Staff augmentation has been emerging as a popular staff outsourcing practice, working wonders for achieving immediate business objectives and staffing needs for specific projects.
Businesses have been gradually shifting away from traditional hiring practices, due to several inherent challenges—expensive and time-consuming in-house recruitment or trade-offs between talent and budgets, to name a few.
In contrast, providing myriad compelling benefits, like high flexibility and cost-efficiency, staff augmentation has been proven to be the most beneficial choice for companies of all sizes.
Staff augmentation lets you complement the capabilities of your in-house team, by contractually hiring employees with specific skills, from an external staffing company.
Once you’re clear on the kind of specialist you require, you can interview pre-screened candidates provided by the company. Upon selecting the right candidate for your business requirements, you can immediately focus on onboarding them, while the staffing company deals with all the legal and administrative hassles.
Staff Augmentation Can Cater to Different Requirements
There are several models of staff augmentation, each suitable for a specific situation. Knowing which one to go with for your requirement can save you a lot of time and hassle.
| Type of Staff Augmentation | When to use |
| Boutique agency- specialized staffing and consulting | A rare skill set is required for a specific project |
| Master vendor staff | You need to hire in bulk and save costs |
| Gig platforms with access to independent contractors | You need to hire quickly for a short task |
| On-demand talent platforms | You must ensure a rapid and smooth hiring process |
| Independent contractor | You need to terminate the contract easily or assign roles without a clear scope |
Why You Should Opt for Staff Augmentation
Global Talent Pool
You can leverage staff augmentation services to hire talent from across the globe, instead of being limited to the local labor market. This means you don’t need to compromise on your benchmarks and indicators, in favor of proximity.
Cost Reduction
Staff augmentation can help you reduce costs on many levels. You only need to pay the staffing agency for their all-inclusive package services, instead of having to continually pay for your in-house employees’ off days, sick leaves, or maternity leaves. You also avoid all recruitment-related and legal costs. Besides these, you need not spend any training infrastructure for augmented staff. It’s the staffing company that ensures that the employees stay abreast of the latest technologies and trends.
Flexibility
Traditional hiring can be a long and tedious process for your HR team. With staff augmentation, your HR executives can focus more on their primary functions, while the legal paperwork is taken care of by the staffing company, which significantly fast-tracks the process. This means that you can hire a specialist on short notice, just in time for your requirement.
Administrative Support
Collaborating with a staffing company means that you can delegate all the daily staff management tasks, like accounting, payrolls, insurance, team building, leisure activities, and so on, to the vendor, while you concentrate on your core business needs.
Any kind of outsourcing comes with an inherent set of challenges. With staff augmentation, as well, understanding the possible challenges can help you take the necessary preventive measures to minimize issues.
Is Staff Augmentation Any Different than Other Outsourcing Models?
With so many outsourcing models available in the market, it’s easy to confuse staff augmentation with any of the others. The following tables should clear things up regarding the primary features that set staff augmentation apart from each of its counterparts.
- Staff Augmentation Vs. Managed Services
| Staff Augmentation | Managed Services |
| Only provisioning the staff required for the project; rest is controlled by the client | Works as a package solution to manage all aspects of the client’s functioning in non-core systems |
| No change in the client’s operating model | The greater degree of delegation for the client |
| The supplier commits to providing employees with the required capabilities | The vendor helps optimize the clients’ resource allocation for strategic business priorities |
| The suppliers need to hire employees first | The supplier can provide readily available employees whenever needed |
- Staff Augmentation Vs. Independent Contractor
| Staff Augmentation | Independent Contractor |
| All the administrative tasks are covered by the vendor | The client is responsible for payroll, management, communication, etc. |
| Clients must pay commissions to the staffing vendor | Frees clients from paying commissions to the vendor, employing the contractor directly |
| Less restrictions in terms of roles that can be taken up by employees | Certain limitations are applicable; not all roles can be assigned to independent contractors |
- Staff Augmentation Vs. Dedicated Team
| Staff Augmentation | Dedicated Team |
| Comparatively less responsibility for the vendor | More responsibilities for the vendor |
| Clients manage the remote workers directly | Employees work continuously under the vendor’s guidance |
| Full-time engagement for augmented staff | Teams work for multiple clients simultaneously |
| Salaries are managed by the client | Salaries are reviewed by the vendor |
- Staff Augmentation Vs. Time and Material
| Staff Augmentation | Time & Material (T&M) |
| The vendor temporarily hires staff, managing all documentation, and administration costs of employment | The client pays the vendor for the time spent by a single employee or a team |
| The client and the vendor can choose to share perks and salary review responsibilities | Perks and salary reviews are done by the vendor only |
- Staff Augmentation Vs. Offshore Development Centre (ODC)
| Staff Augmentation | Offshore Development Centre (ODC) |
| Employees are hired by the vendor on a contractual basis | The vendor hires offshore teams for the client, and hands them over after recruitment |
| Employees are managed mostly by the vendor | Employees have to be managed by the client |
| Quick results, particularly for one-off projects | More transparency due to direct oversight |
Closing Thoughts
Although staff augmentation is a great alternative for businesses of all sizes, its various nuances and different deployment models can make it complicated for companies. To get the most out of this outsourcing practice, you must thoroughly analyze your needs. Take into consideration your allocated budget for the specified task, and also the degree to which you are ready to relinquish control.
With years of staffing and outsourcing experience, we at Josh Software, provide expert consultation and efficient services for bridging the staffing gaps between your in-house capabilities and your business objectives.
If you’re looking for a completely hassle-free staff augmentation partner, and wish to understand how we operate, contact our recruiters for a sample staff augmentation contract.
Elevate the capabilities of your development team, with staff augmentation services by Josh Software.
