How to conduct a skill gap analysis to use IT staff augmentation

Let’s guide you through the process of conducting a skill gap analysis tailored specifically for IT staff augmentation. We will explore the key steps involved. The importance of thorough assessment, and the benefits it brings to your organization. So, whether you’re a tech-savvy entrepreneur or an HR professional looking to optimize your workforce, join us as we delve into the intricacies of skill gap analysis. And why a skills audit is so necessary in the context of IT staff augmentation.

What does a skills gap mean for your IT company?

The IT industry for the past few years has noticed a software developer shortage, and unfortunately, this shortage is continuing to grow. The result of this shortage can be a skill gap in any given tech company.

For an IT company, a skills gap refers to the disparity between the skills and knowledge required by the company to perform effectively and the skills possessed by its employees or available in the job market. In other words, it signifies a shortage or deficiency in the necessary skills and expertise needed to meet the demands of the company’s operations and objectives.

The impact of a skills gap on an IT company can be significant and may include:

• Hindered productivity
• Inefficiency and increased costs
• Reduced competitiveness
• Talent retention and attraction challenges
• Risk of project failures

By actively addressing and managing the skills gap, IT companies can position themselves for growth. Moreover, they can adapt to changing technologies, and remain competitive in the dynamic IT landscape.

What is a skills gap audit?

A skills gap audit is a comprehensive assessment. It is conducted by an organization to identify the gaps between the existing skills and competencies of its workforce and the skills required to achieve its strategic objectives.

The purpose of a skills gap audit is to evaluate the current skill set of employees across various roles and departments. And compare it to the skills that are necessary to meet the organization’s present and future needs.

By conducting a skills gap audit, organizations can gain insights into specific areas. They can see where their workforce’s skills fall short. Therefore, they can develop targeted interventions to bridge those gaps. This helps ensure that employees have the necessary competencies to meet the evolving demands of the business. Lastly, it supports the organization’s long-term success.

When should I conduct a skills gap analysis?

Running a skills gap analysis for any business usually results from necessity. This is not an ongoing process like the recruitment process. There are numerous times when conducting a skills gap analysis is proven to be useful to a business. Some of these times include:

• poor performance reviews conversations
• starting a new project
• you are struggling to meet business objectives
• when you are looking to introduce new technologies to your projects
• your customer wants something different than what you have internally

Do all tech companies approach a skills gap the same way?

Believe it or not, not all tech companies will need a skills gap analysis to help fill their gaps. Depending on the type of company you own, you may already know what skill gaps exist and the position you are looking to fill.

For example, if you are the owner of a 👉 Software House 👈, you are creating projects for your customers. Your customers are the ones that tell you what skills they need for their project. It’s usually pretty black and white. You may not have much guesswork, so with that information, you can reach out to a staffing augmentation company. They will help you fill the gap that you currently have and you will be good to go.

Now if you are the owner of a 👉 SaaS company 👈, you may have specific tech stacks that work for your projects & product development. You may need to hire additional developers to bolster your existing team. But the skill gaps may also be well known to you, like a Software House.

However, if you are the end client or a 👉 tech startup 👈, the existence of a skill gap may present itself differently. You may know that you have a skill gap, and have a few ideas of how you can fill it but, you’re not sure which option would be best. This is where conducting a skill gap analysis comes in handy. You can gain various perspectives that will hopefully help you gain the skill set you need.

Steps to perform a successful skill gap analysis

We realize a skills gap analysis can sound scary, but it really doesn’t have to be difficult. It’s a simple 4 step process, let’s dive into it below.

Start the conversion internally

You need to begin by talking internally specifically your HR professionals, hiring manager, and project managers. Figure out who is part of your current workforce. Moreover, what each team member is responsible for.

The first step in implementing a skills gap analysis may include determining the skill sets and the employee groups which are suffering the most. Then you need to determine whether you know what skills you need to relieve this problem. Is there a particular skill set that is an obvious solution?

Talk & survey your workforce

You should create a survey and talk to your workforce. Your in-house development teams can help you determine the skills that are missing. They might have some new insight as to what team members they would like and need on the team. Perhaps there are things that they notice and you don’t.

Moreover, when looking to fill skills gaps for a specific project, your internal developers may be able to provide you with a unique perspective and solution. You or your customer may have considered one type of option, but your team could suggest a different & better alternative.

Compile the results

Now you can compile the results combining the conclusions you came to during your internal conversions along with your workforce survey.

Analyze the results

Now that you have carried out an effective skills gap analysis you can review the results. See what skills you are missing on your team. Also, determine which skills need to be permanently filled, or temporarily filled. Moreover, if the temporary need is short-term or long-term. 👉 IT staff augmentation services 👈 can be used to fill a skill gap for short-term and long-term projects.

Here at Swyply, a short-term project is 3 to 6 months long. Whereas, a long-term project is any project that lasts longer than 6 months. So it can last 6 months, 9 months, 12 months, or more.

Why do I need to identify the skill gap before using IT team augmentation?

When you reach out to an IT staff augmentation provider, you need to know what skills you are missing. This is important for several reasons:

1. Targeted resource allocation:

By identifying the skill gap, you can determine which specific skills or expertise your existing IT team lacks. This allows you to strategically allocate IT resources through augmentation to fill those gaps. It ensures that the augmented team possesses the necessary skills and knowledge to effectively address the identified needs.

