What is Staff Augmentation? How It Works and Benefits

Companies are constantly looking for ways to scale operations and meet project deadlines without having to incur the costs of traditional hiring. Staff augmentation is the answer. This flexible outsourcing strategy allows you to hire global tech talent and manage your augmented teams directly. This model gives you the exact skills you need at exactly the right time.

This guide will cover the basics of staff augmentation. It will also discuss the benefits it brings to businesses and best practices for a successful partnership.

What is Staff Augmentation?

It refers to a model in which a company temporarily adds qualified personnel to its internal team to work on certain projects or tasks. Staff augmentation companies employ these external professionals, but they are integrated into your team and follow your internal processes. They also report directly to your managers. This is different from project outsourcing, where you give an entire project over to a third-party vendor that allows you to retain control of your team and projects.

It is especially popular in the tech sector, and it's often called IT staff augmentation. It is used by companies to find IT specialists, such as project managers, QA testers and developers with niche expertise, who are difficult to locate locally or on a short-term basis.

How does the Staff Augmentation process work?

It is designed to be quick and efficient. Although every staffing company has its own unique approach, some core steps remain the same.

1. Identify Your Needs

The first thing you need to do is identify the skills gaps in your team. Define what role you are looking to fill, your experience level and technical skills (like programming languages or software expertise) as well as the duration of the project. The more specific your requirements are, the better the provider will be able to match you with the best talent.

2. Partner with a Company

You then select a vendor who provides this service. You should look for a partner who has a proven track record and who can provide a large talent pool within your desired domain. They should also have a transparent hiring process. This partner will take care of the hiring, recruitment, and administrative processes.

3. Review and Select Candidates

Vendors will provide you with a list of candidates that meet your requirements. The vendor will present you with a shortlist of pre-screened candidates who match your criteria. You can then interview them to evaluate their technical skills and cultural fit. You get to decide who will join your team.

4. Onboard Your New Team Member

The new team member will be onboarded once you have made your choice. The onboarding process includes integrating the new team member into your company workflow, communication channels like Slack and Microsoft Teams, and project management tools such as Jira or Asana. For a successful engagement, ensuring a smooth onboarding process is essential.

5. Ongoing management and support

You are responsible for the day-to-day activities and project responsibilities of your augmented staff. Staffing augmentation providers typically handle HR, payroll and other administrative tasks, so you can focus on your project.

Benefits of IT Staff Augmentation

Why do so many companies turn to IT team augmentation for their IT needs? This model has several advantages over traditional hiring or full-scale outsourcing.

Flexible and Scalable Design

The ability to quickly scale up or down your workforce based on the project requirements is one of the biggest benefits. You can hire developers to launch a new product or cybersecurity experts for a critical period without having to commit long-term.

Global Talent Pool

Staff augmentation eliminates geographical barriers. No longer are you limited by the talent in your area. A staff augmentation service for IT can provide you with access to top-tier professionals around the globe, allowing you to take advantage of specialized skills that may be expensive or rare locally.

Cost-Effectiveness

Hiring full-time employees comes with significant costs, beyond salary. These include benefits, payroll tax, office space and equipment. The staff augmentation process eliminates many overhead costs. Paying a single price to the vendor makes budgeting easier and more affordable.

Time Market is Reduced

Hiring for specific roles can be a long and difficult process. The cycle is significantly shortened by IT staff augmentation. You can quickly fill key roles by tapping into pre-vetted talent pools. This will help you to accelerate project timelines.

Best Practices for Staff Augmentation

It's important to adhere to a few best practices in order to maximize the effectiveness of staff augmentation.

• Define clear roles and expectations: Document clearly the responsibilities, performance metrics, and goals for each member of an augmented team.
• Prioritize cultural fit: While technical skills are important, a candidate’s ability to integrate into your team culture will be just as crucial for success in the long run.
• Investing in Onboarding: An integrated onboarding process will help new employees integrate quickly and become more productive.
• Establish strong communication channels: Treat your expanded staff as if they were part of the core group. Include them in meetings, discussions and decision-making processes.

InfoStack helps you scale your team.

Are you ready to increase your team size, reduce your overhead and accelerate project timelines? Do not let a skills gap hold you back. We are experts in staff augmentation at InfoStack. We provide you with high-level tech professionals who integrate seamlessly into your organization. Our screening process will ensure that you are getting the right people with the right skills to help your project move forward. We will handle your project so that you can concentrate on what is most important.Are you ready to create your dream team of employees? Contact InfoStack Tech to learn more about staffing solutions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do staff augmentation engagements typically last?
Engagements can be as short as a few months for a specific project or can extend for a year or more, depending on your needs. The model is designed to be highly flexible.

Who manages the augmented staff?
Your company does. The augmented staff reports to your project managers and team leads, follows your processes, and integrates into your company culture. The staff augmentation company handles HR, payroll, and administrative tasks.

How do I ensure the quality of the augmented staff?
Choose a reputable staff augmentation partner with a rigorous vetting process. Always conduct your own interviews and technical assessments to ensure the candidate is a good fit for your team's skills and culture.