For better or worse, the technology industry is a game of speed. But moving quickly isn’t as simple as flipping a switch and asking employees to work more.
While technology companies could do this to speed up development and cut sprint times in half, they’ll have a tough time retaining their employees, especially the good ones.
This is why some of the most agile and thriving technology companies find different ways to move faster.
Enter burst staffing.
What’s Burst Staffing?
Burst staffing, also known as just-in-time staffing, is a strategy offered by staffing and recruiting agencies that help companies make quick hires for temporary and project-based initiatives. For example, a technology company could use burst staffing to increase their team’s capacity to release a new feature faster.
The same company could also use burst staffing to find people with skill sets they don’t have in-house but need ASAP following a change to their go-to-market (GTM) strategy.
How Can Burst Staffing Help Technology Companies?
The best technology companies—think Google, Apple and Facebook—have something in common: Great tech minds driving their teams.
While Google, Apple and Facebook have an advantage when it comes to attracting top talent, that doesn’t discount the speed at which they develop and release products and features.
They can do this because they often supplement their full-time staff with timely hires who can help them move quickly.
This is what burst staffing is all about.
But there’s more to burst staffing than merely moving quickly.
What Are the Benefits of Burst Staffing?
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- It’s Cost Efficient: In a perfect world, you’d always hire the right people. Unfortunately, that’s not the case, and when those bad hires come on board, albeit unintentionally, the cost is substantial. The cost of a bad hire is estimated to be 30% of that person’s first-year salary.Burst staffing brings technology companies under the wings of a staffing and recruiting agency, giving them access to a vetted pool of candidates with various skill sets. So, when a company asks the agency to help them find someone with Python 3 experience, they’ll likely already have someone in mind, meaning that the company can confidently make the hire without having to worry that they won’t work out.
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- It’s Faster: The hiring process is notoriously slow, especially for companies looking to hire someone with a specialized skill set or expertise. Unfortunately, this is time technology companies don’t have.Burst staffing accelerates hiring because the agency is—or should be—proactively recruiting, i.e., filling their talent pool with a diverse grouping of talent, regardless of their clients’ hiring needs. Because these agencies already have candidates in mind when their clients need something, the only thing standing between the company and the perfect hire is the agency flipping through their Rolodex. No sifting through resumes or rounds of interviews required.
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- It’s Less Risky: Burst staffing helps companies hire for temporary, project-based initiatives, but what if one of the hires really works out? Why not see if they’d be interested in joining on a full-time basis.Burst staffing essentially gives companies the chance to take candidates through a structured “tryout,” which can help them get a sense of the person’s work ethic, cultural fit and if there’s a long-term place for them. This vetting process can significantly reduce the risk of a poor—and costly—hiring decision.
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- It Allows for Agility: If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that things can change quickly, and when they do, companies may have to rethink their staffing needs.Burst staffing acts as a safety net that technology companies can rely on when the world throws a curveball their way and extra capacity or new skill sets are needed to keep them moving forward in the new normal—whatever that may be.
It’s easy to move quickly. What’s not as easy, however, is moving quickly without being reckless or making unnecessary and costly slip-ups.
This applies to recruiting and hiring strategies.
For technology companies operating in 2022, making quick but smart hiring decisions is an essential part of GTM strategies.
They can only do that by adding burst staffing to their toolbox.