Staff augmentation services have been making waves in the US. With so many US business sectors in severe need of personnel in the wake of the Great Resignation, it’s only natural that entrepreneurs and business moguls would search for a way out.
This is precisely the reason why Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) and Staff Augmentation services have come into the spotlight. The business world needs good workers to build a united front against the prophesized recessions of the 2020s. It is only through collaboration between professionals across the globe can we hope to make the nation a bastion against the forces of the economy.
We all remember the Global Financial Crisis of 2008, and how it left the nation divided and heartbroken. We must do all we can to make sure our children do not have to go through such a catastrophe, and we at Expertise Accelerated firmly believe that staff augmentation services are key in the struggle to solve the personnel crisis and spur America into a new age of peace and prosperity for all.
That said, there still remains an air of uncertainty in the business landscape when it comes to leveraging staff augmentation services. Albeit far less potent, with Clutch reporting a hearty 83% of businesses adopting BPO and staff augmentation services at different levels, it is still a feeling that must be acknowledged and addressed.
It is important that entrepreneurs throughout the world realize that if we are to stand against the perils of recession, we must work together, and to work together, entrepreneurs must put their faith into the boons offered by staff augmentation services.
In this article, we will break down precisely what staff augmentation is, what staff augmentation services can offer to the US and global business landscape, and provide our readers with a solid starter guide to search for their ideal staff augmentation services provider.
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Staff Augmentation Services: The Solution to the Great Resignation
Staff augmentation is very similar, yet different from regular BPO. Let’s break it down.
As our EA experts put it,
Staff augmentation is the process of augmenting a company’s workforce using man-hours and/or expertise hired from third-party service providers. Staff augmentation services help organizations achieve a multitude of business objectives by leveraging trained professionals deployed by specialized third-party service providers.
Essentially, the key difference between standard BPO and staff augmentation services lies in the level of control and transparency afforded to the client. When enlisting the aid of a well-reputed staff augmentation service provider, you are essentially leveraging their services to find you the professional you express the need for. While BPO is about hiring a firm to do the work for you, staff augmentation services providers build a bridge between you and compatible professionals. The reins are in your hands.
Once hired, you are the boss, and the service provider only steps in to facilitate collaboration and administration.
To give a brief analogy, imagine that you hire someone from Asia to manage your business’ accounting through a staff augmentation firm. The firm in this case would be responsible for:
- Finding you the talent,
- Arranging communications
- Providing logistic support to the talent to work remotely, and so on.
You get an employee, and the service provider makes sure they have all the means to work in your business.
Needless to say, just going off the basic description of the concept, any entrepreneur should be able to recognize just how handy such services can be. Staff augmentation services offer a wellspring of opportunities to the US and global business landscape. In the increasingly globalized world where technology is demolishing distance barriers, it’s only a matter of time before we have businesses with teams across the planet, all working in harmony.
Looking at the stats from Clutch, the top ten business functions where entrepreneurs are leveraging BPO and staff augmentation services range all the way from marketing to accounting and finance. With such a wide breadth of business functions available to implement staff augmentation, entrepreneurs are frankly quite spoiled for choice.
It would be a mistake for entrepreneurs to not at the very least float the idea to the core team and meet with some staff augmentation services providers before rejecting the potential of staff augmentation.
On that note, let’s talk about some of the key advantages that staff augmentation services bring to the table, as well as address some common concerns about the whole process.
Why You Need to Leverage Staff Augmentation Services
Achieve Phenomenal Cost Savings by Leveraging Remote Talent
Cost savings are the primary reason why staff augmentation services have seized the limelight as of late. The entire driving force behind the Great Resignation is speculated to be a combination of employees struggling with burnout and the rising inflation forcing the workforce to exit in droves for want of higher pay.
Harvard Business Review also posits that the pandemic caused many US professionals to reassess their work-life priorities, with many exiting to contemplate the matter.
The bottom line is that many US employers failed to satisfy the demands of their personnel, and it must be said that not all fault lies with the businesses per se. The entire business landscape has been struggling economically since the pandemic.
Between lockdowns and employees demanding higher wages to keep up with inflation, things turned out messy. Businesses are still recovering from the damage inflicted by the pandemic. It is quite a tall order to expect many small and medium-sized businesses to be able to afford the services of US professionals at the moment.
This is where staff augmentation services come into the picture. Because of how currency conversion and global standards of living work, a US business owner can enlist the help of an offshore, remote professional at a price that is both reasonable for the business and satisfies the remote professional.
Staff augmentation services pave the way for mutually beneficial business relationships between US businesses and the global talent pool, and if EA’s promise of up to 60% cost savings in payroll is any indicator, staff augmentation services are the way to go for the foreseeable future.
