Posts tagged "strategic staffing"

Developer Employer

Staff Augmentation vs Upwork: The Platform To Go For in 2021

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Staff Augmentation vs Upwork: The Platform To Go For in 2021

The need to increase your team is a great sign. Your business is going in the right direction, and you are growing. The only slight negative is that you know the recruitment process is unlikely to be an easy one. Fortunately, with the help of today’s technology, you are able to step away from traditional recruiting methods to find a solution that matches your unique business needs.

We are going to consider the advantages and disadvantages of two popular recruiting solutions, Staff Augmentation and Upwork.

What Is Staff Augmentation?

Staff Augmentation is a global Swiss staffing company that works at providing highly skilled programming professionals to companies in need of the latest tech expertise. Since 2008, Staff Augmentation has been retaining developers who specialize in mobile development, JavaScript, CMS, eCommerce, and backend development. This can include iOS, Android, Magneto, PHP, Joomla, and more.

The company provides an outsourcing strategy so that companies can take advantage of scalable options to meet business objectives. The team considers the current staff working within the team or on a particular project and then helps to create a plan that will add skill and value to the project. They do so by concentrating on sourcing talent in 4 core areas:

  • Mobile Developers- Our candidates must be able to prove competence in their field, which could be Android, Ionic, iOS, Java, React Native, Unity, and Xamarin.
  • JavaScript Developers- Staff Augmentation has excelled in creating international relationships with certified JavaScript developers. Our specialties include Angular JS, Aurelia, Backbone JS, Typescript, Vue JS, Ionic, Electron, Ember JS, Meteor, Node JS, React, and React Native.
  • CMS & eCommerce Developers- If your business requires any of the following services, Staff Augmentation can provide BigCommerce, Concrete5, Drupal, Expression Engine, Joomla, Magento, Open Cart, Presta Shop, Shopify, Typo3, WooCommerce, and WordPress.
  • Backend Developers- The screened candidates are fluent in ASP.Net, C#, Erlang. Java, PHP, Python, and Ruby on Rails.

All of the developers at Staff Augmentation are required to complete on-going studies, so the company prescreens candidates extensive testing to confirm the level of skills. The majority of candidates have a bachelor’s or master’s degree in Computer Science.

Staff Augmentation offers a complete range of services, including corporate relocations, consulting, managed services, strategic staffing, and permanent placement. And it’s not just a case of finding your developer, and that’s it. Staff Augmentation provides ongoing support to help establish relationships and improve retention while saving time and money.

What Is Upwork?

Upwork is another freelance website that originated in America. It came about after the merge of Elance (1999) and oDesk (2003) in 2018. It is the largest freelance marketplace in the world, with 18 million registered freelancers and 5 million registered clients. Each year, an average of three million jobs are posted on Upwork worth more than $1 billion.

There is a wide range of categories for job listings on Upwork, from creative writing to teaching. The categories include website development, software development, mobile development, IT & Networking, and Data Science & Analytics for IT specialists.

Clients and candidates sign up for an account. A client can post a job advert on the platform and send invitations to candidates that meet the requirements. Or, from the candidate’s point of view, they can search for relevant jobs and apply by using their connects. Both clients and candidates need to work to build up their profile and ranking by providing and quality services and receiving reviews.

Upwork is a speedy way to hire someone, and there is an impressive number of talented freelancers on the site. It is also true that the rates are often quite low, so companies can save a lot of money. The fees, however, are quite frustrating. Clients pay around 3% for each contract, and candidate pay 20% per job for the first $500 with one client, after that it drops to 10%, but that is still quite a lot.

In 2019, Upwork made some significant changes to improve the standards of freelancers. They did this by stopping the free connects a candidate received each month. Doing so meant that you would only be able to apply for jobs if you paid a small fee for your connects, and with the competition for jobs being high, it meant that only those with top-rated profiles were getting hired.

