In this article, we explain what data team Staff Augmentation is, the problems it addresses, and its main benefits.
What Problems Does Staff Augmentation Solve?
The issue is global: the number of data specialists companies need falls short of meeting demand. The gap between required positions and available candidates continues to grow.
In data engineering roles, the time between posting a job opening and finding suitable candidates can range from 56 to 92 days. Once the right candidate is identified, it can take an additional 28 to 36 days to finalize the hiring process.
This situation arises from three key challenges:
- Recruitment process: Finding professionals with experience in a specific tool stack is highly complex.
- Retention: In a market with extremely high turnover for in-demand profiles, retaining talent is a significant challenge.
- Training: It needs to be rethought to address the variety, timelines, and demands of the current market. The rapid evolution of technology and cloud solutions necessitates ongoing training.
All the DATA & AI talent organizations require is a scarce resource in the market. In this context, Staff Augmentation emerges as a solution that enables companies to address the challenge of finding the right talent for their data teams.
What is Staff Augmentation?
Staff augmentation is a hiring model that allows organizations to adapt the size of their data teams to business needs.
A company needing a data team or a specific role contracts these profiles from a specialized consultancy, which manages the professionals (hiring, salaries, benefits, training, etc.).
This type of arrangement is particularly useful when there is an urgent need for certain profiles or for projects with a defined duration.
What Are the Benefits of Staff Augmentation?
Having skilled professionals is crucial to ensure the success of data analytics projects. Staff augmentation strategies provide data teams with greater flexibility and agility while reducing recruitment and training costs.
Key advantages of this hiring model include:
- Accelerated Time-to-Value: Having a team of specialists speeds up the delivery of value in data projects. This is critical as it enables businesses to see the benefits of data analytics sooner and make data-driven decisions faster.
- Dynamic Response: With a flexible and scalable approach, staff augmentation models allow teams to expand or shrink quickly to meet business needs.
- Specialist Teams: These teams are designed to seamlessly integrate with internal teams, enabling quick alignment with business objectives.
- Complex Skills in a Short Timeframe: By partnering with highly specialized consultancies, the learning curve is shortened, as these professionals possess robust technical expertise in data analytics. Continuous learning is a key part of their role. At Datalytics, we have designed a learning system focused on upskilling and reskilling based on market demands.
- People Management (PM): This model includes PMs and talent management specialists who monitor the performance of the professionals working with clients.
How Do Staff Augmentation Processes Work?
Specialized consultancies offering these services typically have trained professionals ready to join client projects.
At Datalytics, we have a team of over 200 specialists in various roles, including engineering, visualization, architecture, data science, machine learning engineering, and project management, among others.
If the required profile is unavailable, we follow a proprietary methodology to find the most suitable candidate. The process includes:
- Hunting and Profile Selection: Identifying and recruiting the best-fit profiles.
- 360° Assessment: Evaluating interpersonal skills and technical background through our Data Challenge.
- Client Interviews: Candidates best suited to the position’s requirements are interviewed by the client.
- Onboarding: If the client decides to move forward, the candidate is ready for onboarding within two weeks.
- Ongoing Support and Delivery Management: Datalytics ensures continuous monitoring and management of project delivery.
- Continuous Training and Education Programs: Professionals undergo ongoing learning and development to stay updated with market needs.
