Exploring Onboarding and Knowledge Transfer Among IT Professionals in Staff Augmentation Arrangements - The Role of Digital Learning and Workplace Factors

Sammanfattning

The increasing demand for IT staff augmentation has transformed how organizations onboard external professionals and facilitate knowledge transfer in project-based environments. In IT staff augmentation arrangements, the external IT professionals such as developers, consultants, and DevOps engineers are expected to integrate and adapt quickly into internal teams and contribute well within a short timeline. This quick integration and adaptation sometimes creates significant challenges for onboarding, learning, and knowledge transfer, particularly in a technologically complex environment. The purpose of this study is to explore the factors influencing onboarding and knowledge transfer among IT professionals in staff augmentation arrangements and to examine the role of digital learning in these processes. This study adopts a qualitative research approach. To explore more insights, the empirical data for the study were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted via Zoom with twenty-one participants. The participants of the study are developers, business analysts, HR professionals, and other IT professionals who have experience working in staff augmentation arrangements. The data analysis was done using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase thematic analysis approach to identify recurring patterns and themes from the participant’s responses. The study is theoretically connected to the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework and is further supported by Situated Learning Theory and Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory, which together will help explain how learning, onboarding, and knowledge transfer occur within staff augmentation environments.