In Conclusion

Despite the fees, Upwork is still a cost-effective option for companies to find the talent they need. But there is little involvement from the Upwork team. The chances are you will receive hundreds of applications, and screening candidates is going to be up to you—which may take time. Even then, there is no guarantee that your hire has the right skill sets. Staff Augmentation takes a lot of the hard work off your hands and provides candidates with the perfect skill sets. This can prevent making a wrong hire and saving you time and money.

 

Employer

Tips to Create a Strategy for a Flexible IT Team

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Tips to Create a Strategy for a Flexible IT Team

Recruitment today is more difficult than our generation has had to experience. In order to stay on track with production, it’s not always possible to rely solely on your in-house team. More and more employers are looking at contingent staff to fill the gaps and keep the workflow running smoothly.

Some are choosing to hire complete outsourced teams to complete a project. Others will take on additional staff to work alongside their current team. But how do we ensure that the combination of contingent staff and in-house staff are working well together to bring about the best results? After all, the results of your team reflect your leadership and your reputation.

 In 2019, Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends stated that over 40% of the workforce in the US were contingent based, that is to say, they were freelancers, independent contractors, consultants or other types of non-permanent staff who were hired for specific projects. In the IT industry, the figures are much higher. 71% of IT companies said they used outsourcing to some extent. 33% said that they used it to a great extent.

The IT industry is a perfect example of the successful use of outsourced staff. IT projects require specialized skills and more often than not, these skills are needed quickly, yet only for the length of the project. Let’s take a closer look at the potentially good and bad aspects of contingent staffing, as well as how to ensure you get it right.

The Pros and Cons of IT Contingent Staff

Within the world of IT, you will find that contractors are the most popular type of content worker. You will also find those employed by tech partners, college interns, business-side employees with tech knowledge, and outsourced workers.

The advantage of using a mixture of contingent and employee workers is that you can increase the number of skilled team members but there is no need to fire people when the project is complete. You also don’t have to worry about salaries for long-term staff when the project has been completed.

On the downside, continent workers are much less likely to fit in with the company’s culture. Although not true of all cases, contingent workers often don’t have the same enthusiasm for a project compared with employed team members. Other potential issues include less dedication, it is easier for them to leave if things aren’t going their way. Contingent workers do not always have the same access to educational programs or other incentives.

 The Best Implementation of Strategic Staffing

The main aim of your strategy will be to increase the benefits of having a mixed team while finding solutions to reduce the possible dangers. In the first place, project managers must be onto the projects that are coming up. They need to know the skills that will be required and compare those to the skills that are already in-house. Once the skills have been determined, you can decide whether your employees can be trained, or whether you will need contingent workers. This must be done with plenty of time, as the time for training and creating the team must be accounted for.

To combine contingent workers with a current team, it is not only about the skills they possess. More and more employers and employees are placing an emphasis on cultural fit. For the team to blend well, it is worth working with the HR department to develop methods that will find the continent workers with the right values and ethics.

To select contingent workers who will fit culturally, it is necessary for employers and managers to be fully aware of the culture in the working environment. A good idea is to pair contingent staff with employees. This way, the contingent worker is able to get up to speed with not only the project, but also the office culture.

 How To Ensure Positive Outcomes

 There are simple solutions that will help to onboard contingent workers. Systems should be in place for contingent works to be able to have access to any equipment, hardware, and software they may require to carry out their job. At the same time, it is crucial that they cannot access information that they don’t need, particularly sensitive data.

 Your reputation, or employer brand image, is extremely important. You need to make sure that contingent workers are included to feel like they are part of the time, they are treated well and with respect. Contingent workers should complete the job and leave with a positive view of the company.

 Rather than treating contingent staff as temporary workers that won’t be around for long, they should be rewarded for their commitment, passion, and talent. Both your employees and your continent workers should have equal opportunities to advance their careers.

 In Conclusion

When developing your strategy for a flexible IT team, the first thing is to be 100% organized. Know your team, the culture, their skills, and the skills that are required by the project. Have a system in place that will seemingly integrate contingent workers into the team and make sure there are equal opportunities for employees and contingent workers.