With COVID-19 threatening our traditional views of the workplace and employment, restructuring your organization’s operations can be challenging. One idea may have popped into your mind: why not hire independent contractors or freelancers to work with you on projects?
It sounds like a great idea, but you may have your reservations, and understandably so. Maybe you don’t have prior exposure to their working style, and you aren’t even sure if they can produce quality work. In addition to these, you don’t know if they can work well with your existing team, either.
These concerns are valid, but hiring freelancers offers numerous benefits for your business. Let us walk you through the reasons why you should take the chance.
Why Hiring Freelancers Is Good for Business
Your business actually has much to gain from working with freelancers. Here are the biggest reasons to onboard a freelancer for your latest projects.
- It saves money.
Cost savings are likely the most significant cause for why businesses opt to get freelancers on board. Freelancers are often project-based, which means you only hire them at certain times to do a specific set of tasks and nothing more. You just pay for their services when you need them, which you can even accomplish remotely through online payment providers.
Unlike full-time staff, you don’t have to pay for various benefits for freelancers, such as insurance, health benefits, and paid leaves. Your organization is also not obligated to pay for the training and seminars they take part in.
- It increases your talent pool.
Choosing to work with a freelancer dramatically increases your options. You can even work with different individuals for different projects if you determine that another person’s expertise is more appropriate for another project.
When you choose freelancers, the larger group of people you are exposed to lets you look for the person with the skills and specializations most suitable for the job. You don’t have to settle for just anyone free to do the work. Many hiring websites also let you filter through registered freelancers to find the best-reviewed and well-recommended candidates.
- Neither party is required to commit long term.
Hiring full-time employees means commitment. There are mutual expectations for the parties involved. They expect to have a stable job and income for the long term, and you expect consistently good work performance in the duration that they are a part of your organization.
Freelancers, on the other hand, are only a part of your project for a certain period. You assign them specific tasks, then their commitments with your company conclude once they fulfill their responsibilities. This allows you to have more flexibility and diversity with the people you hire.
- You gain third-person insight into your projects.
One great benefit that many companies do not realize they gain from hiring a freelancer is that they offer a new perspective to your projects. There are times when you hit a wall when brainstorming for a new account because your team is stuck in an echo chamber. Freelancers do not have this limitation.
Since they do not work closely with your team every day, they can offer ways to tackle tasks and problems that your team may not have considered before. These fresh ideas can give your project a push in the right direction.
But Expect These Challenges
Still, working with someone outside your usual team will present its own challenges that you should prepare for.
- Finding the right person will take time.
While hiring freelancers means you have more opportunities to find the best talents across borders, it also means having to work through many more names to find the right person. This requires extra patience and discernment on your end to whittle down candidates until you find the best fit.
- Both of you will need to set clear expectations.
Your team is used to working according to an established routine. The freelancer you hire may not use the same methods for the same projects. Without proper communication, this could mean multiple revisions and missed deadlines.
Be upfront about what you expect them to do and how you expect them to do it. Discuss your terms with them and adjust where appropriate to reach an agreeable workflow for both parties.
Learn to Adapt
Sometimes, it is your organization’s own rigidity to its traditions that keep your team from growing professionally or creatively. Onboarding freelancers offers you opportunities to come out of your comfort zones and find new and better ways of pursuing your goals. Remember that you can only succeed by adapting to and progressing with the times.