With great advancements in technology, more and more organizations are relying on technological solutions to solve complex problems. However, there is still a shortage of IT talent and hence, many complexities remain unresolved. As per Gartner’s prediction, about 75% of the businesses will be facing disruptions in infrastructure & operations due to shortage in technological skills by 2020. Overall, the context of doing business has become all the more complex due to multiple locations, overseas offices, short-term projects and highly specialized skill requirements.
What are the problems faced in the overall recruitment process?
Old recruitment agencies
Retention problems
Balance between speed and quality
Resources are limited
Balance between the new and traditional
Competition
Whether you are a startup looking to make your business more public or a big organization wanting to spread your business overseas, Staff Augmentation can help. How? This is something that we are going to see in this article. Here, we will be mentioning about the benefits of hiring the staff augmentation service provider, why it is necessary and how can you choose the best service provider? If you are keen in knowing about the complete process, then please continue reading ahead.
What is Staff Augmentation?
To speak about it in simple words, Staff augmentation is a flexible outsourcing strategy that enables the business people to hire tech talent globally & manage the augmented team directly. The vendors help you to hire the skilled and well-trained professionals for your project/task. You get the authority to choose from the list of candidates provided by the staff augmentation agency. So, you do not have to worry about hiring the right resources for your organization as the staff augmentation company will that for you.
So, what do you need help with?
Staff augmentation helps you find the right IT talent needed for your specific business task or project. Your service provider manages everything, right from recruitment, training & communication, but they communicate directly with your team for tighter agility and alignment.
When you are in search of a good staff augmentation partner for your business, you must start with outlining your goals: do I need support with a specific project? Do i need to meet the ongoing staffing challenges, or solutions in the given market? What kind of expertise, skills & projects do you need help with? Staff augmentation can help you with everything from hardware to the data backup & recovery, consulting and application support. By analysing your different needs and requirements, you will be able to look for a service provider who will be able to fulfill your specific requirements.
Now, when choosing a Staff augmentation service provider for your business, there are certain points that you need to consider:
The nature and type of your project
The current schedule & availability of the IT staff and
The technical details of your project
There are some other points that we must understand in detail:
Type of expertise and talent required: While there are many staffing firms out there in the market who offer a varied range of talents they can provide, it is always smart to go for an organization that specializes in a specific type of talent. Focusing on a particular industry hones a staffing organization’s ability to discern the deeper requirements of the companies in that niche and select the best individuals that fit the criteria. This removes job mismatch and the hassle of replacing them with someone more fit for the role.
For instance, if you are looking for individuals with technical expertise, it is always a great idea to look for renowned and reputed IT staffing agencies since they know best what IT individuals must be like in terms of required expertise and skills.
Transparency: The primary requirement for a strong relationship between you and the staff augmentation partner is based on absolute transparency and clear communication. It means that the staffing agency should be able to provide you with a well-defined documentation on what its exact role is and a complete transparent break-down of costs.
They should also be able to reply to your questions in such a way that they clear all your doubts on a high-level with minimal knowledge of existing hiring processes. This helps engender trust & set realistic expectations.
Are their contracts one-size-fits-all?: Organizations usually find that the staff augmentation providers have a single approach towards doing business. Every deal follows just one specific template, and one-size-fits-all types of solutions. Yet, the reality is that every organization, every project and every job requisition is very unique. Look for a solutions provider that is willing to get creative, deliver what you need and develop a customized scope of work. In most of the cases, a one-size-fits-all solution is not going to offer you the results, flexibility, or savings that make staff augmentation attractive in the first place. The right kind of provider will work with you, your immediate requirements, and then support you as the business grows and your requirements evolve.
Add-on Solutions: Every staff augmentation service provider has a unique set of value-added services that they provide as an add-on or as part of their standard package. These solutions may include, providing specialized training to the recruits processed or conducting skills testing prior to onboarding.
It is crucial to check for these solutions to maximize the advantage your company gets from your staff augmentation partner.
Will they be able to meet your deadlines: You must also make sure that the staff augmentation agencies you talk with can meet your given timelines. How fast & agile is their execution? Waiting 60 days to fill a primary role, for example, is just not cost effective. Staff augmentation must enable you to move your projects forward quickly. There are many ways to evaluate. What does their network look like? How long do they quote a resolution? How are they into handling internal discussions around process changes or new business opportunities? Does the speed of communication at this stage reflect the speed you require? Choose efficient, customer-focused and agile partner that delivers results at the speed your company’s demands.
Conclusion
You must hire an agency or a firm that is able to meet the requirements and needs of your business with the right kind of resources and talent.
You must select a service provider that can help you overcome the disadvantages of the staff augmentation model. A great service provider can give you access to many of the skill sets and flexible workers who stay true with the contract.
They must also be able to provide project management services. They must also have a proper platform for communication between you and the augmented staff.
Make sure to read the reviews provided and check the ratings on renowned platforms like Glassdoor, Clutch and SoftwarFirms before hiring any Staff augmentation service provider. This way you will get to know more about them and won’t face any problem in the future.
If you have any queries or suggestions, please feel free to mention them below in the comment box. We will be happy to discuss them with you.