Adaptability and resourcefulness in managing human capital are essential for organisations to stay competitive. A strategy that has gained prominence in recent years is staff augmentation.

It enables businesses to respond promptly to shifting demands, optimise their teams, and tap into external and global talent when necessary. This article will describe staff augmentation and how companies can integrate it into their HR strategy.

What does Staff Augmentation involve?

Staff augmentation is a component of a dynamic workforce strategy involving temporary or long-term use of external personnel generally employed by a staffing provider, sometimes in another country. It enables businesses to address unpredictable resource demands, scale their back-office operations, and focus their in-house team on high-value work that differentiates them in the marketplace.

Staff augmentation features in nearly all industrial sectors and organisations, from SMEs to large enterprises.

It is like having your own employee(s) in many ways. People are assigned to your team to work a set number of hours per week, month or year. Critical aspects:

• Like a direct hire team member, you will need to give them work to do because you have asked the staffing provider to put those people at the disposal of your business.
• Like a direct hire team member, in Valenta’s case at least, you will have a named individual(s) and points of contact to create all the continuity similar to a direct hire team member.
• Unlike an employee, the staffing provider retains all employment liabilities.

What is the employment status of the individuals assigned to my business?

It might be different with other providers, but in Valenta’s case, staff assigned to client teams are Valenta employees. If you are thinking about IR35 or employment taxes, I have written an article here.

Should I consider other aspects of labour supply chain risk with staff augmentation?

Other areas of due care are social obligations to guard against exploitation. A reputable staffing provider will be perfectly willing to support your scrutiny of them and provide documentary evidence to demonstrate that they are an ethical service provider.

In Valenta’s case, in addition to documentary evidence, we invite our clients and prospective clients to visit our service delivery centres. Many take up the invitation and have a great trip; some are kind enough to post about it on LinkedIn and YouTube so you can check out our references. If you can’t find them, drop me a line, and I will send links. Let me know if you want to visit us, and we will help plan your trip.

Due care doesn’t just stop before an engagement. You must remain alert to indicators of unethical behaviour. In Valenta’s case, you will have direct contact with the people assigned to your business; you will get to know them as well as any other member of your team. If you are not working with Valenta, be suspicious of any ‘firewall’ between you as the client and the workers assigned to work for your business.

Okay, I’ve got the preamble. What advantages do I get from staff augmentation?

1. Flexibility: A primary advantage of staff augmentation is its flexibility. Businesses can adapt workforce size and composition to fluctuating project requirements, seasonal variations, or unforeseen changes in demand. This adaptability helps organisations avoid or better manage over and understaffing issues.
2. Specialised Expertise: Staff augmentation enables businesses to access specialised skills and domain expertise. This is invaluable in fee-earner support roles, for projects demanding niche expertise, or resolving technical hurdles that in-house teams cannot address.
3. Cost Efficiency: Staff augmentation is often a cost-effective alternative to hiring full-time employees. Organisations outsource expenses and distractions associated with onboarding, training, managing staff turnover and other overhead costs. Where work can be performed remotely, there is the opportunity to use offshore staff in lower-cost jurisdictions.
4. Speed: Staff augmentation allows companies to expedite their hiring process unhindered by often protracted recruitment and onboarding procedures associated with permanent hiring. This empowers businesses to respond rapidly to market fluctuations and emerging opportunities.
5. Risk Mitigation: By using staff augmentation, organisations mitigate risks relative to the long-term commitments they make to their employees. In cases where a project concludes or market dynamics shift, augmented staff can scale back without dealing with the complexities of redundancies or workforce redeployment.

How do you implement staff augmentation as part of your HR strategy?

Having looked at staff augmentation, let’s explore how businesses can incorporate it into their human resources strategy.

1. Assess Present Need: Start by assessing your organisation’s workforce and project requirements. Identify areas where flexible capacity is needed or can be challenging to meet resource demands. By understanding the business needs and influencing factors, you can pinpoint areas where staff augmentation has the potential to make the most difference.
2. Have a Workforce Plan: It doesn’t need to be long or complicated, but you need a view of where you must use in-house staff and where you need reliable and consistent work performance that could be done by third-party personnel. Staff Augmentation is typical in back office support or doing work that does not differentiate the business in the marketplace. It would be best if you also considered preserving some internal competencies. It is generally not a good idea to outsource your entire back office as you may end up with a power imbalance with your staffing provider that does not serve your organisation’s long-term interests. In addition, having a workforce plan will help your in-house team understand why they are valued and how they contribute to the successful use of staff augmentation rather than seeing it as a threat to their job.
3. Partnering with Reputable Providers: Forge partnerships with a trustworthy staff augmentation provider. Check their references and testimonials. Understand how they will meet the same standards you expect in your company for cyber security, data security, employee vetting and background checks. You must also check that your staffing provider has appropriate employee policies if you use overseas staff. Whilst labour laws vary across the world, you need to hold your supplier to the same ethical and social standards as you would expect a domestic supplier to meet.
4. Integration and Onboarding: The success of staff augmentation hinges on integrating external resources into your existing team. If the augmented staff are in your office, it’s easy, but where they work remotely at the staffing provider’s office, you need to be ready to integrate a remote worker(s) into your team. When you start working with your provider, they will need similar onboarding and orientation as any new team member to acquaint them with your company’s culture, business processes, and objectives. Clear communication and a structured onboarding process are essential for success. Your staffing provider will know what makes this phase successful; discuss the issue with them and find out what they find are the most essential aspects.
5. Communication and Collaboration: Sustain open lines of communication between your in-house team and augmented staff. Foster a collaborative environment where all members, irrespective of their employment status, are valued contributors.
6. Performance Evaluation: Evaluate the performance of augmented staff and provide feedback to your provider. This practice is pivotal in preserving work quality and ensuring the realisation of business objectives. Promptly address any issues that arise to maintain momentum and uphold quality standards.
7. Flexibility and Adaptability: Prepare to recalibrate your staff augmentation strategy as business needs evolve. You may need to extend, reduce or redeploy augmented staff as business requirements change and opportunities to leverage the strategy further become clear.

Conclusion

Staff augmentation is often essential to meet a business’s resource demands. It can help overcome the challenges of a tight labour market, reduce costs and allow an organisation to focus on what makes them successful. By partnering with dependable providers and nurturing a collaborative team atmosphere, staff augmentation will propel efficiency and productivity, contributing to overall success. Embracing this adaptable approach to workforce management can position your business for growth and resilience in an uncertain business environment.

Author:

Michael Sivewright

Digital Transformation | Workforce Solutions | Operations Consulting | Managing Director at Valenta

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