Many erroneously assume that hiring temporary on-site staff is less effective. They believe that they’ll need to use an onboarding process that’s comparable to the process that’s used for permanent employees. Based on this belief, they presume that temporary staffing is an unwise financial and time investment. This is quite far from the truth, because high-quality temporary staff do not typically require intensive onboarding. An experienced team of temporary developers should integrate into your workflow quickly and seamlessly, deploying code on day one and even boosting the overall level of productivity from your existing staff. How is this possible? Think of temporary IT staff as ER Physicians: they act fast and get results fast. That’s what they are expected to do!

Improving Software Developer Productivity Using Temporary On-Site Staff

What many company leaders don’t realize is that they can achieve their objectives — such as rapid onboarding and maximum productivity — in a cost-effective manner by turning to temporary on-site staffing services. There are a few reasons why a tech and software developer staffing firm can provide your business with team members who reach maximum productivity just a few paces out of the starting gate. Consider the following benefits of software developer productivity, arising from good temporary staffing practices.

• Temporary talent will have experience with the onboarding and integration process. Qualified temporary staff have worked in this capacity for many years, as they enjoy the variety and diversity of working for multiple companies. This type of developer is usually well-acquainted with many different workflow/development methodologies, and they’re accustomed to expectations of rapid assimilation and almost immediate contribution. These skilled professionals are great at getting up to speed and integrating into your existing workflow, because they’ve done so many times before. Temporary staff are well-positioned to reach maximum productivity within just a day or two in many instances. This also raises overall staff productivity if you have employees stepping outside of their comfort zone to “cover” for an unfilled position.

• Temporary software developers often come as part of a well-established team. A majority of iTech’s clients are large companies and multinational corporations, so it’s common to dispatch a team of developers rather than just a couple individuals. In most cases, the development team has worked as a cohesive unit on many different projects. As a result of this experience, they know how to work with each other efficiently and productively. If you ask any project manager or team leader, you’ll likely find that it can take weeks or even months for a team to acquire this refined synergy. By calling in established teams, companies avoid taking weeks for a development team to ramp up to full speed.

• A top IT and tech staffing services provider will hire for cultural fit and soft skills. Lots of companies underestimate the importance of hiring for cultural fit and soft skills. However, a good cultural fit is vital, even when it comes to temporary team members. You need to ensure that the people you hire will mesh well with your current employees and your company as a whole. Otherwise, productivity suffers. One example is the developer who thrives in a highly-collaborative, small-team environment. That individual may see a major dropoff in productivity if they’re placed in a less-collaborative setting where they largely work independently. Similarly, a developer who’s most comfortable in a more rigid, formal office environment may find it very distracting to work in a more relaxed, pet-friendly office. An experienced staffing company will understand the importance of cultural fit and soft skills. Therefore, they’ll ensure you get software developers who are well-suited to your company and to the project. This will ensure maximum productivity, both in the temporary staffer and in your in-house team members (who would otherwise be affected by the tensions that arise from a poor fit).

• Staffing service providers will ensure a better match between the talent and your project specs. It’s not uncommon for companies to recycle project specs from similar project and modifying them to suit the new project. The end result is a mismatch in your hire’s actual skill set and the required skill set, causing a major productivity shortfall that may jeopardize project success. A seasoned staffing firm will be aware of this common-but-faulty practice, and ensure that your project specs and job description are both accurate and cohesive. Only then will the recruiting process begin.

Additionally, companies often make the mistake of believing that they must perform their standard onboarding and hiring process for temporary on-site staff. But often, temporary team members don’t need the comprehensive training and familiarization that a permanent employee requires.

Our consulting services can help you identify problem areas that are affecting your company’s tech productivity. When new team members are on-site, this serves as a learning opportunity for team leaders and even company leaders. It’s much easier for a newcomer or outsider to identify problem areas in your process; a simple de-briefing session conducted at the end of a temporary staffer’s time with your company can be a great opportunity to get ideas and suggestions for improvement.

iTech is based in Burlington, Vermont with offices throughout the United States and North America including Montreal and a delivery center in India. If you’re ready to maximize your software developer productivity while hiring temporary staff, contact us today.

The post How To Increase Software Developer Productivity first appeared on iTech.

The result is that companies are left scrambling to cover even more ground in the weeks leading up to the holidays and immediately after, that is, unless company leaders implement proactive measures to minimize that drop-off in productivity.

