North Carolina, South Carolina

IT Staff Augmentation Consulting

You need to temporarily increase your IT staff - fast. You want dependable, qualified, pre-screened, talent with no long-term commitments. You have the facilities and management resources to service the additional staff, but you don't have the time to do all the necessary chores to recruit the talent you need, or manage them on your payroll. You want a simple solution. Staff augmentation services is a popular alternative.

What Staffing Companies Don't Tell You

Today's staff augmentation industry is highly competitive. The competition for your business between staffing companies can result in lower costs, if you know how to properly negotiate. To have the best bargaining position, you need to know how staffing companies work.

Staffing companies operate on the spread between the "bill rate" you pay to them and the "contractor rate" they pay to the person who works for you. It is in your best interest to know this spread and to ensure it is not excessive.

Contract to Hire

An increasingly popular approach in seeking permanent staff is contract-to-hire. With the many advantages of contracting, when you anticipate adding full-time staff soon, this option allows both you and the contractor to "test the waters" before making a career commitment. Be careful to ensure the contractor really intends to become a full-time employee - not all of them want to.

Also consider the prevailing pay rate contractors receive to the salary scale your company offers. Some contractors remain for exceptionally long periods of time, functioning exactly as an employee, except for their higher cost. Surprisingly, companies can afford to pay high contractor rates, but HR policies often limit the available salaries such that a contractor will not accept a pay cut to come on board as a permanent employee. Staffing companies, not you, are the big winner in long-term contracts. Prevent this situation by contacting Productive Technology's staffing consultant.

Staffing Contractor Renewal

Often, your contractor will become involved in a lengthy project, and you will want to renew the engagement. Your staffing company will be overjoyed to learn this. Just extend the terms exactly as they have been, and you're all set! Sound good to you? It's not.

Staffing companies build sales, recruiter, and other commissions into their bill rates, based on the expected length of the contract. When you renew, the staffing company has already recouped their initial recruiting costs. They don't have to pay additional commissions because no new recruiting or sales was involved in renewing the contract. Staffing company owners get a bonanza. Productive Technology can negotiate lower renewal rates for your staffing resources.

When Contracts Go Bad

Unfortunately, it happens. A staffing contractor steals your intellectual property, and you incur losses. Perhaps the contractor misrepresented their background or skills. Maybe they are simply a bad fit with your organization. At these times, your leverage with a staffing company is at its best. Before you decide to strike them off your vendor list, consider that the relationship may be worth keeping -- if you get a substantial concession to cover your inconvenience and loss. Productive Technology's staffing consulting service can help you make the right choice when things go wrong, and make sure you get the treatment you deserve.

Require Knowledge Transfer

Don't get dependent on one individual contractor. Hire and retain contractors for their skills, not for their knowledge of your business. Because contractors tend to wander, be sure you are always in a position to replace the contractor with a similarly qualified resource, perhaps even from another staffing vendor.

Productive Technology's staffing consultant knows how to protect your interests and enforce knowledge transfer. Because of the consultant's contractor background, and hands-on technical skills, we understand and will implement sufficient safeguards to ensure knowledge does not remain with one individual. Properly enforcing knowledge transfer ensures you will not be held hostage by one contractor or remain tied to one staffing vendor.

Consider a Staffing Consultant

Having worked in the staffing industry for almost a decade, Productive Technology's staffing consultant provides you with valuable assistance in your dealings with staffing providers. Contact us today for a no-obligation consultation to learn more about how our unique staffing consulting service can help you.