When you need a scalable workforce to hit deadlines and complete project deliverables, using several staffing firms to provide candidates gets mixed results. You’ll be presented with professionals of varying quality, juggle longer interview schedules that risk losing top performers, and need to find replacements for any candidate falloff on your own. Working with the right information technology staffing company can simplify hiring challenges and increase project ROI – if the firm is specialized in statement of work project management.
How Statement of Work Project Management Delivers a Bigger ROI
How does a staffing firm experienced in SOW project management differ from others? Getting the full project ROI is more assured because of the urgency, consistency, and reliability of the complete staffing process. Here are a few of the ways a SOW staffing firm can mitigate possible threats to your ROI:
· Better Quality Candidates: Unless your various staffing partners have the same in-depth understanding of your project and long-term objectives, your candidates will naturally vary in quality. A good IT statement of work partner learns all about your business upfront to ensure candidates always exceed expectations.
· Faster Interviewing: The IT talent shortage makes locking down candidates crucial. Good SOW project management schedules candidate interviews in bulk because spreading out the process loses applicants to competitors. That is why we have designed our own hiring process to make placements in half the time of other firms, so you get the best scalable workforce available.
· Increased Retention – Any staffing firm familiar with SOW project management knows that attrition is an issue. Whatever the reason, some candidates might consider leaving and a good partner will take measures to mitigate their flight. For example, TriCom can offer a completion bonus, which costs our clients nothing but encourages consultants to stay for the full project.
· Rapid Replacements – Regardless of incentives, some consultants still fall off. That is why an IT staffing firm experienced in SOW projects will have replacements ready and waiting. This limits the loss of productivity as a replacement is brought up-to-speed. With TriCom specifically, we backfill any falloff candidates and do not bill for the first 80 or so hours as the replacement ramps up.
3 Projects Where a SOW Staffing Partner Gets Better Results
On top of the benefits that naturally come from statement of work project management, certain technical projects are better suited for a more flexible workforce:
1.) Data Conversion and ETL Projects – Transferring data into different formats or databases is an infrequent activity if your company practices effective data management. When these projects do arise, they can often be involved and require a quick and stable turnover. Many SOW experienced staffing firms stay connected with data conversion or ETL consultants to assure the quality of the workforce and accelerate projects as they ramp up.
2.) Quality Assurance – The implementation of new software, platforms, or infrastructure would be bug-infested without a dedicated QA process. A team of QA professionals is better at quickly and efficiently running testing from start to finish. The length of time and quantity of people needed are perfect to bring in SOW project management. Since most quality assurance is on a strict timetable, an SOW partner is indispensable for providing replacements on demand.
3.) Business Analysis – Sometimes, your business needs a fresh perspective and a team of analytical-minded professionals can identify opportunities to increase productivity, efficiency, and profits. Because business analysts are often called in when a clear and fixed problem exists, using statement of work project management helps to bring in high quality professionals quickly, ramp them up to the project, and ensure that objectives remain on track and under budget.
Want to get the most out of your next project? Contact TriCom Technical Services. We have worked with a variety of clients on statement of work projects and know how to overcome a range of challenges to SOW projects.