Staff augmentation, or “staffing” as it’s often called, is the practice of hiring temporary employees to work alongside permanent staff on a project-by-project basis. It’s an increasingly popular way for companies to adapt their workforce to fluctuations in demand. Unlike hiring full-time employees, staffing allows businesses to scale back when necessary, which is particularly important in industries like manufacturing where seasonal changes can make staffing more difficult than ever.
What is Staff Augmentation?
Staff augmentation is a staffing model that combines the flexibility and cost savings of outsourcing with the control and accountability of hiring full-time employees.
Staff augmentation allows companies to outsource non-core functions while maintaining control over them. It’s a way for organizations to keep their core processes intact while saving money by outsourcing non-essential tasks like HR administration or IT support services, for example.
Staff augmentation is also a way for companies to scale up quickly without hiring full-time employees. This can be particularly useful in industries with high employee turnover rates, such as retail and hospitality. Staff augmentation can help organizations ramp up quickly when they need it, while still providing them with the flexibility to scale back down when business slows down again.
Types of Staff Augmentation
There are many different types of staff augmentation, each with its own benefits and drawbacks.
- Temporary Staffing: This involves hiring temporary employees for a fixed period, typically to address seasonal or short-term project demands. Temporary staff may be hired directly by the company or through a staffing agency.
- Contract Staffing: In this model, companies hire staff for a specific project or duration through contractual agreements. The staff is typically employed by a staffing agency or consultancy firm, which manages their payroll, benefits, and other HR responsibilities.
- Project-Based Staff Augmentation: Companies hire specialized talent for a particular project or assignment, usually to fill specific skill gaps required for that project. Once the project is completed, the augmented staff may move on to other assignments or projects.
- Skill-Based Staff Augmentation: In this approach, companies hire staff with specific skills or expertise to enhance their existing teams’ capabilities. These skilled professionals often work alongside the core team, providing specialized knowledge and experience.
- Offshore Staff Augmentation: Companies may choose to augment their workforce with offshore talent. This involves hiring remote staff or teams located in different countries to benefit from cost savings, access to a larger talent pool, and around-the-clock productivity.
- Nearshore Staff Augmentation: Similar to offshore staff augmentation, nearshore staff are hired from neighboring countries, usually in the same region or time zone. This approach helps maintain closer communication and cultural affinity while still leveraging cost advantages.
- Onshore Staff Augmentation: This type involves hiring additional staff from within the same country as the company’s headquarters. Onshore staff augmentation often provides better alignment with local laws, regulations, and business practices.
- Managed Services: In this model, a company outsources entire business functions or processes to a third-party provider, who manages the staff and all related activities. The outsourcing company is responsible for delivering the desired outcomes.
- Team Augmentation: Companies may choose to augment entire teams or departments to address specific business needs. This could involve adding a temporary team of professionals with diverse skill sets to tackle a particular challenge.
Benefits of Staff Augmentation
Staff augmentation is a flexible and cost-effective way to scale your team quickly. It allows you to bring in the best talent from around the world, on a project-by-project basis. You can hire an expert who has worked in your industry for years, or someone fresh out of college with no experience at all, whatever you need at that moment will be available through staff augmentation.
Staff augmentation also enables agility: it gives companies access to talent without having them on staff full-time, which means that businesses can change direction more quickly than if they were anchored by permanent employees’ salaries and benefits packages (and accompanying paperwork).
Staff augmentation can be especially valuable in the tech industry, where there is a constant need for fresh talent. Technology changes quickly, and companies that want to stay on top of their game must keep up with these changes. Augmenting your team with experienced consultants or younger workers who are just starting out is an efficient way to keep up with the latest trends while staying lean and agile.
When to Use Team Augmentation
When to Use Team Augmentation
Staff augmentation can be used when you have a project that requires a skill set you don’t have and need to fill in the gaps. For example, if your company is creating a new product and needs marketing help, but doesn’t have any marketing staff on hand at the time, staff augmentation can help get things rolling until your internal team is ready to take over (and maybe even after).
Another reason for using team augmentation is that it’s more cost-effective than hiring full-time employees or outsourcing work overseas. This might seem counterintuitive at first glance because contractors cost more per hour than employees do, but if they’re only needed for short periods of time and/or their specific expertise isn’t required for other projects within the organization (in which case those other projects would suffer), then it may make sense from both an HR perspective as well as from an economic perspective (because contractors don’t receive benefits).
How to Succeed with Team Augmentation
The best way to succeed with staff augmentation is to use a staffing agency. A good staffing firm will help you find the right people for your team, as well as manage them.
As we discussed earlier, there are two main types of staff: full-time and part-time. Full-time employees are more expensive but also more reliable because they’re committed to your company for longer periods of time (and therefore more likely to stay). On the other hand, part-timers may be cheaper but less reliable because they’re not necessarily committed, they could leave at any moment if another opportunity comes along or their personal situation changes unexpectedly.
Part-time staff can be great for certain jobs, but they might not be the best option if you need help with a high volume of work or frequent emergencies. If you’re looking for part-time employees, make sure they’re available when needed and that they understand what their role will entail.
The rise of the staffing agency has made it possible for businesses to take advantage of workforce flexibility without compromising quality.
Staff Augmentation is a flexible workforce model that allows businesses to hire temporary employees for specific projects. This alternative is often used in place of hiring full-time employees due to its ability to provide the same quality results without compromising on cost or flexibility.
Staff augmentation can be used for short-term or long-term projects and is ideal if you need someone who has experience in your industry but doesn’t have time or budget for training new staff members on the job.
Conclusion
The rise of the staffing agency has made it possible for businesses to take advantage of workforce flexibility without compromising quality.