White-Glove Support: Behind the Scenes Benefits of Staff Augmentation 2.0

Engineering Staff Augmentation 2.0 is all about enabling software teams to quickly add global talent, eliminating geography as a barrier to finding high-performing engineers. This software outsourcing model specializes in the long-term placement of developers that are fully embedded within customer teams with “white-glove” support by the staff augmentation firm. 

What does “white-glove” support mean? It means a team behind each engineer provides layers of support and accountability to ensure that engineers and customer teams are successful. This article explains the support that Staff Augmentation 2.0 provides to help customers meet roadmaps and achieve business goals. 

Support includes several management functions and teams that work with both engineers and customers to make engagements work. Support functions include:

• Assessment and Matching - The management team starts by assessing the customer’s engineering needs and cultural requirements. Managers dive deep into the customer’s technical requirements, culture, values, and work with engineering managers to identify a range of candidates for the customer to consider. 

• Onboarding - Onboarding support ensures that engineers arrive at engagements ready to contribute and are up to speed within 90 days. Onboarding managers monitor developer performance during this period and:
• Identify and address any knowledge gaps
• Prepare a plan for engineers to ramp up any needed skills
• Manage an onboarding checklist with engineers and customers

• Engineering Management - Once the developers are onboarded, internal managers are embedded within engineering teams and provide long-term, technical oversight. Engineering managers also perform regular check-ins with customers to obtain feedback on the engineers’ performance. Check-ins primarily cover:
• Code Quality
• Velocity
• Engineer communication
• Professionalism

• Relationship Management - Separate relationship managers serve as customer advocates and project managers. They make sure that the entire engagement delivers the business value that customers expect. The support customers by:
• Setting engineer and customer expectations pre-engagement
• Holding regular customer check-ins
• Resolving any performance or business issues
• Conducting regular account reviews

Staff Augmentation 2.0 is invested in the success of customers and engineers alike. Engineering management also includes supporting the engineers before, during, and after each engagement. Engineering managers monitor software developers’ work, job satisfaction, and growth opportunities within customer teams to foster their professional development. Managers hold 1:1s, identify technical issues, manage, coach, and provide professional guidance to engineers. They also monitor job satisfaction concerns, like how developers gaining skills and experience, being evaluated, and increasing seniority. This management is critical to engineer retention, which is crucial for engagement success. 

Engineering teams are only as good as their people. Staff Augmentation 2.0 doesn’t just match resumes with job descriptions and walk away. Instead, it focuses on recruiting and vetting high-performing software developers and supports them with a team of specialized managers that monitor and oversee all aspects of the engagement. The goal is always to ensure that engineers and customer teams are working well together, meeting roadmaps, and exceeding expectations for velocity and quality. 

For more information on how to scale your team with high-performing engineers, download the e-book, Staff Augmentation 2.0: Software Outsourcing that Builds Stronger Teams.