The gig economy is a reality these days. Organizations are increasingly turning to contract workers to help them overcome skill shortages. A survey conducted by The Economist’s Intelligence Unit found that 61% of business executives reported turning to contract labor to meet business objectives.
As remote work becomes increasingly the norm, more workers are opting to go down the contract route. This arrangement gives them more flexibility in their work situation and allows them to pick the organizations they’d like to work with.
From a company’s perspective, hiring contract workers has its advantages and risks. Here are 4 best practices to follow when you hire contract workers.
Put Everything Down in Writing
Getting contracts right is essential when dealing with freelancers or temp workers. It’s best to set expectations down on paper right from the start so that no one is confused about what’s expected. These days, there are several flexible work situations that companies can use.
For instance, will you offer the contractor a chance to become a full-time employee once the term ends? Set down these expectations, along with quantifiable performance metrics that don’t leave any room for error.
When bringing a contractor on board, it’s important to set the scope of the project they’ll be working on. This protects you and the contractor since scope creep can cripple a working relationship. Your contractor might undertake additional work and might expect different compensation than the terms you had initially agreed upon.
It’s beneficial to talk about their expectations and whether they’re looking for any temp worker benefits from you. Highly sought-after contractors receive multiple offers throughout the day, so offering benefits can help you stand out from the crowd.
Make sure your offer to them is clear and doesn’t contain ambiguous language. This promotes a feeling of transparency that will increase your odds of landing the right person.
Create clear expectations surrounding work progress evaluation. This is a critical area where it’s helpful to know the differences between an employee and a contract worker. You can monitor a contractor for results but cannot direct their daily activities.
If you hire a contractor but, you’re controlling their behavior, i.e., the hours they work or how they work then you may be in danger if misclassification which can lead to big fines. A contractor relationship should focus only on the project outcome.
Interview for Skills
One of the biggest advantages a contractor brings to an organization is their existing skill set. You don’t have to spend money training them as you would an employee. An ideal contractor hits the ground running and brings a wealth of experience to your project, thereby helping you achieve your goals faster.
As a result, your interview process should skew towards skill evaluation as opposed to fit. When interviewing employees, you should prioritize fit since you’re thinking of the long term. However, this approach will lead you to screen out many viable contractors.
Despite screening for skills, don’t ignore fit completely. You should review how a contractor will work with your existing team and whether they can give you what you’re looking for. Consider creating a different onboarding process for contractors that helps you get them up to speed quickly and improve their experience.
A happy contractor is more likely to return to your organization down the road when you need assistance, thereby removing the need for you to hunt for the right candidate again. Use the interview process to screen the right candidates and seek to build lasting work relationships.
Integrate
Contract workers might not work with you for as long as your full-time employees will. However, this doesn’t mean you can ignore their fit within your organization and their feelings towards your workplace. Treating contractors like second-class citizens, which occurs in many organizations, leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth.
Remember that your employees will notice how well you’re treating your contractors. Treat them poorly, and it’s not unreasonable for your employees to think that one day you might turn on them as well. Involve contractors in important meetings and seek their ideas for process improvement.
Recognize their contributions when you celebrate team milestones and work to involve them in all aspects of your organization’s culture. Contractors can add a lot of value when you treat them right because they’ve likely worked at multiple organizations and have experienced different workflows.
By getting them involved, you’re tapping into the collective wisdom of multiple organizations, and you can use this to improve your processes.
Maintain Strong Communication
Temporary employees can often feel abandoned due to workplace-specific policies regarding communication. Always make it a point to identify a person who can address all their concerns and questions. For instance, if they need a tool to complete their work, should they get in touch with you or someone in another team?
When involving contractors in cross-team collaborative work, it’s easy to ignore that contractors won’t be aware of relevant contact people in the other team. If your contractors don’t receive a quick resolution to their issues, they’ll most likely feel left out and will look to stay away from working with you in the future.
The smallest things can make a huge difference. Make sure a contractor’s security badge, access cards, work equipment, and office supplies are ready to go the moment they arrive at your workplace.
A Better Workplace for all
As the number of contractors in the workforce rises every day, creating the right work atmosphere that keeps both contractors and full-time employees happy is critical. Organizations that integrate their work environments will be the ones to achieve the most success.
