The pandemic left many prominent organizations and flourishing startups to undergo many changes & huge losses, some were even compelled to give up their offices, cut down costs on company bonuses, and recruitment processes.
Despite that, they still needed to get through it. So, how did they deal with the situation? Many descended to the staff augmentation model to accommodate their recruiting obligations. Not sure what staff augmentation is? No problem, let us break it down for you.
What is staff augmentation?
Staff augmentation is a flexible outsourcing model that permits a company to employ tech experts worldwide and directly govern its augmented team. Through staff augmentation, you have the freedom to select tech talent that fits your specifications and to cut or expand your augmented team as per your company’s requirements.
More importantly, IT staff augmentation aids you to hire tech professionals for your in-house development team for short- or long-term teamwork in technological proficiency.
The staff augmented-based tech experts can be directly hired by a third-party vendor/consultancy that eliminates the cost & the liabilities which go into the hiring process. A developer who is hired through a staff augmented process is devoted to one project at a time.
IT staff augmentation can be a solution to many of the problems your company may be facing: a shortage of tech professionals in your region, excessive rates, incompetence in ascending the business, challenges in innovation implementation, etc.
Benefits of the staff augmentation model
1. Access to big tech talent
Tech companies mostly face a shortage of developers regarding the technical side of projects. It is more so when it comes to Chicago. The US is one such country where there is more demand than available talent.
On the other hand, eastern countries have a large pool of talent, making multiple staff augmentation destinations. Thus, if you opt for staff augmentation, then there’s no doubt that you will have access to a large pool of tech talent from all over the world.
2. Eliminates extra expenses in the hiring process
Staff augmentation is known for its transparent cost structure. Moreover, globally outsourcing talent results in low expense. You won’t have to worry about additional costs such as office infrastructure, paying rents, or other such facilities.
In staff augmentation, you’ll only need to pay the vendor/consultancy fees’ fees. And rest assured, you’ll have to focus on your main business goals.
3. Flexibility in terms of geographical location
Facing no geographical location restrictions, you’ll get the opportunity to scale at a higher level. The principal advantage of staff augmentation is that you’ll have the best tech talents from any part of the world.
Whether you’re a startup owner or a business CEO, staff augmentation will provide more significant opportunities as you would be able to control every process no matter what development stage your product is in. This way, you would even focus on your business needs.
4. Lessens the time spent in recruiting
As soon as you sign up for a deal with your vendor, the developers’ team will immediately start working on your project. You won’t have to waste your time on the hiring process; thus, you'll have a more magnificent time with your business because staff augmentation experts are more likely to concentrate exclusively on your project.
5. Higher efficiency
A notable advantage of staff augmentation is higher efficiency. Tech talent hired through staff augmentation is more concentrated in their work than specialization and experience. Thus that enables higher efficiency in their work and 100% productivity levels throughout the project.
Relevant: How to improve employee productivity
Types of staff augmentation you can choose from
We see that you’re clear with the staff augmentation model. Indeed it’s time for you to anticipate which type of staff augmentation model suits your business needs so that you can save time & money in the recruiting process.
Let’s come to the kinds of staff augmentation model you can choose from:
Short period services
These can be utilized when there are more clients and developers’ demand increases. This can even be used when in-house tech developers are on leave or vacationing.
Long term services
This is mainly considered to fill in a skill gap. Recommended for longer projects.
Why staff augmentation is the new trend in tech recruitment
The past year enabled us to think of many solutions to help us remotely. And that comes as the main reason why staff augmentation is so in trend. Moreover, the numerous benefits that staff augmentation provides are also why staff augmentation is so in demand.
The speedy hiring process and its flexibility in adding & removing employees also add to another factor in staff augmentation becoming a new trend. Such flexibility in terms of hiring is never possible in the in-house recruitment process. It comes as a burdensome process be it in finding or firing an employee, and with staff augmentation, it is easy.
If you want to choose a techie only for a particular project and only for six months then it’s a cumbersome process in-house. While in staff augmentation, you can hire & fire at your convenience.
Conclusion
Now that you are convinced about opting for staff augmentation. The next question you may be having is hiring a vendor/consultancy for the job. Consider working with a vendor that provides both staff augmentation & project outsourcing services. This would permit you to gain the most from both the services, without getting into the responsibility of managing multiple vendors at a time.
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Nathan McKinley is a Business Development Manager at Cerdonis Technologies LLC - mobile app development company that builds robust digital products for SMBs and startups. He shares his years of tech vulnerabilities knowledge of Technology in HR, Mobile Recruitment, Business Automation with Tech & Growing Startups with Digital Products.