Running a business today is a lot different than it was only a decade or so ago. The spread of the gig economy has changed the employee-employer dynamic, work environment, and what we want from work. Today, 35% of the global workforce are freelancers, and companies are increasingly relying on their services. Some organizations have a core of in-house employees and outsource any peripheral tasks, whereas others rely on independent contractors entirely. However, freelancers are not permanent employees, and they can leave whenever they want. So how should leaders entice them and make the collaboration with them work? What Do Freelancers Want? Freelancing has numerous benefits compared to traditional work. If you think only people who can’t find traditional employment become gig workers, you are sorely mistaken. In fact, 61% of freelancers say they’re independent workers by choice. Most of them wouldn’t go back to the nine-to-five grind if offered the opportunity. Hiring independent contractors is therefore much different from recruiting traditional employees. You need to cater to an entirely different set of needs. Well, almost. First of all, freelancers value their independence and flexibility over everything else. A survey has found that the top three reasons people turn to freelance work are work-life balance (70%), flexibility (62%), and freedom (56%). Once you hire a gig worker, you can’t expect to boss them around or micromanage them. You have to respect their time and trust their skills. It’s in their best interest to do a great job. Of course, if a client is fair and respectful, freelancers are happy to start a lasting business relationship with them. If you’re striving for this kind of arrangement, there are several things you can do to make freelancers happy to work with you. Streamline Your Recruitment Process If your talent acquisition funnel is too lengthy, clunky, and tiring, you will deter many potentially amazing freelance workers. They’re not looking for steady employment at your company, so they probably won’t waste their time going through numerous steps and waiting forever to get a yay or nay. You need to make your recruitment process for contractors much more efficient than that for your regular employees. In other words — speed it up! Think about any redundant steps and leave them out. Also, be sure to let the candidates know what they can expect and when. Eliminate the guesswork, and they’ll be much more likely to wait. Be Clear About What You Want Them to Do Again, independent contractors are not your full-time employees, i.e., they don’t know how your company does things. So when you reach out to them, they don’t care about the job title you’re advertising — they want to know what kind of work they’ll be doing and what you expect of them. Once they start working on your project, you should provide them with detailed instructions and make sure you’re on the same page from the get-go. This will eliminate the need for intense supervision and room for mistakes. Consider […]