The IT Industry Has Gone Global, But This Leads to a Holiday Pinch

Globalization has transformed a moderate-sized problem into a massive one, greatly exacerbating the issues surrounding end-of-year shortfalls. Just a few decades ago, relatively few mid-sized and larger companies sought IT talent on a global scale. Scouring the world for top engineers and software programmers was a practice that was primarily limited to the largest corporations, and even then, many heavyweights still emphasized local and national recruitment.

But this is no longer the case. Companies of all sizes are launching planetary searches to find the talent they need to succeed. Around 40 percent of Silicon Valley’s workers are visa-holders (compared to the 13 percent national average.) And a whopping three-quarters of Silicon Valley’s tech workers are foreign-born. This trend is consistent throughout the industry.

And while many HR leaders may think, we’ll just call in some extra help over the holidays, this approach rarely works. This is an industry-wide problem. IT staffing firms and temp agencies are confronting the exact same dilemma. Due to the expense of international travel, visa-holders and foreign-born workers tend to prefer one longer trip versus multiple shorter trips. And while many do not celebrate Hanukkah or Christmas, they may still opt for multi-week-long vacations during the holiday season. The net effect is a dramatic decrease in productivity, sandwiched between chaotic scrambles to cover extra ground before and after the holidays.

How To Maximize Productivity During the Holidays

Every HR manager has encountered generic suggestions such as strategic vacation staggering, outsourcing, allowing staff to work remotely and even implementing company-wide holiday shut-downs. But these reactive measures are rarely effective in terms of cost, productivity, and practicality. Fortunately, a number of proactive strategies can be combined to boost productivity around the holidays.

Plan far in advance. Planning ahead is a given, but relatively few companies have the foresight to plan for the months, not weeks, leading up to the holiday season. In fact, this problem is one that’s best addressed throughout the entire year, not just during the few weeks before and after the holiday season. By effectively preparing, planning, and compensating in the months leading up to the holidays, proactive company leaders can largely avoid challenges and shortfalls. You’ll find your talent is far more likely to meet the mark.

Offer incentives to stay on-board during the holidays. Many foreign-born visa-holders do not celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, so many are not going home for the holidays. Rather, they’re going home at a time when airlines are offering money-saving promotions. So companies may consider offering a bonus to talent who stays on-site during the holiday season. Companies can also offer added time off to those who opt to travel home at a different time of year.

Really understand the impact. Meet with department leaders to identify precisely who will be leaving, when they’ll be leaving, and how their departure will impact workflow. This information is key, as it helps provide an understanding of precisely how and where you’ll be seeing workflow problems within your company. After all, you can’t address a problem if you don’t realize it exists.

Determine what needs to happen so the remaining workers can continue to be productive. The IT industry is one where you must complete one step before you can proceed to the next. With one phase reliant upon another, IT project managers could find themselves in a scenario where their techs are non-productive because they’re not in a position to proceed. The solution: evaluate workflow far in advance and implement a plan that ensures those essential foundations are established long before the holidays arrive. In some cases, this may entail summoning an insourcing team to supplement your talent. This ensures you hit the target. ideally, long before it’s necessary.

Consider using an IT staffing firm. Insourcing, or bringing an established team into your company to complete a project or fill in on a temporary basis, is a very effective option that allows companies to get ahead…or simply close the gap. Temps are a common choice, but really, it’s impractical to drop a temp into a work-in-progress and expect them to thrive. They lack familiarity with the project and the team members whom they’ll be working alongside. This is a recipe for failure. But IT staffing firms that embed their teams inside your company represent a very different approach. In that model, the insourced team has an established, refined dynamic that allows for greater productivity when you need it most. What’s more, experienced teams have functioned in many different environments, both large and small, so it’s unlikely you’ll have to spend a lot of time on integration.

It’s important to remember that companies offering IT staffing are likely facing the same holiday HR challenges. It is, after all, an industry-wide dilemma. This means the best strategy is a proactive one that involves strategic planning to minimize staff shortages and ensure the appropriate foundations are prepared in the weeks and months before workers depart for the holidays. And if you find it is necessary to call in reinforcements, opt for insourcing professionals who can maximize productivity in a way that’s simply not possible for a lone temp.

Insourcing gives companies the power to leverage the right talent precisely when and where they’re needed. This is true whether you’re preparing for the holidays or require support to complete an especially large or outside-your-expertise project. iTech’s insourcing experts know precisely how to choose the right staff to join your team. Contact us to learn how insourcing can help you meet your IT objectives.

The post It’s Never Too Early to Increase Employee Productivity Over the Holidays with Talent Management & Staffing Strategies first appeared on iTech.