2. Enhanced project planning:

Understanding the skill gap enables you to plan projects more effectively. You can identify potential challenges or bottlenecks that may arise due to skill deficiencies. With this knowledge, you can make informed decisions about the type and level of augmentation required to overcome those challenges.

3. Improved team performance:

Identifying the skill gap helps you build a stronger, more cohesive team. By augmenting your existing team with individuals who possess the required skills, you can create a collaborative environment. Team members can work together more effectively.

4. Cost optimization:

Recognizing the skill gap helps you optimize 👉 costs associated with IT team augmentation 👈. Instead of hiring full-time employees with overlapping skills, you can focus on augmenting your team with specialists in the areas where you lack expertise.

5. Increased productivity and efficiency:

By addressing the skill gap, you ensure that your team has the necessary skills to complete projects efficiently. Augmenting your IT team with experts in specific domains can lead to faster delivery, improved quality, and better outcomes. This can result in increased productivity and overall team performance.

IT team augmentation allows you to strategically address deficiencies. All of which ultimately lead to better outcomes for your organization.

Bridge-IT Skill Gaps with Staff Augmentation

IT staff augmentation can help you bridge the existing skills gap on your team. It can help you bridge the skill gap on a project basis. It can help you bridge the skill gap, while you run a recruitment process to hire someone permanently. Moreover, it can help you meet the demands of your customers, who may want a different skill set than you have currently available.

Find the right IT staff augmentation company

The first step in using IT staff augmentation to bridge the skills gap is 👉 finding the right IT staff augmentation vendor 👈. The best way to find the right IT staff augmentation partner is by looking through companies online. Pick the top choices and check out their reviews. You should also view their portfolio to see if the projects their software developers helped complete, align with yours.

Once you have narrowed down a few IT staff augmentation, make sure to chat with each and see if they are able to meet your expectations. Find out how they work, are their developer pre-vetted, the payment schedule, etc.

Rent developers that meet your skill gap

Hire temporary developers that will help meet your business goals. You can rent developers with any 👉 tech stack 👈 that you need. Here at Swyply, all our developers are pre-vetted through our recruitment process. This way we can assure you that the skills you need are in fact being filled. Plus during the IT staff augmentation hiring process, you get to interview these candidates and even run skills tests. This way you are not hiring a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

Additionally, at Swyply, we provide our customers with a 👉 risk-free trial period 👈, that enables them to switch developers if something is not the right fit. Or perhaps something in their project has suddenly changed and they need a different skill set.

Scale your team with IT staff augmentation

After running a successful skills gap analysis you can 👉 scale your team 👈 quickly. You are able to expand or collapse your team as needed with the help of IT staff augmentation.

How can team augmentation help solve skills gaps?

Team augmentation can help will you fill the skill gap by renting out temporary developers to join your in-house team. It will help supplement your employee’s current skills by providing a person to fill that empty slot.

Developers on demand

Gain the skills set you need when you need it. You don’t have to wait for several weeks before a developer with desired skill level can join your team. IT staff augmentation can help you add software engineers to join your team in as little as one week.

Niche skills

If you need niche skills, you will be able to find them much faster using IT staff augmentation. The growing need for developers that specialize in niche technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning, and IoT will only get bigger. As the world sees a bigger use for these technologies, not to mention they are advantageous for everyone. So if you find yourself seeking programmers with this type of skillset, try IT staff augmentation. You will be able to hire them much faster than through the use of in-house recruitment.

Global talent pool

IT staff augmentation gives you access to a global talent pool for software developers. You no longer have to be limited to your local market. Team augmentation can help you hire the best developers from around the world. You can 👉 hire coders from European countries 👈 such as Poland, or you can hire programmers from Asia or the Middle East. You have the door wide open to a whole new pool of talent.

Summary of how to do a skills gap analysis to use IT staff augmentation

Let’s do a quick summary about how to properly conduct a skills gap analyses to find out what critical skills you need on your team. The first step in the skills gap analysis process is to start a conversation with your hiring managers, project managers, CTO, and other upper-level management. You may also want to include your customer if they are the ones who brought to your attention the existence of a skills gap.

Next, you want to survey your workforce, to see what skills they think are missing and would add value to your company. Now you can compile and analyze the results. During the analysis, you can prioritize skills that need to be filled permanently with the help of traditional recruitment. Or skills that can be filled temporarily on a short-term or long-term basis. You can fill these temporary gaps with team augmentation.

Team augmentation can provide you with temporary software engineers to work with your development team on a project-by-project basis. You can hire them for as long as you need. IT staff augmentation can help you gain developers on demand in as little as one week. Moreover, if you are looking for niche skills, staff augmentation can help you find specialized programmers in the blink of an eye. Lastly, you have access to a global talent pool, you are no longer limited to your local market.

IT staff augmentation can help you bridge your skill gap. You can bridge your skill gap by renting the right coders & scaling your team. You have the possibility to expand and collapse your team easily.

Want to learn more about IT staff augmentation? Or perhaps you need more information about the skills gap analysis? 👉 Drop us a line 👈, and let’s do a free no-obligation consultation.