Staff augmentation is the most searched solution to resolve issues related to scarcity of right human resources. Staff augmentation is a flexible strategy of hiring experts from an external organization, on a contractual basis, to fulfill business objectives. In other words, it is a process of finding the right person outside the organization to fill the gap, for smooth project implementation. The company can hire experts for both short-term and long-term projects.
Difference between Outsourcing and Staff Augmentation
Outsourcing is designating work for an external team. It may be a whole project, or a specific task related to the project that is being given to the outsourcing company. The outsourced resource does not work with the client internally but works parallelly to meet the objective. For example, if a private bank decides to give the responsibility of human resources department to an external agency, it is outsourcing. This strategy helps the client to focus more on the core objective of the business.
Staff augmentation, on the other hand, is hiring an expert for the internal team, on a temporary basis, to meet business objectives. The expert resource will be a part of the in-house team and will be given access to the in-house tools for working towards the common goal. An example of staff augmentation: if a private bank is hiring human resource personnel, on a contract basis, to manage a task, together with the present employees.
In short,
Outsourcing:
- Similar to hiring a specialist company: You hand over a complete project or specific tasks to an external company.
- The external company manages everything: The outsourcing company takes care of project management, finding the right people, and delivering the results according to your agreement, thus owning the overall responsibility.
- Less control, potentially lower cost: Though you have less day-to-day control over the work, outsourcing can be a cost-effective option for well-defined projects.
Staff Augmentation:
- Similar to adding temporary teammates: You bring in experts of specialized skills to work alongside your existing team on specific tasks or projects.
- Your company manages everything: You’re responsible for project management and integrating the augmented staff with your team.
- More control, potentially higher cost: Though you have more control over the work, this strategy might be more expensive than outsourcing.
Benefits of Staff Augmentation:
Staff augmentation, being a result-oriented service, provides many benefits to an organization. Listed below are a few benefits of staff augmentation:
Choose domain-focused skill:
Staff augmentation allows the service seeker to filter employees based on the required skill set. This privilege enjoyed by the client helps provide accurate solutions to the project. An organization ventures outside for assistance only if there is an in-house deficiency. Identifying the gap is the key to seeking the best staff augmentation service. Developers with multiple skill sets are available in the market. Focusing on the most appropriate candidate becomes easy if the right job description is derived at.
Stretch the bandwidth of the team:
Staff augmentation allows addition of a developer when the team’s bandwidth has exhausted, but the project deadline cannot be extended. This would create only a temporary demand for help. Spending precious time and effort to recruit a full-time employee with the required skill set would further affect the project’s development. Staff augmentation is the ideal solution as developers are hired smoothly for a fixed period, without long-term commitments.
Allows flexibility in project management:
Staff Augmentation facilitates flexibility in project management. The fluctuating needs of a project can be smoothly fulfilled by adding the right resource during the right time. Besides, hiring remote experts based on project requirements can boost efficiency with respect to time management in the project. Experts working remotely from another side of the world can ensure the availability of 24-hour help to the customer.
Ensures smooth scalability:
Now a days, more projects follow agile workflow methodology, which focuses on continuous deployment and customer feedback. Projects that adapted agile workflow methodology face continuously evolving environments. Depending upon the requirement, the resources need to be scaled up or scaled down smoothly. Hiring a full-time employee would entail time and cost constraints. Through staff augmentation, the resources can be modified as per the changing needs.
Increases development speed or product velocity:
Staff augmentation ensures that the chosen employee is customized to fit the need and deadline. As the developer is hired for specific purposes, mostly for short-term projects, the project objectives would be made distinct. This demands complete focus and dedication from the employee to accelerate project development. Since the developer chosen is an expert on the required skill, he or she doesn’t require training, leading to faster implementation of the project.
Cost benefits from stage one:
Right from reduced hiring costs, staff augmentation is cost effective when compared to hiring a full-time employee. The need for specialized skills in the desired candidate would focus on smaller pools of eligible candidates rather than the bigger market of developers with diversified skills. This would benefit the client with lesser costs. Besides, companies can choose remote developers from regions where labour costs are less than in their own country. Remote employment can further save costs by reducing charges related to maintenance of physical office infrastructure. As developers are hired on a contractual basis, for both short- and long-term projects, the employer is saved from salary costs and other benefits tied to permanent employment.
