The demand for specialized talent has surged as organizations race to modernize operations, enhance customer experiences, and stay competitive. Yet many companies find themselves constrained by internal capacity, skill gaps, and the high costs of traditional hiring. Enter staff augmentation: a flexible, scalable model that allows businesses to tap into external expertise without the overhead of permanent hires.
Rethinking Staff Augmentation in the Age of Digital Transformation
Recent studies underscore how staff augmentation is a growing strategic lever for digital transformation. According to Grand View Research, the global IT services market size was estimated at USD 1.50 trillion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 2.59 trillion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 9.4% from 2025 to 2030. This growth is fueled by the need for agile, cost-effective solutions that can quickly fill skill gaps and accelerate project timelines.
While the staff augmentation model itself is sound, many organizations struggle to get the most out of their current staff augmentation partners. Common pitfalls include misaligned talent, lack of cultural fit, and minimal support for consultants once placed. These shortcomings can lead to missed deadlines, inflated costs, and diminished trust between clients and vendors.
At G2O, we believe staff augmentation should be more than just filling seats; it should be about delivering outcomes. If you have a staffing partner and aren’t sure you’re maximizing the partnership or you’re curious whether a staff augmentation partner could help solve your business problems, here’s what you should know.
The Questions You Should Be Asking
If the relationship between you and your staff augmentation partner feels off, chances are, it is. Consider asking these questions at your next meeting to get a better sense of where the disconnect may be coming from.
“What’s your process for matching talent to task? Are candidates submitted based on a deep understanding of each client’s needs?”
For many in the staffing world, volume is the name of the game. “You need a Java developer? Great, here’s 40.”
Most staffing companies are perfectly capable of identifying a client’s basic needs, but their solution is to send over as many “qualified” candidates as possible. They’re hoping that the sheer volume of candidates submitted will increase their likelihood of being selected.
This approach is costly for two reasons:
- Bulk candidate submissions strain the client’s review time and process, making the whole thing more overwhelming than is necessary.
- The staffing companies have rarely invested the time required for a deep understanding of the associate’s skills and relevant experience, resulting in unqualified candidates being submitted.
This can be painful for a client. They’ll spend a lot of time sifting through resumes and interviews, ultimately hoping the candidate chosen is the right choice for their project, team, and company.
“How do you assess cultural fit and communication skills? Do you evaluate how well candidates will integrate with your team beyond technical skills?”
Most staff augmentation companies are capable of checking a box for relevant technical proficiency, but a resume is only part of the equation.
Many of these companies don’t have structures in place to truly get to know their candidates. The extent of their knowledge about their candidates comes from an interview or two and a piece of paper. They have very little understanding of the candidate’s personality traits, work style, or past performances, which makes all the soft skills of a candidate—which are just as vital to their success as their technical skills—a big unknown. The result is a high risk of poor work quality, or worse, termination and lost momentum.
“What’s your retention rate and how do you support consultants? Are consultants supported after placement or left to navigate challenges alone?”
Retention rate (the percentage of employees who remain employed at a company during a specific period) can vary slightly depending on the duration of the assignment. However, according to PeopleKeep, a general rule of thumb is to look for above 90%.
With staff augmentation, contracts can run anywhere from a few weeks to over a year given the scope of the project, but the target rate should remain the same regardless. Most staffing companies can help you find a candidate; but be wary of those who leave the candidate to navigate things on their own post-placement.
For clients and consultants in these situations, there is a keen awareness of the fact that the candidate is a temporary resource. Without proper support, the consultant can feel disjointed; struggling to integrate into their client’s team and often being left to fend for themselves. This disconnect can often impact morale, team dynamics, and performance.
“Can you provide examples of successful long-term partnerships? Do you have a track record of sustained client relationships and repeat success?”
The world of consultant staffing can sometimes devolve into a race to the bottom. Clients can feel pressure to bring down costs for a project or initiative, turning to staff augmentation companies to find the MVP. In this case, the minimal viable person. Staffing companies who rely solely on contracted labor versus full-time employees can maintain low overhead costs, keeping their bill rates low—but the price paid by the client isn’t just the rate.
According to McKinsey, top performers in critical roles can be up to 800% more productive than average performers. Compounding the opportunity cost of hiring lower-performing workers is making the wrong hire, which can cost you between 50-60% of the departing employee’s salary to replace them.
The result for most staff augmentation companies is a “turn and burn” approach: The company may be successful at getting consultants placed in a high volume for a short period of time, but eventually, the company will fall out of favor with the client and they’ll move onto the next one. The low costs can only justify the poor output for so long. In other words, these partnerships just aren’t built to last.
Why G2O is the Answer
While issues can arise with any staff augmentation partnership, the same can be said for traditional hiring. Still, G2O takes a unique and proactive approach to mitigating these shortcomings through a staffing model we call Talent to Outcomes.
Below are the key components of our Talents to Outcomes model and how they enable mutual success between us and our clients.
Matching Talent to Task
At G2O, we deploy our proprietary Talent Funnel that includes sourcing, screening, capability assessments, and culture/communication evaluations before sending a candidate to any of our clients.
We’ll never use a shotgun approach. We don’t even begin to source a candidate until after we’ve taken the time to understand your needs deeply—ensuring the consultant has the right technological, industrial, and cultural experience to fit your specific needs. According to our VP of Technology Matt Warner, “You have a Python position, and half of these places send you 100 resumes. We send you one resume. Because it’s the correct one for your need.”
Cultural Fit and Communication
We believe in getting to know your needs and company culture. Our delivery directors will meet with you to get to know you, your business, and your goals prior to conducting culture and communication interviews with our consultants. This ensures alignment between our consultants and your team’s work style, expectations, and objectives.
The more we work with you—the more we understand your culture and style of working—the better we get at identifying these crucial fits. Our delivery directors are individually dedicated to each client and consultant, providing a single point of contact for any and all needs.
Retention and Support
Most staffing agencies can help you fill your role with contracted labor but bear very little responsibility for the candidate once they’re chosen. G2O takes a different approach. Not only do we boast a retention rate of 95% for our consultants, but 80% of our staff are salaried employees with benefits.
Our retention rate not only signifies G2O’s exceptional ability to match the right skills for the right job, but retaining salaried employees demonstrates our belief in our consultants abilities, as well as our commitment to supporting our consultants once placed through stability and long-term development. Post placement, a dedicated G2O career manager provides support to the associate through regular touch-points, formal reviews, and continued education. This ensures alignment with client objectives, while exceeding goals along the way.
Long-Term Partnerships
G2O boasts over 50 active clients—9 of which have been partners with us for 15+ years. Not only that, but 60% of our clients capitalize on more than one of our disciplines, demonstrating a trust in G2O’s ability to provide industry leading talents across multiple technologies and areas of expertise.
Long term partnerships are mutually beneficial, allowing for more robust cultural and capability assessments for new hires. Whenever possible, our technical evaluations are performed by G2O consultants already deployed with the target client, adding speed and value to the new consultant’s integration.
Ready to Get More from Your Talent Partner?
Staff augmentation should be more than a transaction—it should be a strategic advantage. If you’re not getting the outcomes you need from your Data, Technology, or Experience staff augmentation partners, it’s time to ask better questions. And it’s time to consider a partner who has the answers. Reach out to us today to learn more.
Contact G2O with a specific role you need to fill now, or to talk through your future strategic plan and the skills you’ll need to execute. Let’s build something better, together.