When you think about the gig economy, you think Instacart. Uber. You don’t necessarily imagine a person who can have a transformative impact on the operations at your business. But companies all over the world are using freelancers to increase productivity and cut costs.
The right freelancer will be highly skilled and ready to start working at the drop of a hat. In this article, we take a look at what qualities to look for in a freelancer and discuss how and why you can use them to improve your business operations.
Overview
Before we get too deep in the weeds here, it’s important to understand that many people working freelance are just as skilled as your full-time employees. Where once freelance work may have experienced a small amount of stigma— the suggestion being that the professional only worked that way because they couldn’t land a full-time job— things are now different.
Most freelancers simply value the flexibility they get from being self-employed. Competent freelancing professionals can earn just as much as they would have as a full-time employee (some even earn more) and they benefit from the ability to work from home and set their own schedule.
It is important to approach your freelancer hires with the same formality that you would a regular hire. There are certain exceptions to this. For example, you can skip onboarding— why put in the time and money for someone who will only be around a few months anyway? And you also don’t necessarily need to worry as much about the softer benefits of employment. Company culture, team building, etc. don’t always apply as much for freelancers.
Of course, you should make them feel welcome, but your primary job is to give them the resources they need to work, and then stay out of their way.
The formality of the hiring process should come with how you verify their skills. While the freelancer may not have a former full-time employer, they will have a work history that you should pay careful attention to.
Ask for references, and be sure to follow up with them. A legitimate freelancer will be all too pleased to provide you with a detailed account of their previous work history. For the sake of team cohesiveness and general workplace safety, you do still want to do your due diligence and make sure that this person is legitimate.
Remember, your goal isn’t just to find someone who is good. It’s to find someone who will be able to work with great autonomy to complete projects on your timeline.
Freelancers often have their own websites, but can also be found on a wide variety of freelancer platforms (Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, etc.). The platforms typically charge fees but add safety to the transaction, ensuring that you get the services that you pay for.
So, that’s a rough idea of how you can hire a freelancer. But the question of why still remains. What makes hiring someone on a temporary basis better than establishing a long-term relationship?
Below, we analyze how freelancers, or members of the “gig economy,” are uniquely positioned to help your business thrive.
Freelancers Cost (a lot) Less
You may find that the freelancer you hire charges a bit more on a day-to-day basis than you are paying your full-time staff. While that may be off-putting to some employers, it’s important to consider the big picture.
While a skilled freelancer will command a high fee, it’s a short-term proposition. You aren’t paying their health insurance, retirement, sick leave, etc. You aren’t paying for onboarding. When you find a trustworthy professional all of your expenses will be straightforward and transparent.
They are Great as Pinch Hitters
Freelancers are frequently brought in for situations in which your usual team can’t handle the scope of a new project. Say you’re a digital marketing firm that just landed a big account. It’s a bit of a tricky situation.
On the one hand, you know that your current team can’t handle this client’s needs. On the other hand, the time and expense of bringing on a new person just to handle this account would negate any profit, and eventually leave you overstaffed. After all, you aren’t usually this busy.
Do you let the opportunity pass you by? No! Not when there are so many skilled freelancers out there to help you pick up some of the slack.
Making smart gig-economy hires can be a great way to handle scalability as a growing business. As you begin to get new accounts/clients/sales/whatever it can be hard to figure out how much you should grow internally.
You need enough people to be able to deliver the same level of service that made you successful in the first place. On the other hand, if you over hire, you may actively lose money.
Freelancers strike the perfect balance between skill and value, allowing you to take on more business without swelling to an impossibly large scale.
They Are Great for Filling Skill Gaps
There are some situations where you need to access a specific talent for a short period of time. The idea of creating a short-term position crosses your mind, but the amount of effort that would require is a little staggering.
To do that, you would need to punch up a job advertisement and field applications from dozens of people, whose credentials all read approximately the same. You would then need to train and onboard them, introduce them to the team, and so on.
Freelancers are usually much more turnkey than that. You can go directly to them if you would like, skipping the job listing process entirely. Once hired, they should know approximately what to do without any prolonged training.
Once the project is complete, you part ways amicably and establish a valuable new relationship that you can tap into as needed. That’s another thing about freelancers: while they come in only temporarily, you can use them on an ongoing basis to fill in whenever you need a little extra help. The more freelancer relationships you nurture and accumulate, the easier it will be to take on any project that might come your way. Look at it as another form of networking.
HR Future Staff Writer