Minimize hassle related to under productive employee:
Recruiting a full-time employee may result in an unexpected outcome in future, based on the changing project environment. Skill gap is the most dreaded reality in smooth project management. The imbalance in the employer’s expectation of skillsets in an employee and the actual skillsets possessed by the employee would result in delayed project deployment. It is illogical to expect an employee to possess all the skillsets needed for a variety of projects. Staff augmentation reduces this imbalance by providing the most accurate candidate, minimizing or annulling skill gaps. Staff augmentation helps to hire top-quality developers with enhanced productivity.
Staff Augmentation: The Steps to Hire the Best Developer
Step 1: Identify the in-house skill gap
The company should be able to identify the reason for external hiring. A distinct understanding of the existing skill gap and a clear proposal of the required skill sets help fix half the problem.
Step 2: Choose the right staff augmentation solutions partner
The company needs to choose a trustworthy staff augmentation solutions partner, with a large pool of eligible candidates to choose from. Ensure that the chosen service provider is legally compliant so that issues related to intellectual property protection and data security can be rooted out. Besides, choose a service provider that facilitates cost-effective and hassle-free hiring processes, so that both your time and costs are saved. Nuventure has the legacy of serving the clients with the best staff augmentation services, with maximum cost and time benefits. Contact us for more information. https://nuventureconnect.com/hire-us/
Step 3: Shortlist profiles of eligible candidates
The staff augmentation service provider studies the requirements of the company and selects a handful of eligible candidates who can fill the skill gap. The portfolios of the shortlisted candidates are shared with the client company for analysis. Therefore, the service provider is responsible for choosing the accurate profiles of candidates from the multitude of talent available in the job market. Thus, the herculean task of hunting down the specialized skill sets is done by the service provider for the company.
Step 4: Conduct interviews and choose the right candidate
The client company schedules interviews with the help of the service provider and chooses the best candidate who can resolve the skill gap. After completing the on-boarding process, the company can avail itself of the services of the chosen developer for the predetermined time.
Thus, staff augmentation can help project management get quick solutions in limited time, so that project deadlines are never extended. However, choosing an ideal staff augmentation solutions partner is the key to smooth solutions.
Choosing the Right Staff Augmentation Company
For efficient solutions to problems, it is necessary to choose the right staff augmentation company. Though the client need not keep long term commitment with the staff augmentation solutions partner or the chosen developers, opting credible staff augmentation company with potential developers can help the former reach the business objectives sooner.
Below are a few points to consider before choosing your staff augmentation service partner:
- Choose a service provider with a large pool of talent so that the probability of hiring an eligible developer with all the required skillsets is greater.
- Ensure that the team augmentation services provided fall within your budget. The staff augmentation process has been chosen to reduce long-term financial liabilities. Therefore, it is necessary to confirm that the hiring costs are bearable.
- Select a partner that can provide intricacy-free and quick hiring process. It is also important to stick to project deadlines for smooth business proceedings.
- Confirm the expertise of the talent pool provided by the service provider before confirming. It is ideal to opt for a free trial of services so that the client need not regret a wasted effort. Client reviews of the service provider can also give a better understanding of the amenity from a customer point of view
- Check whether the solutions provider is legally compliant. Since the employee is mostly hired for a short term, on temporary basis, collaborating with a GDPR compliant, security assuring company is a must. The staff augmentation partner should possess the required certifications assuring data protection and should have implemented policies regarding the same within the establishment.
- Validate the contract terms put forth by the service provider, including the pricing strategy, contract term, confidentiality agreements and termination policies. Only if all the clauses in the contract are agreeable will commitment to the service provider be fruitful.
- Confirm that the developer chosen is soft skill trained. Since the developer is working in remote conditions, it is essential for the former to possess team etiquette and work ethics qualities for the project’s smooth development.
Why You Should choose Nuventure as the Ideal Staff Augmentation Partner
Nuventure is an expert in providing cost-effective staff augmentation solutions.
With a large pool of 20,000+ developers, Nuventure guarantees up to 40% of cost benefits, promising hiring of the best talent in less than 5 days. Since the developers at Nuventure are upskilled with on-demand skills and trained in soft skills and data security foundations, clients can experience a comfortable project deployment. With more than five time zone support, the services rendered by Nuventure set a benchmark for the like. Clients get back to Nuventure for the assurance provided in terms of highly vetted candidates with 2x retention rate. Besides, Nuventure has been recognized for possessing data security-assuring certifications like SOC 2 and ISO 27001, which highlights the commitment of Nuventure to data protection. Therefore, if you are seeking secure and methodical staff augmentation solutions, Nuventure is the ideal partner to connect with. Let us be a part of your team for a focused journey towards the project goals.https://nuventureconnect.com/hire-us/
