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Engaging Freelance employees and creating space for them in your regular employee hierarchy

ojesvi singh
ojesvi singh
Create: Oct 05,2021



Offices are now functioning at full capacity with proper structures for facilitating remote working and operating the workplaces at partial or full capacity. Yet, there has been a surge in demand for freelance workers too, with many companies embracing the services of freelancers as a means of cost cutting. Freelancers come with niche skillsets that can augment the organisation processes and give much needed impetus and fresh perspective in a company that is driven mostly by the same set of people. Regardless of the vertical, engaging with freelancers requires careful planning and strategy on the part of the acquisition team. 

Understanding the dynamics of full-time and part-time resource

The freelancers will be working closely with full time resource persons and as contract resources they cannot be expected to be aligned to the company culture. This could cause friction between the team members and lead to insecurities regarding their role among full-time employees. Hence, the onus of creating a secure environment with clear demarcation of scope of authority and role must be made by the management.

Also, when a new employee enters a company, they go through a period of formal training whereas with freelancers the engagement period is so short that there is no need for a training period. The transaction is very straightforward. Hence, a proper mechanism must be designed to ensure that the engagement happens in a neutral platform where everyone can learn and grow together while working on a successful partnership.

Attracting and Engaging Freelancers

Niche workers with in-demand skillsets have multiple employment opportunities, so the onus falls on the organisation to make itself attractive to qualified talent. The freelance market is an open market and here competition reigns just as much amongst organisations as it does among the freelancers seeking employment opportunities. Freelance job portals assign freelancer ratings for organisations just as they assign client ratings for freelancers. 

One of the primary things that freelancers seek is appreciation for their work not only at the organisation level, but also by permanent employees of the organisations with whom they directly interact with. Secondly, they expect that the organisation and its people will trust them deliver the best results and have faith in their expertise and professionalism. Rather than micromanaging their time, it would be better to reward freelancers with flexibility, time, and resources they may need to accomplish their work. With these factors accounted for while designing the engagement model and writing the contract, it will be easier to achieve the project deliverables on time within mutually agreed upon budget.

The nature of freelance work is appealing to companies seeking short-term, risk averse and cost-effective human resource solutions to mitigate the risks arising from uncertain economic environment that hovers over us post-pandemic. That is why it has become pertinent for employers to find a neutral ground to ensure that the freelance and permanent employees can collaborate.

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ojesvi singh
ojesvi singh
Create : Oct 05,2021

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