Do’s and don’ts of hiring developers via staff augmentation

Hiring developers via staff augmentation is quickly becoming the go-to option for tech companies and startups alike. Your company’s ability to find the right developer can have a significant impact on your project’s success.

By utilizing staff augmentation, companies can access additional talent, and bolster team morale and productivity. Moreover, they can reduce the cost and risk of employing developers permanently.

With all of these benefits, it is essential to ensure that you are doing 👉 staff augmentation 👈 correctly. So, let’s dive into some of the dos and don’ts of hiring developers using staff augmentation.

Do’s of Hiring Developers Using Staff Augmentation services

Let’s check out some valuable tips and do’s for hiring developers using IT staff augmentation services. There are a few things that you can do to make partnering with a staff augmentation company successful. Some of these things include:

• knowing what specialized skills you need
• knowing for how long you need to hire augmented staff members
• onboarding new hires
• provide developers with the best tools & resources to work
• integrated new developers with your existing team members
• provide augmented staff the ability to grow their skills

Let’s go over these in more detail.

Know what specialized skills you are looking for?

The first step to hiring a developer successfully using an IT staff augmentation service is knowing what skills you need. A way to 👉 identify your team’s skill gap 👈 is to run a quick audit. Now, this isn’t as scary as it seems, it’s really simple. Let us explain in just a few steps.

1. Create a list of roles

The first step in identifying a skills gap is creating a list of the roles in your organization. This list should include all your in-house software developers, project managers, QA testers, etc. Your human resource management team may already have a list like this prepared.

2. Assign responsibilities & skills to each role

The next step is assigning the responsibilities and skills to each role. For example, if you have a 👉 React.JS developer 👈 some skills they need and can be assigned to them includes knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Moreover, they should have an understanding of various interface libraries such as Material UI. Lastly, React developers should be able to use React as a microservice.

3. Create, distribute, and analyze the survey

Now, you need to create a survey and survey your workforce. Your dedicated team will help you identify what skills are missing in their opinion. Once you collect all the surveys you can analyze the results. And then you will know what skills you are missing in your software development company.

4. Is a temporary developer enough or do you need a permanent employee

During this time you should also identify whether you want to hire someone to fill that gap as a permanent full-time employee or as a temporary worker. In some cases, it’s enough to hire someone on a project-by-project basis. But in others, you may want to hire someone permanently as there are enough everyday tasks for them to do.

Do you need a developer short-term or long-term?

Also, you want to be able to identify whether you need to hire someone for a short-term or long-term project. Your project manager should know for how long they need a temporary developer to join the team to help with a certain aspect of the project. They should be able to identify if they need a developer for 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, or more.

Here at Swyply, we also understand that your hiring needs may change as your project changes. While we don’t have an issue with project requirement changes, the earlier you let us know the better. A 👉 common mistake 👈 people make when using IT staff augmentation is not communicating your needs. We do value transparency from our customers because we offer it ourselves.

It’s important for you to let us know ASAP if you need a developer longer than you originally estimated. Or perhaps you are not going to have enough work for the temporary coder and need to cut our contract short. These types of changes ideally should be reported with one month’s notice.

If you need a developer longer than you originally planned, let us know so that we do not look for a new project for that developer. The alternative situation is where you no longer have tasks for the developer. Let us know as soon as possible so we can find a new project for the developer.

Provide the hired developer with proper onboarding

One of the most important does when using staff augmentation is to create a welcoming and supportive environment for new developers. This includes providing them with guidance and support. During the onboarding process, it’s important to pay attention to any questions or suggestions that they might have about their role.

You may also decide that during onboarding and their first few days working for you to assign them a buddy. The buddy can help the new software developer find their footing in their new role.

A solid onboarding will help with ongoing cooperation for a few reasons. First of all, the new coder will know what to do which will be productive for your company. Secondly, they are aware of who to turn to with any questions or reports. This will massively ease communication.

Lastly, they will feel more comfortable with their new team members, company culture, etc. This will make the newly rented developer want to work with you longer. As opposed to a developer who wasn’t properly onboarded and will abandon your project early on because they are uncomfortable.

