Why your next hire should be a contractor

The world has been turned upside down in recent months. In the UK, 6 million people are still on furlough, whilst in the States, 1 in 10 companies are at risk of going bust by the end of the year [YouGov]. 

If you’re an in-house recruiter who’s been lucky enough to stay in your role and are being briefed with new job openings at your organisation, now is the time to rethink how you hire. 

In 3 years’ time, an estimated 50% of the workforce will be freelance [World Economic Forum]. In recent years, it’s highly-skilled workers with in-demand skills, such as web and app development, data, AI, and digital transformation strategists driving this trend. 

Your company needs to be competitive now, more than ever

The next stage of the freelance revolution is being skyrocketed by Covid-19. It’s no longer freelancers dictating the growth, it’s companies. Most companies are unsure about what the future holds. 

Freelancers used to be a temporary solution to weather off a storm, but that’s not the case any more. For agile companies who turn projects around quickly, and remain competitive, it’s a vital long-term solution.

To do this, your hiring strategy needs to change

Agile shouldn’t just be a buzzword. And it certainly doesn’t mean ‘our staff now have laptops with Microsoft Teams’ or ‘we have a Trello board’. 

It’s allocating resources to specific needs, testing ideas, and being able to shift focus, pivot to changing aims – in a world that’s all-but-stable. 

Define your permanent core, and flex projects with contractors

We’re not saying “stop hiring perm staff”. Agile businesses require an agile workforce, consisting of both permanent employees and flexible workers, such as freelancers, contractors, and other contingent workers. 

In times of uncertainty and low visibility into the future, hiring decisions have to be made rapidly. It pays to think short or medium-term when managing fast turnaround, project-based work. 

A harsh reality check – is your hiring strategy working?

Take a look at our infographic, below.

You need to shift your talent strategy — and supporting infrastructure — to focus less on talent retention and more on talent access. 

Think about how you can “access” the right skills at the right time rather than “owning” the skills. Traditional career paths just don’t work anymore for some of the best talent, and businesses need to adjust accordingly.

Are people you hire actually doing the things you hired them to do?

Do your key hires spend more time with bureaucracy, admin to stakeholder management (more often than not a polite way of saying ‘office politics’).

You should deconstruct jobs into projects that call for specialized talent: Workstreams of an agile workforce look like mission-based projects, with the right people working on the right projects — both aligned with your business’ strategic goals and priorities.

Don’t let legislation and paperwork hold you back

Worksome gives your business instant access to highly skilled flexible workers to help deliver your projects within seconds – and all the logistics and payments managed for new and existing talent.

This allows you to act with agility and be adaptive, flexible and creative through a changing environment. It also reduces your administrative headcount and frees your key people from wasting time better spent on other key tasks across your business, which is key to operational success. 

From IR35 status determinations to Right to Work checks, your new hiring strategy shouldn’t be held back by legislation or paperwork.

How do you do this?

The good news is that there’s a huge and fast growing pool of flexible talent to tap into, and infrastructure to manage the process.

The right technology can provide you with instant access to talent when needed. Try out Worksome, which offers both instant access to flexible talent and a management system of all new and existing freelance workers.

In fact, it’s as simple as asking yourself “Should this role be permanent or a contract role?” when you’re next briefed to hunt for the next key hire at your organisation.

In summary: Three things to consider when asking “Perm or contract?”

1. Does this hire need to be a specialist in their field?

If not a core member of a long-term strategy or senior management role, weigh up the likely tenure of the role and make a decision on whether contractor (average tenure 13 months) would suffice

2. Will the new hire’s role be the same in 12 months time? 

Are you sure of your business objectives, and should the hire be contract instead of permanent?

3. Are you avoiding hiring a contractor because of bureaucracy or legislation? 

This should not be a reason and will make your business less competitive when head-to-head against others with fewer barriers to hiring flexible workers

 

The time to change is now

Book a demo with Sam Orrin, UK Lead at Worksome, or try the platform now and find fully vetted on-demand talent by posting a job for free here

Partner

A Scandinavian scaleup created by X-Googlers, we make hiring as hassle-free and agile as possible. Post projects to your talent pool, your trusted recruiters or our marketplace of 30,000 vetted contractors across the Nordics, UK and US to make sure you work with the very best talent available.

worksome.co.uk

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Category Talent Attraction
Content Type Article
Contributer Worksome

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