Fill the Skill and Talent Gap with the Global Talent Pool
The lack of skilled labor and professional talent in the US is not news to anyone, but it remains a problem that will not go away so easily. Dealing with the lingering effects of the pandemic is tough, but staff augmentation shows us a not-so-thorny path out of this predicament and back on track to growth and prosperity.
The answer is rather simple, really. If we don’t have enough skilled labor and professional talent in the US, why not just get some more from somewhere else?
Staff augmentation services are the bridge that helps US businesses bring talent from across the globe into the fold, giving good people in developing countries the opportunity of a lifetime to be part of something great, to be a part of the global business effort to drive the world towards a better tomorrow.
Staff augmentation consulting services are a phenomenal solution to two of the biggest problems in the world right now. Developed countries lack talent, while talent in developing countries lacks opportunities. Each helps the other and together forms one global network of employers and employees connected by the fruits of technology and progress.
Addressing Concerns over Staff Augmentation Services
The Potential Risk of Being Scammed
Undoubtedly, there is always a chance that you might end up duped by some conniving scammers posing as a staff augmentation services provider. However, what must be highlighted in this case is that this is not something unique to staff augmentation. Regardless of the context, business deals and contracts inherently carry the risk of foul play. What matters is that you give your best effort to mitigate the chances of being scammed by doing your due diligence, and always consulting with your peers before proceeding with any deal of such scale.
Small businesses especially must be wary. Lax entrepreneurs are the number one targets for scammers, so it’s even more important that small business owners spend the time and energy to make sure they aren’t handing over the keys to the kingdom to the wrong person.
Ultimately, the fact remains that scammers are everywhere. You walk into the market to buy a TV and you will find ten scammers waiting for you. With this being the case, it’s all on the entrepreneur’s shoulders to make informed decisions. We will discuss how best to proceed with doing your due diligence in the next section, so stay tuned.
The Viability of the Remote Work Model
Remote work has always been under heavy scrutiny by the business landscape. After all, if you do not keep a watchful eye over your employees, how will you know that they are doing what you hired them for?
Especially among the veteran business moguls in the industry, there is great doubt over the viability of remote work, and whether it’s really possible for employers to rest easy with their employees working a thousand miles away from them.
While the concern is understandable, it is quite outdated. Remote work has proven itself to be extremely viable, with Forbes reporting that in the next three years, a solid 22% of the entire US workforce is estimated to be working remotely. With in-house operations within the US itself being slowly phased out for hybrid and remote work models, there is no denying that remote work is viable, and in many cases more efficient than in-house work. There are fewer costs to be paid for in-house office space, and workers have demonstrated that there is a boost in productivity when they have the flexibility to work from home.
So, you can rest easy when it comes to the viability of remote work. Well-reputed staff augmentation consulting services ensure that they hire professionals who take integrity and personal responsibility very seriously., Modern communications technology makes it so you can keep live tabs on your remote accountant or IT professional.
Getting Started with Staff Augmentation
Analyze Your Needs
Before you jump into the fray looking for staff augmentation companies in the US, you must first narrow down where in your business you most need such help.
Accounting and finance, marketing, and IT are our recommendations for departments that could make the most out of augmented staff. But, of course, it ultimately depends on your context.
- Consult with your team on the matter as well.
- Get their perspective on where they need more help.
- Move your resources to fill the talent voids in the business by strategically leveraging staff augmentation services.
Do Your Research
We cannot stress enough on this part of the process. Put your Sherlock Holmes hat on and start sleuthing. Ask around in the industry how everyone else is leveraging staff augmentation. Get a list of names that are trusted in the market.
Investigate reviews, see if the reviewers are actual people, and if you can schedule a call with them.
Beyond that, ask any staff augmentation companies in the US to provide you with their credentials and documentation. Verify that they are authorized to operate in the US and have valid business licenses. Search up the top management on LinkedIn. Check whom they have worked for in the past and verify the data.
Don’t take Google’s word for it, go deep and try to find the right people to talk to in order to get a proper read on the firm. Follow these basic guidelines and you can sleep easy, knowing your augmented staff is not going to turn on you.
Weigh Your Options
At the end of your due diligence, you should have a list of firms to contact and negotiate with. Start with the most well-regarded ones and make your way down the list. Don’t just accept the first offer you find enticing. See what everyone is willing to offer and weigh your options at the end.
EA publication titled “5 Questions To Ask Accounting Firms! Before Hiring Them” can prove to be a useful guide for how to go about interviewing staff augmentation services providers. While the guide primarily concerns accounting firms, the questions are universally applicable.
Have your core questions and concerns noted, and ensure everything is addressed sufficiently. Don’t be too shy to question a bigger firm on how they run things, and put your best step forward. Good Luck!