Using freelancers, interims and consultants
Today there
are one million freelancers, interims and consultants working in the UK and
they include many of the country's most experienced and knowledgeable workers -
it's a trend that is set to grow. So when should you turn to a freelancer and
tap into their talent?
By Emma
Brierley, chief executive of Xchangteam Group
You need specialist skills
Hiring
freelance consultants is the most effective way to minimise fixed payroll costs
while optimising access to specialist skills as and when they are required.
Your business is growing
During
periods of rapid expansion, when your business needs to recruit quickly,
bringing in freelance professionals makes good sense. Not only can they master
the brief with minimum delay, but they need minimal management to execute it.
Using
freelance consultants gives businesses the flexibility to manage the peaks and
troughs until you achieve the balance between workflow and headcount.
The
freelance option is tried and tested among organisations that require
experienced specialists to guide them through a period of change, then select
the permanent employees who will succeed them once the change programme is
complete.
To try before you buy
There are
plenty of freelance consultants who are not in the market for a permanent
job. On the other hand, there are some
who use freelance consulting to ‘test drive' a mix of working environments
before committing to a permanent position with the one that suits best.
It works both
ways. For businesses, ‘trying before you buy' is the accepted way of selecting
permanent staff. Indeed, hiring people on a freelance basis can open the door
to establishing a more permanent relationship with them if that's what both
parties wants.
Hiring
someone as a freelance consultant also reduces the risk of employing someone
unsuitable.
Require extended cover?
In any
organisation, staffing levels can be significantly reduced when permanent
employees take maternity leave, sick leave, study leave, holidays and so on. Some
absences are more predictable and finite than others which make planning
relatively straightforward.
But even
the most rigorous schedulers cannot always conjure up the right people with the
right skills at the right time. By turning to freelancers only to provide staff
cover, you could be pleasantly surprised by the added value that good
freelancers bring with them.
Handle peaks and troughs
Peaks and
troughs have long been a feature of working life for many. In seasonal sectors,
like agriculture, hospitality and tourism they are the rule rather than the
exception. But globalisation has compressed the space between them and made
them deeper, steeper and more treacherous to navigate. Freelance consultants
bring the skills, flexibility and cost-efficiencies required to minimise the
resulting turbulence.
When you are facing a skills shortage
The
scarcity of skills in the workforce is endemic in some sectors and is set to
get worse across many others. For some businesses, hiring freelancers offers a
reliable and cost-effective route to the specialised skills they require. Other businesses, such as the IT sector,
simply have no choice but to hire freelance consultants.
Increasing your permanent headcount
For many
managers, the struggle to operate efficiently without increasing their
permanent headcount has become a fact of working life. Hiring freelance
consultants to meet this challenge has become equally commonplace. With
pressure on staffing budgets unlikely to ease, the use of freelancers is likely
to increase. Not only do they deliver specific skills cost-effectively, but in
many cases they can be ‘on the job' faster than a permanent employee.
New ideas and approaches
Innovation
is the currency of the future, and freelance consultants can act as an indispensable
source of creative energy and new ideas.
Their objectivity can also be very useful when it comes to refreshing
your business with new approaches and fresh perspectives.
Crisis management
Unsurprisingly,
it is common practice for organisations to involve freelance consultants in
times of crisis. Of course, crises can strike any part of an organisation,
confounding even the most meticulous prevention systems.
Whatever
their symptoms, tackling the causes inevitably demands a high level of
specialist expertise at short notice for a finite period. The freelance option
gives businesses the flexibility to fulfil all these requirements with absolute
precision.
And the
freelancers can be released once the problem is resolved, the post-mortem over
and the lessons listed and learned.
And, when
NOT to hire a freelancer:
- Your business levels, and
therefore your staffing levels, are stable and predictable
- You need continuity and control
at all times
- You need to keep corporate
intellectual property in-house
- You can easily train staff to
undertake ongoing routine work or you have to invest in a High level of
training over a long period of time to work efficiently
- You already have a reliable
supply of people with the skills you require
Emma
Brierley is founder of specialist people resourcing company, Xchangeteam Group,
www.xchangeteam.com. Her book
Talent on Tap: Getting the best from freelancers, interims and consultants was
published earlier in the year by the CIPD.
