STAFF AUGMENTATION – BENEFITS, USE CASES & LIMITATIONS
Despite online interviews becoming mainstream, recruiting skilled professionals still remains one of the biggest challenges. A study from the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) shows that hiring an employee costs around $4,700 and takes up to 53 days for onboarding – neither cheap nor swift.
Thus, future-oriented businesses are shifting toward staff augmentation services to cut off this upfront recruitment cost and promptly fill the talent gaps as per their requirements – But there’s more to that!
Staff augmentation services can help entrepreneurs and business owners scale without worrying about long-term commitments that come with hiring permanent employees, such as legal, healthcare, insurance, retirement plans, etc., to fill roles for short-term projects.
This blog will explain staff augmentation, its types, and the industries where it’s used excessively. It will further highlight the pros and cons of staff augmentation and its primary differences from outsourcing.
By the time you’re done reading this guide, you will be able to determine whether resource and staff augmentation are right for your business or not.
So without further ado, let’s get started!
WHAT IS STAFF AUGMENTATION?
Staff augmentation is the practice of filling talent gaps and optimizing the competencies of a team to meet and achieve goals and deadlines faster.
To better understand this concept, let’s consider that you’re an entrepreneur building a mobile app for your business. The app launch is expected within months, with deadlines roaming up your head. Suddenly, one of your employees, let’s say a front-end developer, has to take time off due to unforeseen reasons. Instead of hiring another front-end developer (which will nevertheless take months) to fill the gap on your team, you can contact staff augmentation companies to quickly onboard their replacement for the project.
This approach has the following benefits:
You will save considerable time and expenses required for recruiting a new employee
The workflow and pace will remain steady, and deadlines will not exceed
You won’t have to make long-term commitments for insurance, healthcare, and 401K plan
However, that’s just one side of the coin. Staff augmentation is not just about optimizing costs or adhering to deadlines. Staff augmentation also allows entrepreneurs to experiment with further growth and marketing strategies without worrying about the consequences of recruiting permanent employees and firing them if the model fails.
