It’s the ever-growing demands of consumers, along with the rapid technological change which describes the current business environment, that have determined companies to strive for innovation and to continuously seek to improve their products and services. But such missions often require an extra hand, that would be typically addressing skill gaps, or temporarily contributing to the completion of tasks and projects, that have either piled up or have become too complex to handle. And this is a job for staff augmentation. This outsourcing strategy can successfully help businesses acquire top talent in no time and can be applied for both short and long-term objectives.
Short-term staff augmentation is usually adopted in case businesses are being faced with busier times, leaves of essential team members, or holidays, and are thus, unable to maintain a satisfactory level of productivity. The other type of augmentation, which refers to a long-term extension of companies’ teams, is mostly implemented in case the latter’s skillsets are no longer enough for the successful fulfilment of assignments. In this context, by resorting to staff augmentation services, provided by an outsourcing company that can supply its clients with the right specialists, businesses will be able to overcome the challenges of skills shortages, and deliver their products in a timely manner.
So, now that we have gained a wider perspective of the matter, and seen how staff augmentation can be effectively applied, let’s move forward and check out some of most popular best practices and some of the most useful tips on how to manage this outsourcing strategy. All so that companies interested in integrating the solution, or those that have already begun to, can make the most of it.
And the first aspect that we will be touching upon is that surrounding the steps that one should be taking before even starting to seek out a potential outsourcing partner. In this sense, companies should first conduct an in-depth current state analysis, and find out if there are any talent deficits that are slowing business processes down, or that could make it impossible to complete new projects, that either businesses have already signed up for, or are looking forward to work on. Only after identifying these talent gaps, will companies know exactly how to approach their chosen outsourcing partner.
And speaking of deciding upon an outsourcing partner, apart from the obvious angles from which such a choice should be made, like those involving research on the vendors’ expertise and past experiences, one should not forget to focus on one more element, which is cultural fit. This matter is often overlooked, but is crucial if businesses wish to reap all the benefits of staff augmentation. Making sure that the supplier shares your perspective on issues and has similar values as those that you conduct your business by, secures a successful outsourcing partnership.
Shifting our attention to the in-house teams, that will be working closely with the added staff, we must mention the importance of preparing internal employees and supporting them throughout the collaboration with the external help. Businesses should be making an effort so that this addition is not be perceived as a threat, but rather as an opportunity for already existing employees to further develop their skills. In this regard, companies that aim for their in-house teams to embrace the staff augmentation strategy, must communicate their intentions clearly, explain how such a solution will be implemented within the business, and point out the benefits that this move will bring. Among the latter, the outside feedback that the newly added specialists will express, can assist internal employees in improving their talent and increasing motivation.
Apart from the tips on how to efficiently manage staff augmentation that we have spoken about so far, it is necessary that we highlight one more, that involves performance measurement. This suggestion concerns both short and long-term augmentation, as the added team members will not be working with already existing employees side by side, in an office environment, which can make it difficult for hiring companies to assess remote specialists’ performance. In order to overcome this challenge, one should sit down with its vendor and translate all expectations into writing, so that these standards are clearly set up. Then there are special indicators, establishing milestones, and constant communication, which can all help in drawing up a proper performance measurement process.
Conclusion
Hiring a full-time employee is not the best option, when facing skill gaps that need to be filled quickly or lack of personnel, as it can be a time-consuming task and a costly one as well. Instead, companies have been turning to staff augmentation more and more, for the numerous benefits that it provides, and for its ability to match businesses’ needs with the right talent. But managing this solution can be quite challenging, so a few suggestions are in order; carrying out a current state analysis, focusing on finding outsourcing partners that share the same values, and setting up an appropriate performance measurement process, should be some of the aspects that companies should be concentration on.
Staff Augmentation with TechTalent
Backed by 350+ IT consultants, over 250 delivered Agile projects, and over 10 years of creating successful project teams for customers in various industries, TechTalent is the go-to company when deciding to resort to staff augmentation.