Provide temporary developers with the best tools & resources to work

Now that you have hired & onboarded the right developer or perhaps the dev team it’s time to provide them with the tools they need for their roles. This includes providing them with access to the appropriate software packages and workstations.

You should create company emails for each augmented developer. Moreover, you should provide them access to communication & organization tools. Perhaps they need access to tools such as Slack, Jira, Asana, ClickUp, etc. It is important to provide them with all the necessary tools to make work easier.

You want them to be productive when working on your team. Moreover, you want to open all necessary communication and organizational channels for them as well. However, you don’t need to provide them will absolutely everything as they are not permanent members of the staff. You really only need to give them access to tools that are crucial to their role.

Integrate with the existing software development team members

Once you have gone through an onboarding process with your new software developer(s) you need to 👉 integrate them with your existing staff 👈. You need to introduce new team members to the other people they will be working with. Moreover, you can arrange virtual chit-chats for your entire development team to get to know each other.

Additionally, you should give access to communication and organizational tools to your augmented team members. By doing so you are creating channels for open communication and collaboration between developers and the rest of the team.

Provide augmented staff the ability to grow their skills

It is also important to ensure that developers have the opportunity to grow and develop their skills. This can be done by providing them with access to training and development opportunities.

As well as offering them the chance to take on new challenges and responsibilities. By providing developers with the opportunity to grow and develop. Companies can ensure that they are able to make the most of their staff augmentation experience.

Moreover, most developers that are working on a staff augmentation basis, enjoy this working model as they get to change projects more often than in a permanent position. They pick your project as it aligns with their career path. And you recruited them because their skill set is the right match. This is a flexible hiring model for all parties involved.

Don’ts of Hiring Developers Using Staff Augmentation

Just like there are do’s for successful hiring, there are also some essential don’ts. Some common mistakes made when using staffing solutions include:

• Hiring from a staff augmentation partner that doesn’t have an internal hiring process to pre-vet candidates
• Don’t overlook junior developers for open positions
• Not having an internal team such as project managers, QA testers, and other software engineers
• Rushing through the onboarding of a dev team staff augmentation
• Avoid micromanaging your remote developers

Let’s discuss each of these mistakes to avoid when hiring via staff augmentation.

Hiring from a staff augmentation company that doesn’t pre-vet developers

One of the most important don’ts when it comes to software development staff augmentation is hiring the wrong candidates. Not all companies ensure that they thoroughly vet all potential candidates. So you may hire someone that is completely wrong for your team’s skill gap.

You want to inquire about the recruitment process of the staff augmentation service provider you are looking to work for. This can tell you a lot about the caliber of their developers. If they do not have an internal recruitment process, chances are you may borrow someone who doesn’t have the technical skills you need. Moreover, they may be culturally the wrong fit as well because they don’t have the appropriate soft skills.

Here at Swyply, we vet our software developers thoroughly to make sure that their resume matches reality. They are run through a rigorous 👉 recruitment process 👈 before we hire them and rent them to tech companies. We want to be able to vouch for our developers and ensure that you gain top-notch developers.

We know that our developers possess the right set of technical skills and soft skills to join your software development team.

Don’t overlook junior developers for open positions

Many companies will choose to overlook junior developers because they want experienced developers who can push their IT projects forward. But in some cases, a junior developer may be all you need.

There are some fantastic junior developers that can join your team if you simply need someone to just code your project. Junior developers can be an excellent addition to any team and they bring with them a lot of potential and enthusiasm. They are an attractive option for companies looking to fill their skill gaps without breaking the bank.

Here at Swyply, we can provide you with Regular/mid-level developers or senior developers. But if you need only a junior developer, we can find someone with that experience level for you.

Not having an in-house management team

Additionally, companies should avoid depending solely on developers hired from staff augmentation to take on all of the software development work. You should have an in-house team that is supported or supplemented with additional software developers.

Or if you don’t have developers make sure to have a project manager, a QA tester, a Product Owner, a Designer, etc. The developers need to have supporting team members to work with. This is not like the 👉 project outsourcing model 👈 where a third-party software development team takes on an entire project.

Rushing onboarding

In addition to this, companies should also avoid rushing their onboarding process. It is important to take the time to properly introduce new developers to the team. Moreover, you want to provide the new team member with the necessary tools and resources they will need to carry out their job.

