Getty getty I found some interesting research on the impact of an employee’s positive on-boarding experience and thought it was worth sharing with #freelancerevolution readers. While much of HR practice doesn’t fit the unique needs of the global freelance community, there are certainly some important lessons we can learn and apply from HR and on boarding is a particularly rich vein. According to Bamboo HR , among employees with a positive on-boarding experience: 87% say they have good role clarity; 89% say they’re engaged; and 91% report a strong connection to the organization. These are good results, and ought to be just as relevant to the experience of freelance platforms members. After all, role clarity, engagement, and connection to the platform should lend to increased productivity, and greater overall revenue as more commitment to overall platform member likely improves lead sharing and hunting in packs. Moreover, there is no more important outcome for a platform than the retention of its highest performing and most engaged freelancer platform members. We know that freelancers expect five outcomes from their platform , and are likely to lose engagement and commitment when these outcomes aren’t provided: Interesting, fairly paid, work A continuing flow of project opportunity that reinforces confidence and commitment to the platform Administrative, business and marketing support Opportunities to future-proof my skills and experience Membership in an active professional community that makes me better So, how well do freelance platforms assist their members to start up well and experience early success? We asked a panel of platform CEOs: As a new freelancer, I’m not sure how to be a successful solopreneur. How does your platform set up new full-time freelancers for success? What are the most important 1-2 challenges that your platform will help me to overcome? Here is what they said: Chandrika Pasricha CEO Flexing It “The success of any consulting platform depends on the quality of the work, and our goal at Flexing It is to enable the maximum number of consultants in our community to get matched to assignments and provide enabling support to ensure they deliver well. The first projects are critical to establish a virtuous cycle and build trust in the platform, and our team supports this through feedback on freelancers early proposals and project budgets, proactively marketing consultants based on skill fit, and providing operational support on invoicing/payments/tax queries. We maintain frequent contact with regular freelancers and offer visibility into upcoming projects to help them plan, and also get them involved in co-creating project teams for bigger project scopes with enterprise clients.” Charly Gaillard, CEO Sneakers+Jackets “With more and more employees becoming freelancers every day, we are providing first-class support to help them set up. To do so, we provide help on choosing the right kind of company or legal framework and how to register it; advising on the right level of protection (medical healthcare, life insurance, work insurance); tips on how they should organize their resume to increase impact; and, most importantly, train them […]
