Contingent workers help organizations, like yours, easily scale their businesses up and down based on current projects and demand. They also bring specialized skills and expertise that may be needed for specific projects, which fall outside the experience and knowledge of your team of employees.
A business model that utilizes the contingent workforce can lead to cost savings, increased business flexibility, a faster hiring process and access to a greater pool of talent.
But there are also some downfalls to contingent workers that, if not properly managed, can cause invisible issues to impact a company’s bottom line. To help avoid these situations, here are five tips to help you better manage your contingent workforce.
Even though you use contingent workers, chances are you have some permanent employees you are also managing. If you do, it’s incredibly important for you to monitor the effect that contingent workers are having on your employees’ workplace relationships and productivity.
Make sure to create a culture that is inclusive to both employees and contingent workers. When doing this, you need to make sure your organization isn’t accidentally treating contingent workers as employees. Otherwise there’s a chance that you might be misclassifying your contingent workers.
When you are managing a team of people, strong communication between team members is critical. This is especially true for teams that include contingent workers, especially if those contingent workers have the luxury of being able to work from where they want and at the times they want (as many independent contractors, consultants and freelancers can).
If you hire contingent workers outside of your office, communication channels (like Zoom or Slack) can be an effective way to help team members connect and collaborate on projects together.
When managing your team and a new project, it can be easy to forget that there’s a difference between employees and contractors. While you want to do your best to treat everyone equally, you need to remember that there can be business consequences if you start treating contingent workers like employees.
These consequences could range from something as frustrating as a contingent worker dropping out mid-project, to having to pay unpaid taxes and fines to your local government.
When managing a contingent workforce, lean on the skills of both your HR and procurement teams. Your Human Resources (HR) Team is specialized in managing people and they can ensure a seamless onboarding process and smooth experience for your contingent workers.
Meanwhile, your procurement team has skills and experience in procuring assets that bring ROI to your company. Lean on them, especially if they have contingent expertise, to ensure all contingent workers are properly classified as such and to ensure your contingent workforce management program is bringing ROI to your business.
Managed services providers (MSPs) are an outsourced contingent workforce management solution that helps your company manage freelancers, independent contractors and consultants. While contingent workforces can be managed in-house, it can be complex and time consuming.
By working with a third-party that specializes in this area, you can focus on your business and ensure that your contingent workforce management program is driving true value to your organization.
For more information on managing a contingent workforce and how an MSP can help your business, contact us today.