Additionally, you will want to explain to them any procedures or processes that are specific to your company. For example, how to report sick leave. Or if they need to create documentation for the code they have written. This type of information is important to provide your remote team member at the beginning, to avoid future problems.

Lastly, you should make sure to create an open, welcoming, and comfortable environment. You want to facilitate a work environment where everyone feels comfortable communicating their thoughts and ideas. Also, if they have any questions they should be able to ask them.

When you rush onboarding, you run the risk of not setting up the new hire for success with your team. You could potentially forget to provide them with certain information, processes, procedures, etc. Moreover, the new team members may not feel comfortable and want to leave your project.

Micromanage developers

Finally, companies should also avoid micromanaging their developers. Your project managers need to find a healthy balance between control and flexibility in their 👉 management styles 👈. It is important to give developers the freedom to explore and experiment with new ideas and technologies, as this can lead to innovative solutions and improved productivity.

While the staff augmentation model will give you control over your project, you want to avoid micromanagement. Micromanagement usually kills creativity and prevents innovative ideas from rising to the surface.

When to Hire Developers Via Staff Augmentation

Staff augmentation is an effective way to add short-term or specialized skills to an existing team. Moreover, this hiring model is best used in specific scenarios such as:

• adding a new skill set to the team,
• filling a gap in your internal development staff,
• or quickly ramping up development on a project.

Another reason to turn to staff augmentation services is if you are looking to expand your team quickly. You may spend months trying to find someone using 👉 in-house recruitment 👈 with little luck. Whereas if you use staff augmentation vs traditional recruitment you may add a developer to your team in as little as one week.

Lastly, you may turn to staff augmentation services if you find that you have a high 👉 software developer turnover rate 👈. Employee turnover can be due to various reasons such as sick leave, vacation leave, maternity or simply quitting. Moreover, turnover in the IT industry is at an all-time high as developers like to gain new experiences. Programmers can get easily bored a look for a new challenge in a different company or project.

Using staff augmentation services like Swyply, that employee slot will be filled on an ongoing basis. Our goal is for that developer slot to be full for as long as you need it. Also, if one of our developers, needs to leave your project, we will find someone to replace him or her ASAP. You don’t have to worry about filling that talent gap by yourself.

Must-haves for staff augmentation services to work best

It is important to have certain things in place 👉 before using IT staff augmentation services 👈. One must-have element is an in-house team. Your internal team should consist of developers, QA testers, and project managers. Moreover, know what skill gaps you need to fill on your in-house development team. Lastly, you need to have internal processes & procedures that are key during onboarding.

Summary of best practices to hire developers via staff augmentation

Staff augmentation is quickly becoming an essential tool for companies looking to effectively scale their development operations. It is important to be mindful of its do’s and don’ts in order to ensure that you are getting the most out of your 👉 IT staff augmentation project 👈.

To get the most out of hiring developers from a staff augmentation company make sure to:

• Know what specialized skills you are looking for?
• Do you need a developer short-term or long-term?
• Provide the hired developer with proper onboarding
• Provide temporary developers with the best tools & resources to work
• Integrate with the existing software development team
• Provide augmented staff the ability to grow their skills

Some mistakes to avoid when hiring developers using staff augmentation services include:

• Hiring from a staff augmentation company that doesn’t pre-vet developers
• Don’t overlook junior developers for open positions
• Not having an in-house management team
• Rushing onboarding
• Micromanaging developers

Some common reasons people turn to staff augmentation services is because they need to fill talent gaps or add new skills to explore new avenues. Moreover, this is a fantastic option for companies that need more working hands to speed up the time to market on your development project. Additionally, may use a staff augmentation project to speed up the hiring process. Businesses may decide to turn to this model if they cannot wait several weeks to hire someone new. Lastly, tech companies may turn to staff augmentation if they are experiencing a fast turnover rate internally. This way they can fill that employee slot without any hassle on their end. And it can be consistently filled for as long as they need.

Do you want to learn more about how to make staff augmentation work for you? 👉 Drop us a line 👈, and let’s chat and see if IT staff augmentation can get you the developers you need to extend your team.