How Learning Leaders Use Staff Augmentation as a Resource to Support a High-Performing Learning Organization
Most anyone you ask in learning and development will understand the challenges of being asked to do more with less. Today’s L&D teams are lean, business needs are constantly evolving, and priorities shift quickly. As a result, L&D leaders are often challenged to deliver impactful programs without having the staff or skills needed to do it all internally. This is where many learning leaders turn to contingent staff (also known as staff augmentation).
In this article, we’ll explore real-world business challenges – especially those times when your team needs support and you can’t afford to slow down – drawn from the insights of experienced learning leaders. You’ll learn how they have approached their departments’ challenges by using contingent L&D staff as a strategic asset to support the success of their teams and their organizations.
Team disruptions are unavoidable. It may be that someone takes parental leave. Or a team member resigns. Or an internal restructure pulls someone off your L&D team.
Whatever the reason, the work doesn’t stop, and neither should your team’s momentum. Many L&D leaders use staff augmentation to bridge the gap, to step in quickly and maintain your team’s flow and stability.
Jason Ruff is a partner at AXIOM Learning Solutions, one of the world’s leading specialists in L&D staff augmentation, and has more than 20 years experience matching L&D resources to tasks. “Contractors are often the most useful option when you’re facing an urgent need,” he said, “especially when you have a need that arises with little warning.”
When a disruption happens, the first step is to figure out the extent of the gap. Jay Letourneau is Director of Institutional Design at Point32Health, and has led learning in government, insurance, banking and healthcare organizations.
“One of my first steps is to make an assessment of the team’s bandwidth and skills,” said Letourneau. “I need to make a determination if the gap is something the existing staff can absorb, or whether temporary support is needed. The goal is to avoid stalling progress while maintaining the morale of the team and making sure we produce quality work. Using contingent staffing helps ensure one absence doesn’t waterfall into a team-wide bottleneck.”
Even the highest-performing teams can be overloaded during crunch times, whether they are seasonal spikes, product launches, or company-wide changes. In those moments, the challenge isn’t only skill, but scale. Your team knows what they have to do but simply doesn’t have the time.
Pam Moyer has experienced this first hand. Moyer is a senior learning executive with experience in the financial services and insurance industries, and currently serves as Director of Learning and Enablement for insurance software company Origami Risk.
“Sometimes we just need to remove distractions,” to allow people to focus on their highest value work, Moyer said. Whether you are delivering compliance training to thousands of employees or executing a rapid shift to your learning content strategy, “contingent staff can help you scale your team’s capacity and help avoid issues like burnout.”
The short-term crunch can be bridged by “surge staffing,” said Jason Ruff, a partner at AXIOM Learning Solutions. Staff augmentation in L&D “is all about utility, so you can bring in support exactly where and when it’s needed,” Ruff said.
Contingent L&D roles can be scoped with flexibility to respond to project timelines, so your team can meet the demands of a crunch without compromising the quality of your work and without disrupting your long-term staffing plans or budget.
To provide support and enablement of a business, the learning function needs expertise in technology, instructional strategy, data analytics and reporting, and a range of instructional topics. When your team takes on a project that requires a specific or niche skill, whatever it may be, you can quickly add that skill to your team with contingent staff.
These are skills-based decisions: “If I don’t have it under my roof, and I need it in short order, that’s where a contractor comes in,” Letourneau said. Contingent staffing helps in two ways: first, to deliver the work, and second, to upskill members of the permanent team in the process.
According to both Letourneau and Moyer, a contingent expert can serve both as a temporary contributor and a mentor, sharing tools and insights that may leave a lasting impact on your team.
Even with a strong business case, sometimes the L&D leader will hit an obstacle with company leadership. Whether it’s a hiring freeze, a budget constraint, or even a complex internal approval process, moving forward with a new full-time hire can be a challenge. Meanwhile, the work still needs to get done. It’s a political and a practical challenge.
Learning leaders use contingent staffing to navigate through moments like these. “It’s a strategic tool,” said Letourneau: a way to be agile, to fill gaps, and to continue delivering results when a full-time hire isn’t in the cards. Contractors can often be brought as a project expense or drawing from a services budget, effectively side stepping the headcount constraint. In this way, Ruff pointed out, staff augmentation is a resource that is “utilization-focused,” or justified based on objective and outcome.
What if you see the need for a new role but you’re not yet sure whether it will be needed in the long term? Or, if you want to test a new team structure or function before making it permanent? The contingent staffing model gives you the space you need to experiment before making a long-term commitment.
“It’s a sort of extended interview process,” said Letourneau. “When you bring someone in short-term, you’re able to see how they work, how they fit into the team culture, and what kind of value they bring.” If it’s successful, the learning leader will have new evidence they can use to justify a full-time hire. It’s particularly helpful in companies where a new role requires rigorous justification.
Once you’ve identified a need for contingent L&D staffing, your success will depend in part on intentional implementation. It begins with clear discovery and alignment, answering questions like what is the business goal?, what outcomes are expected?, and what specific skills are needed? As both Letourneau and Moyer said in a recent appearance on the AXIOM Insight Learning & Development Podcast, understanding your team’s current strengths and gaps will help ensure you add to your team in a way that adds value, not redundancy.
The right fit is more than technical qualifications: you’re looking for someone who can contribute meaningful work, adapt quickly, and fit into your team’s culture and workflow. This requires a thoughtful evaluation of personality, communication style, and alignment with your project’s goals. Your goal should be to match both skills and culture, whether you’re sourcing a candidate directly or working with a staffing partner. “Our goal in identifying contractors is to find the best match on all dimensions,” said Ruff. “We have a network of thousands of contractors, and so our best matches are based on a clear understanding of the task, the company, the manager and the contractor. When all the factors align, we’re set up to be successful.”
Once the contractor is selected, integration is key. “Treat the contingent staff as part of the team from day one,” said Letourneau.“ Include them in meetings, give them background and context, and clearly define their responsibilities.”
And ongoing communication is also important. “It’s not enough to just onboard the contractor, they should be set up as a collaborator alongside other members of the team,” said Moyer.
It may be no surprise that the addition of a contingent staff member to an existing team can raise concerns from the permanent staff. Your full-time people may wonder why is someone else being brought in?, or is it because I’m not performing at the expected level?, or even is my job at risk?
As a leader, it’s important to anticipate and address these concerns proactively. “Contingent help should be framed as a benefit, not a threat,” said Letourneau. “In other words, I tell my team that they’re gaining an extra set of hands to relieve pressure and keep momentum. It’s important to make clear that everyone is all part of the same team, whether you’re full-time or a contractor.”
When you’re setting expectations, let your permanent staff know they are valued, and explain exactly how the temporary/contingent role will support them and their goals. At the same time, be sure the contractor understands where their responsibilities begin and end, and how they should collaborate with your existing team structure.
With a little thoughtful planning and open communication, contingent staffing can strengthen your L&D team without disrupting it.
Contingent staff isn’t just about plugging holes in your L&D team. When used thoughtfully, it’s a strategic tool for managing your learning team: you can use it to increase flexibility, bring in fresh expertise, and protect your core team from overwork or burnout. Whether you’re navigating unexpected change, scaling for a growth project, or piloting something new, L&D staff augmentation can help you meet the moment with confidence.
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