Project solutions case study: How Horizontal improved IT project staffing and onboarding for a leading IT enterprise
Case study
Article by Horizontal Team
Mar 24, 2025
A private IT enterprise with a rapidly growing portfolio of projects was struggling to meet its staffing demands. The company’s expansion, both organic and through acquisitions, required fast, efficient and high-quality talent to keep up with its growing IT project needs. However, with an outdated and slow onboarding process, the company was facing delays that hindered its ability to meet project goals. The typical process took 6-8 weeks to hire and onboard new resources, followed by an additional 2-3 months for those resources to become fully productive.
The company’s global IT and portfolio management standards weren’t always being followed, creating compliance and consistency issues. The company needed a solution that could streamline the staffing and onboarding process while also ensuring resource quality and adherence to standards.
We took ownership of the entire staffing and onboarding process, including sourcing, capacity management and quality management. Horizontal worked alongside the company’s hiring managers and project stakeholders to define job requirements and expedite sourcing. Since taking over this process, we’ve reduced the average hiring time from 3-4 weeks to just 1 week.
In terms of capacity management, we are responsible for ensuring there are enough resources to meet project demands. We track all full-time employees and contingent workers and are able to re-deploy talent from one project to another as needed. This flexibility helps the company maintain consistency and retain subject-matter expertise across projects.
Our non-billable resource team is dedicated to supporting the resources throughout their engagements. We hold bi-weekly 1:1 meetings with each of our resources to confirm their performance aligns with the company’s expectations, verify that all training requirements are met and schedule regular quality reviews with reporting managers.
By taking ownership of the staffing and onboarding process, Horizontal has been able to streamline workflows, enhance resource quality and ensure compliance with global IT standards. This partnership has helped the client meet its project goals and grow in a competitive IT landscape.
If you’re looking for a staffing partner who can help streamline your project management processes and deliver top-tier talent quickly, Horizontal is here to help.
The challenge: Slow onboarding, quality issues and a need for a better resource management strategy
As a large and decentralized organization, the company had multiple projects running at once, each with its own staffing and resource needs. The slow hiring process was a bottleneck, making it difficult to scale quickly. On top of this, there were concerns about the quality of work from both new and existing hires, especially given the complexity of the IT projects.The company’s global IT and portfolio management standards weren’t always being followed, creating compliance and consistency issues. The company needed a solution that could streamline the staffing and onboarding process while also ensuring resource quality and adherence to standards.
The solution: Horizontal’s managed staffing approach
Horizontal was selected to be the single source provider for talent to support the company’s IT Enterprise Project Management Office (ePMO). For the past 8 years, we’ve worked closely with this client, becoming a trusted partner in managing their staffing needs for IT projects.We took ownership of the entire staffing and onboarding process, including sourcing, capacity management and quality management. Horizontal worked alongside the company’s hiring managers and project stakeholders to define job requirements and expedite sourcing. Since taking over this process, we’ve reduced the average hiring time from 3-4 weeks to just 1 week.
Streamlining onboarding and capacity management
Once a resource is selected, Horizontal manages the entire onboarding process. This includes everything from laptop ordering and system access requests to ensuring the new hire is fully integrated into the project. Our team spends the first few days and weeks with new hires, helping them get acclimated to the team and the work.In terms of capacity management, we are responsible for ensuring there are enough resources to meet project demands. We track all full-time employees and contingent workers and are able to re-deploy talent from one project to another as needed. This flexibility helps the company maintain consistency and retain subject-matter expertise across projects.
Quality management and performance reviews
We handle quality management to ensure that all resources maintain high standards. We facilitate regular "360" feedback sessions between the resources, their reporting managers and project stakeholders. These reviews help us identify any potential issues early and address them proactively.Our non-billable resource team is dedicated to supporting the resources throughout their engagements. We hold bi-weekly 1:1 meetings with each of our resources to confirm their performance aligns with the company’s expectations, verify that all training requirements are met and schedule regular quality reviews with reporting managers.
The results: Faster onboarding and improved resource quality
Through this partnership, Horizontal has placed nearly 400 consultants for the client and currently maintains an average of 50 active consultants on projects at any given time. The client has experienced a significant improvement in the speed and quality of their project staffing, with reduced turnover and better overall project outcomes.By taking ownership of the staffing and onboarding process, Horizontal has been able to streamline workflows, enhance resource quality and ensure compliance with global IT standards. This partnership has helped the client meet its project goals and grow in a competitive IT landscape.
Horizontal’s managed staffing approach drives efficiency and success
Our managed staffing approach has been instrumental in helping our client overcome their project staffing challenges. With our comprehensive, end-to-end management of staffing, onboarding, capacity and quality, we’ve been able to reduce delays, improve project outcomes and deliver high-quality results.If you’re looking for a staffing partner who can help streamline your project management processes and deliver top-tier talent quickly, Horizontal is here to help.