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No matter what line of work you’re in, contingency is critical. It’s the fallback, the back-up plan for when things go pear-shaped. This can apply to almost any workforce, no matter what type – you’re always going to need a back-up plan. Or, in this case back-up people to fill-in when your regular workforce isn’t available for whatever reason.
Given that you’re likely to have almost a second set of staff, they will require management and placement at their various tasks at the appropriate times. For this, you’ll need to make sure that you have a clearly defined set of management protocols for these people. Some companies can struggle to properly integrate their contingent workforce, but here are a few simple tips on how you can make sure your contingent workforce management is faring just as well as your full-timers.
Make Sure That You Have a Contract
It should go without saying, but one of the most important elements of any workforce-management relationship is the presence of a contract. Contracts help both the employee and the employer iron out the particulars and make sure that both parties are clear on their responsibilities for the term of employment. Even if your company is hiring freelancers, or temporary workers, the presence of a contract is critical.
Be Fair, But Firm
Following up on the contract outlined above, it is important to be firm and fair during your hiring process for your contingent workforce. Make sure that you are fair in whom you award work to – you can decide this based on competency and fit for the job. Hire workers that serve a purpose that is not met by your full-time workforce. Make sure you are fair to those who you hire in terms of projects awarded to them but be firm in ensuring that they know that they are not (yet) full-time workers. Again, the presence of a contract is invaluable.
Hiring Contingent Workers Affords You Flexibility
As an organisation, you’re bound to have periods of time where you don’t, or cannot, give your full-timers much work (such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, most places were forced to lay off their full-time employees). By hiring contingent workers, you’re giving yourself the flexibility to expand your talent pool and bring in fresh faces temporarily, who likely have skill sets that your full-timers don’t. Maintaining this degree of flexibility will allow your organisation to function at a much higher level, as you tap into the versatility that comes with hiring the types of people who work as freelancers.
Contingent Workforces Lower Your Costs
While it may seem counterintuitive, it’s true that hiring freelancers actually lowers your costs as a business. Yes, you are spending money to hire these people to do the work, and their contracts are sometimes fetching higher outward costs initially than your full-timers. However, you also have to consider that there are significant costs that are simply not a factor: things like travel costs, equipment costs (you may pay for your employees’ laptop, for example), a lack of certain types of (or perhaps all) employee benefits. Your company also pays fewer taxes on freelancer employment.
Hiring freelancers or temporary workers is a terrific way to alleviate stress on your company, increase your talent pool and decrease your costs. If the pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that workers don’t always need to be at the office to do the job, and that nothing is certain. Prepare your business for uncertainty by hiring more of a contingent workforce today.
