Staff Augmentation is a buzzword that has gained significant popularity in the IT industry. Third-party vendors have expert IT professionals prepared to arm growing IT businesses. The IT industry is not following the buzz mindlessly. They see several benefits of staff augmentation that align with the industry’s evolving needs.
If you are new to the term ‘staff augmentation’ and need to quickly catch up on things, you’d be glad you are still reading. This blog will break down the term for you, explaining all that it means and implies. In addition, you’ll learn some of the best practices for staff augmentation.
The blog will also share tips for identifying and hiring from the right outsourcing vendors.
What is Staff Augmentation?
Staff augmentation means outsourcing hiring to external parties who can provide high-skilled individuals relevant to the nature of your IT organization. Hiring under staff augmentation can be temporary or permanent, depending on the organization’s requirements.
Job outsourcers empower organizations to choose the best fitting candidate for open positions in their team. All the professionals are vetted, and their skill sets are shared with prospective businesses. The offers package is actually quite attractive for any IT organization, as the outsourcer handles the new employee’s onboarding.
They also create short-term or long-term contracts to meet the organization’s goals. In this manner, the outsourcer manages the employee without your organization intervening. That means IT organizations can hire an expert and focus on the work while the third-party vendor handles the details.
How Does Staff Augmentation Work?
Staff augmentation suggests adding to the team you already have. IT firms can hire professionals contractually through vendors for the duration of a project. The employees are also comfortable with this arrangement since the vendors can assign them to a different team once the contract duration ends.
The reason staff augmentation has recently gained more popularity is due to the remote working trend since the start of the pandemic. Organizations could not find the right skillset or could not hire and use a resource that was a considerable distance away. Outsourcing businesses provided a solution to this by identifying professionals who had all the infrastructure requirements to work remotely. Moreover, these professionals excel at communication. So, distance and online interactions do not become a hurdle when it comes to delivering quality work.
Staff augmentation solves administrative problems and enables IT organizations to hire highly skilled individuals contractually. Otherwise, they would have to scout for an employee with the right skills and offer full-time positions during a time of high business uncertainty.
Types of Staff Augmentation
Organizations have three types of augmentation strategies to choose from. These categories are based on geographical differences.
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In-Country Augmentation
The first type of augmentation is from within the country in which your organization operates. In-country hiring has the advantage of no language barrier, which is why it is preferred for roles that require strong communication. However, it is also the most expensive type of augmentation, given that other countries provide more affordable options. The talent pool is also somewhat restricted.
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Nearshore Augmentation
If organizations want to hire professionals who are within the same time zone but do not have a country preference, they opt for nearshore staff augmentation. Substantial challenges can arise when employees work in different time zones in a team, and near-shore hiring helps avoid them. In terms of cost, nearshore hiring is more affordable than in-country hiring, but still quite expensive compared to offshore staff augmentation.
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Offshore Augmentation
This is the most widely adopted version of staff augmentation. It allows employers to scale the costs and hire from a diverse talent pool. The hired professionals can be from any country which has the relevant infrastructural requirements.
The only downside is a language and cultural barrier that can sometimes cause difficulties in communication. However, organizations often find that this issue is not common.
Is Staff Augmentation the Right Option for You?
There are a handful of situations where staff augmentation is the perfect solution for your business’s future. It can be a cost-effective and hassle-free measure and lets you keep your focus on the task at hand.
If your organization is working on a project with a strict timeline, staff augmentation can quickly provide extra resources. Suppose you already have a team of skilled workers but need to add some more people to meet deadlines. Outsourcers can find the right people and create customized contracts that last until the project is delivered.
Staff augmentation services also help diversify a team. Organizations can seek engineers who specialize in a particular area or programmers who have prior experience in the type of product they are working on. It is a quick solution to add the needed expertise and ensure that your team can think of everything.
Teams that require direct communication and frequent correspondence would staff augmentation to simple outsourcing practices. In outsourcing, the organization often does not have direct contact with the third-party hire. Whereas, through staff augmentation, the hired resource is actually a part of your team and is just managed by the third party.
Benefits of Staff Augmentation
The number one benefit of staff augmentation is the significant savings. Cost efficiency is a priority for all organizations, although there is not much they can do when it comes to hiring new resources. Organizations save on infrastructure costs such as new computers, office space, and utility bills by opting for staff augmentation. The cost structure and contract is transparent, meaning no extra administrative charges are racked up while outsourcing a resource.
The productivity of the augmented resources is also much higher. They are employed on one project are a time, so they can give their whole time and energy to it. Even full-time resources at an organization often have to juggle multiple roles or duties at a time. Compared to that, additional resources work harder and are also supervised by the outsourcer to ensure maximum productivity and outstanding performance.
Organizations can create more versatile teams by hiring through augmentation. They can add previously missing skillsets to their team and build a well-rounded unit. They can also hire professionals who can work in coordination, ensuring 24/7 service.
On top of all this, third-party vendors remove HR outsourcing challenges by adding a non-disclosure clause to all your resources’ contracts. By doing this, the vendors guarantee the intellectual property rights of your organization for any project you may be working on.
Conclusion
Staff augmentation is a revolutionary solution that meets all of IT organizations’ requirements. It can ease hiring woes without wasting time and promises to be cost-effective and efficient. It is pertinent to hire a well-reputed outsourcing vendor who can help you get the most out of the staff augmentation strategy.
Xavor Corporation has helped IT and health-tech organizations with outsourced resources for over 25 years. Fortune 500 organizations have faith in the team of professionals Xavor provides them. In addition, Xavor equips its outsourced resources with all the infrastructural requirements to ensure you’re hiring competent and cost-efficient employees.
Reach out to [email protected] and swiftly address your hiring needs with a reliable outsourcing partner.