get the most out of your staff augmentation services
It may be helpful to follow a few best practices to get the most out of a staff augmentation engagement. We’ll detail those below.
Use staff augmentation for defined projects with known deadlines
Before you kick off the staff augmentation process, be sure that your project has well-defined milestones and deadlines. Milestones and deadlines will keep things organized, on budget, and on track throughout your engagement.
Before hiring outside help, be sure your in-house team can support it.
If you’re considering staff augmentation, it’s essential to assess whether your in-house team can support it.
Adding new members to your team can be disruptive, so it’s crucial to ensure that your current employees are prepared and have the time to help onboard their new teammates.
Emphasize team chemistry in your hiring process
One of the most important aspects of staff augmentation is finding employees who mesh well with your in-house team. After all, they’ll be working together closely daily.
When you’re meeting with candidates, be sure to ask questions that assess their skills and experience and their personality and communication skills. This will help you find individuals who fit well with your team’s existing culture.
It would help if you also had your in-house team members meet with the candidates before extending an offer, giving them a chance to get to know the individual and ensure they’ll be a good fit for the team.
Don’t fully outsource projects with staff augmentation.
When augmenting your team, it’s important to remember that you’re supplementing your workforce — not outsourcing your entire project.
It would help if you still had a core team of in-house employees responsible for managing the project and ensuring it’s completed on time and within budget. If that core team does not have the availability, work with your Sanity Solutions Account Team to assist with scoping out a clearly defined project.
Encourage knowledge transfer and document everything.
Throughout your staff augmentation engagement, it’s essential to document everything that’s been done. Documentation should include project plans, processes, workflows, and other relevant information.
You should also encourage knowledge transfer between your in-house team and the staff augmentation employees. This will ensure that your team has the skills and expertise they need to complete similar projects in the future.
Finally, don’t forget to debrief your staff augmentation employees before they leave. This will give you valuable insights into what worked well and could be improved for future engagements.
Reach out if the scope changes or something goes wrong.
Your staff augmentation service provider is there for you. If the scope of your project changes, a personnel issue arises or anything goes wrong, be sure to reach out for help.
Your service provider can guide you in adjusting your project plan or help you find new staff members if needed. Their goal is to ensure that your engagement is successful, so don’t hesitate to contact them if you need assistance.
Is staff augmentation right for me?
Staff augmentation can be a great way to supplement your workforce and get extra help. However, ensuring it’s the right solution for you is essential.
Before you start the process, be sure that your project has well-defined milestones and deadlines. Additionally, it’s crucial that you have a clear understanding of what skills and expertise your in-house team lacks.
When you’re meeting with candidates, emphasize team chemistry. Finally, don’t forget to encourage knowledge sharing and document everything before the engagement ends. Need help with your next project? Sanity Solutions offers IT staff augmentation services for projects big and small. Contact us to find out more.
