Staff augmentation vs. Outsourcing Service: What’s best for your business?

The world has rapidly grown as compared to the last decade and it will keep growing with better technology and advancements throughout industries. However, one thing that remains constant is the need for a good workforce and dependable management to manage that workforce properly. Without a workforce, a company, regardless of the advancements that come with time, cannot work smoothly. It takes more than a company owner and machines to run an organization, after all.

Staff augmentation and outsourcing services are two of the most considered staffing models for companies, both small and large, all around the world. Not only are both models profitable, but they are just as much of an excellent choice to reach the end goals of the company. These two models are often confusing for many, as they are similar yet different from one another.

In this blog, we will be discussing everything you need to know about staff augmentation and outsourcing and find out what works best for your business!

What is Staff Augmentation?

Staff augmentation refers to companies hiring temporary workers on a contract basis for a certain period to fill the gaps per project need. There are several job positions and projects that require a workforce only seasonally or temporarily. Such vacancies can be filled with the help of staff augmentation. In addition to this, with the help of this staffing model, companies can also get access to experts in specific fields who would provide them with the expertise and service they seek without having to make any compromise.

While traditional hiring or hiring full-time employees typically takes a long time, staff augmentation is likely to take a week or less, in some cases. Therefore, companies can easily fulfill the needs of staff in a short period or when they are in a hurry to employ workers. Temporary hiring also makes it easy for organizations to avoid the hassle of firing or simply even managing the workforce for a long time.

Likewise, when the hiring company can identify their organizational needs and skill sets required for certain work, they can have the staff augmentation service provider find the best possible staff from their diverse talent pool with ease.

Benefits of Staff Augmentation

There are several benefits of staff augmentation, cost efficiency and instant hiring, being the major ones. Besides these advantages, a company can have many more benefits when they consider this staffing method instead of hiring a full-time employee. Furthermore, hiring from a third-party entity is also beneficial if you want to save time and effort in hiring.

The following are some benefits that you can get from staff augmentation:

Access to Talent

Companies that do not specialize in hiring talents usually don’t have access to a wide talent pool, as do the companies that focus on hiring a workforce, in general. Hence, staff augmentation allows organizations to get access to talent from almost every field. Additionally, third-party companies only hire talents that possess the skill set required and demanded by the hiring company.

Flexibility

Unlike full-time employees, staff hired with the help of staff augmentation are not high-maintenance. That said, you don’t have to invest your time and efforts in the workforce you hire through this staffing method half as much as you do for the full-time workforce. Staffing and growing your company will be easier. Plus, you don’t have to commit to the same workforce for the long term either.

Direct Management

When you hire through staff augmentation, you can directly manage employees along with the in-house employees. After the third-party service provider helps you find the best talent, the staff will be onboarded in your organization for a short period and can work directly under your authority. This makes it easier for business owners to trust the hired staff.

Budget Friendly

Hiring an in-house employee who is going to stay in your organization for a long time is likely to be expensive. On the other hand, hiring with the help of staff augmentation is going to be budget-friendly. 

What is an Outsourcing Service?

Outsourcing service refers to hiring staff force with the help of a third party entity and letting them handle the human resource management duty overall. Unlike staff augmentation, you cannot handle the staff force directly when you use an outsourcing service.

This service is best for businesses that are looking to save time, and money, as well as efforts in handling the staff force. If you are looking to focus more on core objectives rather than managing the workforce directly, then this is the best choice for you. Moreover, the outsourcing service also makes it possible for growing or small businesses to scale and grow as they are very flexible and time efficient.

Since you will be letting the service provider handle all the human management duties, it becomes possible for them to manage complaints, handle payroll, and other human resource duties.

Benefits of Outsourcing Service

Outsourcing services have several benefits that any company, whether they’re big or small, can enjoy. From lower cost to lesser need to invest efforts, you get it all through a third-party entity. And, you can also enjoy hiring outsourcing service providers from any part of the world regardless of where your service provider is located.

The following are some of the major benefits of outsourcing:

Budget Friendly

Since you are not hiring a full-time in-house employee who will work for your company for a long time, cutting costs will be easier. Further, when you get to hire talents from countries other than your own, you can choose a place where the labor cost is lower, this will easily reduce expenses to a good extent.

Risk Mitigation

It becomes easier for companies to mitigate risks to a great extent because it is not just you who is responsible for your staff force. Hiring also includes a good amount of legal work and when you outsource, much of the same is shifted to the third-party service provider and not your company.

Flexibility

It becomes easier for companies to hire an employee for a short time in a short period. You can scale the operations up and down as per the demand in the market. Companies can also make alterations to the hired workforce as per the challenges and opportunities that come their way.

Time-efficient

When you don’t have a staff force waiting to be trained after being onboarded, you can have them work as soon as they’re onboarded. This is possibly the most advantageous element of outsourcing. You get access to a talent that has expertise and knowledge in their field before they’re even hired.

What is Best For Your Business: Staff Augmentation vs. Outsourcing Service

There are several factors to consider before you make the ultimate choice between staff augmentation and outsourcing service. Considering the nature of your company and the kind of work and duration you want to hire a workforce for is very important.

The following are some considerations you can make before you choose one over the other:

Authority

If you are a company owner who cannot depend on a third party to handle your company’s workforce and provide details to them, then you should consider staff augmentation. Otherwise, you can opt for an outsourcing service.

Need For Integration With Team

A company that is okay with hiring workers who can work outside the in-house team should settle for outsourcing services. If you want to hire a staff force whose work needs to be integrated with that of the in-house team, then staff augmentation is the best choice.

Risk Sharing

A company who is willing to share the risk of hiring employees or staff force with a service provider can hire an outsourcing service. This makes it easier for them to avoid the hassle of handling day-to-day operational and human resources duties. Similarly, if you don’t want to share risks associated with the workforce with another agent, then you can opt for staff augmentation.

Time Consideration

Companies looking to hire workers for a shorter period should settle for staff augmentation since, with the help of this staffing model, you can easily hire a staff on a contract basis for a set period. Likewise, if you want to sign contracts for a longer term and want to work with a third-party entity for bigger goals, then you can consider using an outsourcing service.

Conclusion

Staff augmentation and outsourcing services both have their benefits and are each suitable for different types of companies with varying needs. It takes a business owner to make the ultimate decision in choosing between the two based on their needs and company objectives. Staff augmentation is all about integrating the in-house talents with ones you temporarily hire and outsourcing service revolves around outsourcing talents and having them work outside your organization. Hence, with the aforementioned considerations in mind, knowing what’s best for your business should not be a challenge.