GOOD PRACTICES IN STAFF AUGMENTATION

Every successful business adheres to a diverse plan of actions to take on the challenges of market competition and growth targets. Sometimes it’s in the best interest of a company to not produce a service or a product in-house. In these cases, rendering of such services is bestowed upon a foreign entity.

These external businesses are hired to do the job because of their speciality in their respective field.

Sometimes it’s not feasible for a business to dip their toe in everything and it’s strategical and tactically better to acquire help from outside.

ESSENTIAL DECISION; OUTSOURCING OR STAFF AUGMENTATION

“Either to go with project outsourcing or staff augmentation?”.

You must know the following before you make this decision. Outsourcing projects require less employee training and give most control to the outsourcing company.

Outsourcing is formal and a long-term commitment most of the time. On the other hand, staff augmentation could be used for single projects which last for a brief time.

If a project needs extensive knowledge of the company’s intricate dealings in order to complete successfully, then it’s preferable to go with staff augmentation.


If the project is of a repetitive nature, project outsourcing will be cost-effective as the management will be handled by the outsourcing company and hence saving you the extra management costs.


Since outsourcing is a long-term commitment, it is cumbersome to incorporate it into the internal system and it takes longer to start.


If the projects are of small scale, Staff augmentation is more effective. Outsourcing companies tend to be more expensive when hired for a small job. The barrier to entry can be higher than the staff augmentation.

It’s a good consideration to go through the above keynotes and make a checklist regarding your business to see where your needs lie.

FINDING THE BEST STAFF AUGMENTATION FIRM

Before you do anything, it’s paramount as a client to find the best staff Augmentation agency/firm. Business review websites are a great blessing in that cause for a client. Here’s a list of some institutions and websites which rank businesses according to market share, credibility, performance, and brand value. It’s very convenient to surf through these websites and find an agency compatible with your needs. 

• The manifest.com
• Clutch.com
• Goodfirms.co
• WebFx.com
• Upcity.com
• Designrush.com
• Topdevelopers.co

Some B2B websites provide market research to find you the perfect staff augmentation firms. Most of the websites mentioned above are free to use, with an extensive comparison of staffing agencies.




What you can accomplish with these search tools is that

• You can generate a list of Staff Augmentation Firms by putting your inquiries on these websites. Search the fields like IT, marketing, or prioritise agencies by looking up industries in the search field.
• Analyse reviews and feedback left by prior clients for your searched staffing agencies.
• Contact directly with the firms and get a quote.
• Get a free pitch as some ranking websites offer that as well.

ASSIST THE TALENT FOR THE PERFECT START

Even the most talented IT freelancers and independent workers hired as a result of staffing augmentation require some walk-through before the work could be started. Acquainting them with the processes is the responsibility, that a client has to take head-on, otherwise, it kills the purpose of hiring external help. It will ensure an anxiety-free work environment, may it virtual or physical if the right steps are taken in the beginning.




Unlike outsourcing, direction and management are in the client’s hand in case of staff augmentation and it calls for active participation, which could be done by providing input regarding the work at calculated intervals.




Supervision requires certain mindfulness to delve into staffing from the outside. Project management on the client part requires a seamless flow of necessary information with the talent to help them perform optimally. 

KEEP THE HIRING AGENCY IN CONFIDENCE

Keep the hiring agency in the loop and communicate any intention of hiring the talent for full-time employment before doing business with the agency. This is a practice in good faith that helps agencies to recommend the employees/talent who will be willing to commit to a full-time job.



Read more about the Client's perspective on Staff Augmentation.