Staff augmentation is an exciting new frontier in human resources management. It allows a business to maximize resources while using outside help to fill staffing gaps.

For a company with big plans to grow and expand, staff augmentation is a savvy way to build the business while becoming more innovative, flexible, and in tune with modern employment trends. In this article, we’ll share intelligent strategies for effectively using staff augmentation.

What is Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation is a third-party outsourcing strategy that allows businesses to do more with fewer resources. A company reevaluates its capabilities with existing staff, then rounds out its capabilities by outsourcing key business activities.

Global informational technology (IT) services outsourcing is projected to grow by 7.7% by 2027, and overall business process outsourcing is expected to grow by 6.8% during the same period. Although many people think of staff augmentation as just applying to IT, it can apply to any aspect of almost any type of business. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recommends augmentation to help growing companies meet the demands of marketing, accounting, sales, administration, manufacturing, logistics, technology, and many other functions. Augmentation allows businesses to become more productive as they become bigger and more profitable. 

According to Entrepreneur, staff augmentation is rising in popularity because it provides a low-risk method of seizing high-reward opportunities. So when your company sees an opportunity but doesn’t quite have enough staff to take action, augmentation offers a solution.

Augmentation also offers benefits like:

• Improved talent beyond current staff
• Filling persistent gaps in hard-to-fill roles
• Quick hiring year-round
• Supporting remote work
• Adding business flexibility

Tips for Incorporating Staff Augmentation into Your Business

Confused about where to start adding augmentation in your organization? Here’s a helpful tip. Rank your existing projects in terms of urgency. Then, add augmentation to projects with imminent deadlines, like new products about to launch. For optimal results, establish project requirements and goals ahead of time, before augmenting the related teams.

Consider the full business-wide impact of staff augmentation, including hiring remote employees, managing short-term vs. long-term augmentation, and using independent contractors. Always negotiate clear contracts within your bounds for budgets and deadlines.

Avoid rushing into staff augmentation without creating a clear staffing strategy. Target your staff augmentation efforts to critical areas where you have high needs and low capability or capacity. For example, augmentation handles the extra customer service load if your company has discovered it needs to offer 24/7 customer service but employs only a few 9-to-5 customer service specialists. 

Use augmentation to prevent burnout among your existing employees by supplementing with extra staff in key areas. By thoughtfully incorporating staff augmentation, you could improve employee retention and prevent your best workers from burning out and leaving the company.

Common Mistakes to Avoid With Staff Augmentation

For the best results with staff augmentation, avoid common missteps that could lead to suboptimal results. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

One common mistake is failing to clearly define staffing needs from the outset, which leads to augmentation without clear goals. To put it another way, companies sometimes over-hire outsourced staff and assume having more people will automatically solve difficult problems. 

Don’t expect augmentation to be a golden ticket to instantly resolve deeper, more complex business roadblocks and company cultural issues. Instead, continue to address these issues, but use augmentation to fill gaps in your workforce that prevent progress in the meantime.

Cost is another aspect to consider carefully. Augmentation costs can rise out of control without careful budgeting. Work with a recruitment company or staffing agency that spells out your costs clearly and stays within the budget. At the same time, leverage their expertise to ensure you’re using staff augmentation as effectively as possible to maintain business productivity.

Remember, augmentation is still about people. Your business will always need talented, experienced people working together as a cohesive unit to pursue success.

Improve Your Business and Create a Brighter Future

Staff augmentation could take your business to the next level. Epic Placements is here to provide support as you explore adding staff in key areas of your business. Or, if you’re searching for a new job, apply now and see what’s possible with Epic Placements.