In our previous blog, 4 Considerations Before you Onboard your Contingent Workforce, we shared some key considerations you should make to assess your readiness to onboard contingent workers at scale. They included:
- Assessing the previous duties and responsibilities of the proposed contractor
- What compliance guardrails are in place to keep your business safe?
- Do they have the right certifications and credentials for the task you are needing to be completed?
- Is the candidate the right fit for your team and business culture?
On-Demand Workforce Labor-Management Reduces Friction
Now that you have the right freelancer on your team for your project, you will want to make sure they will come back to you when you need them again. The challenge is, as we said above, that this highly skilled workforce is in high demand, and since the worker has the choice to accept an assignment or not, you want to be sure they will accept your proposal. Here are the key points you should consider:
- Pay your contractors on time. This is the #1 point we want to make. Paying your contractors on time finishes the project out on a positive note. Many freelancers and contractors are frustrated with slow payment processes, so one that pays quickly and efficiently is going to stand out. Freelance Management Systems designed for the special processes needed for this subset of the workforce is critical to helping you achieve this. By having your freelancer create a profile that you can then pay against once the project is completed can reduce the manual processes and reduces errors or roadblocks that get in the way of paying your contractors quickly. Here’s why paying your contractors on time is crucial.
- Treat them fairly. Now, this isn’t to say that you should assign them benefits and PTO, and other traditional employee benefits. But these contingent workers provide a vital service to you. Make them feel like a part of the team for the time they are with you. Communicating frequently and responding quickly to questions or with feedback can go a long way to making the independent contractor feel like a part of the team working towards the same goal. WorkMarket founder Jeff Wald recently shared more on the topic of remembering your gig workers with ADP, which you can read here.
- Set realistic expectations and goals. Nothing could sour a contractor relationship faster than setting unrealistic expectations for the completion of the project. You need to prioritize clear communications from the beginning and provide your contractor with detailed briefs describing things such as timeline, branding guide, milestones, deliverables, etc. And make sure the contractor has everything they need to be successful in meeting those guidelines, such as access to shared documents, or branding logos, etc. Expecting them to meet a deadline and then not providing them the assets needed to do so can get you a firm no when you try to re-engage.
Gain Visibility Into Your Extended Workforce
ADP Research Institute found in a recent survey that 75,000 businesses with a combined payroll of 18 Million employees and found that the share of gig workers within these companies has grown from 14.2% in 2010 to 16.4% in 2018. As your business expands the use of contingent workers, it will be vital to have visibility into the impact they have on your bottom line. We invite you to learn more about Freelance Management Systems in this free guide or give us a call to discuss your unique business staffing needs.
Read more:
Free Download: 6 Questions to Ask When Evaluating Contingent Workers
