You’ve got a vacancy, and you’re wondering what the next steps should be. Before you put that job ad on LinkedIn, let’s talk about project management staffing augmentation, and why you should consider partnering with a company that provides PMO solutions.
In our experience, project management staffing is an art as much as a science. You’re looking for someone who can seamlessly fit into your business, but who only needs to be in post for a certain length of time. Whether that’s as a project manager to deliver one particular project, or as an interim PMO manager leading on implementing news processes, we can help.
We’ll share the top 10 reasons why companies rely on a PMO solutions firm to provide expert candidates to augment their team and assist with project management staffing.
1. The market for candidates is competitive
More and more companies need project management experts in their business. More and more universities are offering graduate courses in project management. It really is a growing career space that many professionals want to be in.
While that’s great news for the sector, it’s a challenge for hiring managers. You could be facing hundreds of resumés, many of which will be filled with the buzzwords necessary to get an interview. But do they really have the experience to be a good fit for your organization? And do you have the time to spend sifting through them all?
Your time is precious. Use it on things that make a difference and let a professional firm augment your team with resources who can actually do the job.
2. Project management is a specialist subject
Your firm probably has HR professionals, but are they experts in project management? A firm like Ten Six, that regularly supplies certified professionals into a range of project management roles, can make sure that the people being put forward for jobs have the right skills to do it well.
3. Knowledge of your business
Your business is unique, and consultants who have worked with you before, or in your industry, will have a perfect understanding of what you are looking for. They know the challenges of your sector, and what kind of skills you need, even if you aren’t exactly sure yourself.
4. A larger network for recruitment
Your managers probably use the same agencies and networks for job hunting, and why wouldn’t they? They’ve managed to secure good talent from there in the past. The world is a big place, and today, even if you need someone local who can be in your office every day, it’s important to look outside of the normal places you hire. This can bring diversity of expertise and experience into the team.
When you augment your project teams with experienced staff, you know that they have been hand-picked by people who are confident they are perfect for the role.
5. A focus on knowledge transfer
Sometimes you don’t need a permanent new starter, you just need someone who can help upskill your existing workforce. There’s no need to invest in complicated and expensive onboarding processes when you could buy in the skills of an experienced consultant for a few months.
Let a contractor augment your team’s abilities for a while. They’ll transfer their knowledge and then step back when you no longer need them. This approach helps grow and reward your in-house employees who already have deep knowledge of your systems and processes.
6. Technical background
There might be a lot of project managers looking for a new role at any one time, but how many of them have the deep technical knowledge you need in Primavera, earned value management, Cobra or other tools?
When you bring people into the team via a professional staffing firm, you know their technical skills have been thoroughly vetted.
7. Experience to get started straightaway
How familiar does this sound: You’ve hired a new starter, but it’s taking them a few months to learn the environment. They are building their confidence, but they aren’t making a contribution just yet.
How long are you prepared to wait for them to step into the role you have for them?
Professional services firms like ours are able to bring in expert consultants who can hit the ground running. They know your industry and they know what you want them to do. Like interim managers, they can start implementing changes to build project management maturity, improve risk management processes, embed new ways of working and get your software set up the way your executives expect. Then, when the team are able to take all that on themselves, the consultant can step back and complete a full handover to the relevant people.
8. Personal recommendations
When you work with a project management recruitment firm with deep industry knowledge, you know that the candidates they put forward will be personal recommendations from expert consultants.
We work with project management consultants in a number of sectors, and we can find the perfect match for your business. Because we know our pool of people, we can hand-pick someone who fills the gap in your organization.
9. Time-boxed engagements
You don’t want someone on the team forever. Project management staffing augmentation is typically where a consultant joins the team for a fixed time period. Of course, that can always be extended.
A contractor on a fixed-term engagement smoothly fits into the team when they need it. Then, when their role is no longer required, they leave the business, knowing they’ve passed on the skills you need to sustain the changes made. There’s no long-term commitment or awkwardness about what happens next.
10. Less stress for you
Finally, clients tell us that one of the best things about using a PMO expert firm to help with project staffing needs is that it’s a real low stress option for them. Explain what you need, and your PMO staffing partner can immediately start looking for a candidate to meet that brief. Sometimes, you might get someone in post the same week.
And if you don’t know exactly what you need, an experienced staffing professional can talk you through what challenges you are facing and help you unpick your recruitment needs, so the person who ultimately joins the team knows exactly what they are there for.
From PMO support to portfolio management, metrics to technology, we can supply you with skilled staff to translate your goals into tangible deliverables.