What Is Staff Augmentation?

Labor is the number one investment for businesses, typically accounting for 70% of expenditures. When it comes at such a high cost, it can be helpful to utilize recruitment methods like staff augmentation.

In this edition of nSider, Steve McNamara, Director of Talent Delivery at nTech Workforce, provides information for staffing service buyers and HR professionals about the staff augmentation process from the staffing agency perspective.

Is your company seeking staff augmentation?

According to McNamara, “Staff augmentation is a type of outsourcing model where a company hires additional staff, typically on a temporary or project basis, to work alongside its existing employees.”

Staff augmentation is a means of quickly adding people when up against deadlines or introducing new knowledge, skills, or abilities (KSAs) on a specific project. Staff augmentation can also be useful in covering leave or vacation. In this way, it allows companies to “quickly and easily scale their workforce up or down in response to changing business needs.”

On top of increased flexibility, there are numerous benefits to staff augmentation, including, as McNamara notes, “[allowing] companies to have greater control over the work of the additional staff, as they remain fully responsible for the management and supervision of the project.”

How does staff augmentation differ from other staffing agency services?

Staff augmentation is one service that staffing agencies offer, and according to McNamara, it differs from other services in a few key ways:

1. The Recruiting Process: Because staff augmentation is about fulfilling a specific need and for a specific timeframe, the recruiting process is generally more targeted.
2. Supervision and Management: With staff augmentation,  supervision becomes a collaborative effort between the client company and the staffing. While the client company oversees day-to-day operations, the staffing agency looks for client feedback to develop ways to provide coaching and training as needed. Ideally, the staffing agency and client work collaboratively to solve any issues. 
3. Flexibility: Staff augmentation provides a high degree of flexibility for companies, where they can bring in talent without committing to hiring and do so in a relatively quick timeframe.
4. Cost: Staff augmentation can be a cost-effective way of bringing in additional staff without having to outsource supervision and management. Moreover, staff augmentation is flexible by nature allowing to expand and contract the workforce as needed.
5. Scalability: When companies need to quickly scale up or down, staff augmentation can be a good option for allowing the company to grow and shrink in response to workload.

How do you succeed with staff augmentation? 

When businesses set out to work with a staffing company to augment their staff, there are a few best practices that can lead to the overall success of the process. Here are the top recommendations according to McNamara:

1. Clear Communication: Having open ongoing communication with the staffing company is essential so that both parties have a clear sense of the requirements for the project or task, the specific skills needed, and the timeline and budget you are working with.
2. Partnering with the Right Staffing Firm: It goes without saying that working with an experienced staffing company with expertise in the industry will make a big difference in the quality of the talent pool and the speed at which staff can be augmented.
3. Clear Expectations and Responsibility: Businesses seeking to augment staff should have a clear understanding of their expectations, responsibilities, and deliverables. This also includes defining the role/roles of temporary staff, how much supervision will be required, and the standards for quality and timeliness of the work.
4. Integration with Existing Team: Whenever you are mixing teams, it helps to have some planning and protocols in place to ensure company culture continues to thrive. This can be achieved through orientation and the onboarding process, as well as by fostering open communication and offering support and feedback.
5. Timely Payment: Trust is key to maintaining good relations with staff, and timely payment to the staffing agency for services provided is the best way of building and maintaining a positive relationship.
6. Evaluation and Feedback: Regularly reporting on the performance of temporary staff to staffing agencies can help identify areas for improvement, foster a learning culture, and ensure that the project is on track for success.

Staff augmentation can save precious time and dollars for your business. If you are looking to augment your staff or recruit for specific roles, trust nTech Workforce to help you position your team for success.