Business owners tend to share one quality: your work is incredibly precious to you.
The organisation you’ve built is something you have spent hours building from the ground up. That’s not to mention the money you’ve invested along the way.
Often, when it’s time to start recruiting extra pairs of hands, it’s driven by a reluctant realisation that you could no longer manage everything on your own.
This loss of control is not an experience any of us enjoy. For some, it’s the core reason why we avoid working with unfamiliar contract workers.
However, by sticking rigidly to this mindset… there’s a huge problem forming. You’re limiting the potential for your business to keep growing.
The purpose of contract workers
When it comes down to it, contract workers are an incredible asset to an understaffed, overworked team.
The extra help they provide when you’re facing a busy period (or have tight deadlines coming up) is going to grant you a whole new level of business agility.
Rather than turning away opportunities simply because you don’t have the manpower to fulfil your promises, contract workers are a reliable source of talent.
The negatives of avoiding contract workers
It’s understandable that many business owners would much prefer to onboard another employee over enlisting the help of contract workers.
However, in complex recruitment environments like those dominating technology, marketing, digital and data (Source: BBC), this isn’t always an option.
Either you don’t have the budget required to bring on another person full-time, or you will find yourself struggling for months until a new hire is made.
It’s not ideal, and this “interim” can result in harrowing consequences for your existing team. They’ll be forced to step up and work overtime to make up for the talent gap, increasing stress levels and experiencing burnout.
5 reasons to use contract workers
It’s clear, then, that you should never delay when your team needs extra support (Source: Small Business).
Contract workers are the ideal solution for a business wanting to consistently produce high-quality output, regardless of staff availability.
1. Experience
When you select a contract worker that has a background in your industry, you don’t just get a person. You get the knowledge they’ve developed over the years - all of which they’ll be eager to share with your team. They’ll work dutifully to produce creative and innovative solutions to your problems and meet your business goals.
2. Self-motivation
Due to the nature of their role, contract workers have a reputation to uphold. They're fiercely aware that if they don’t deliver on their promises, they could receive bad feedback - which will directly harm their future ability to take on more jobs. As such, they’ll go above and beyond to be the perfect employee you need.
3. Clear expectations
Contrary to popular belief, contract workers aren’t changing their schedule day by day. When you first onboard a contractor, you’ll be able to work out an agreement that is ideal for you both, outlining the targets you’d like them to meet. They’ll then communicate the payment they expect from you, allowing you to budget accordingly.
4. Employee support
There’s no way around it. Both skill and talent shortages can devastate a team (Source: The Guardian), disrupting employee wellbeing and causing sick days across your organisation. When you onboard contract workers during busy periods, you can combat the effects of “biting off more than you can chew” to impress your clients and maintain your brand reputation.
5. Diversity
Bringing in additional workers, even temporarily, can have a great effect on your team. Contract workers come from all backgrounds and their opinions and beliefs can encourage innovation and problem-solving. From there, productivity will increase until you have an efficient workplace where everyone is working in harmony. Doesn’t that sound ideal?
The benefits of being a contractor
It’s strange that there seems to be such an abundance of contract workers, yet so few employees.
This is because of the freedom and flexibility being a freelancer offers, where an individual can:
Set their preferred hours
Work from a location that suits them
Control their rates
Choose who they’d like to work with
When problems arise and a contract worker doesn’t feel respected or appreciated, they can hand in their notice and leave without a fuss.
This completely transforms the power balance that usually exists between an employer and their employee, and is much preferred by many.
To make the most of your contractors and retain their interest in working with you again, be sure to recognise the hard work they’ve done and accommodate their requests.
How to recognise the need for contractors
We have a few questions for you…
Have you got tight deadlines coming up?
Is there an uncomfortably long average time-to-fill in your industry?
Are your employees feeling overworked?
Do you have specific skill gaps that absolutely need to be covered?
If your answer is “yes” to any of these questions (or multiple), it’s time to start looking into contract workers.
Rather than trusting the market to provide the reliable candidate you need, partner with Forward Role and take advantage of our extensive network.
Each of our contract workers is fully-vetted and will be selected according to your unique requirements. Before you know it, your organisation will be back on track with meeting its goals.
To find out more about how FR Contract can support your business in finding talent for short - term projects, or if you're a Contractor looking for your next role, visit our website for more details.
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