The ways businesses operate today are vastly different from past years. Thanks to a combination of tighter margins, increased competition and a rapidly changing work culture, many businesses are turning to freelancers as an alternative to full-time employees.
However, just because a freelancer isn't part of your permanent, full-time team, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put plenty of thought into the hiring process. In order to effectively utilise the freelance model, there are several important considerations you'll need to take into account before hiring your first freelancer. Keep reading to learn what these considerations are.
Legal Considerations
Before you start hiring freelancers, it’s important to take stock of all the relevant legal considerations. You first want to make sure that your business is protected by public liability cover. While your freelancers aren’t permanent employees, the work they do may still be under your company’s liability, especially if they’re performing this work onsite or attending events on your behalf. A suitable insurance plan protects you in case your work causes injury or damage to other parties.
There are also important tax considerations to be aware of when hiring freelancers. For instance, some freelancers may be eligible for superannuation, even if they’re technically operating as sole traders and have ABNs. The ATO has a tool that can help you determine whether or not you need to pay super to a contractor.
Some other important legal issues to think about before implementing a freelance model include the assignment of intellectual property to your business for work done on a freelance basis, drafting a non-disclosure agreement if necessary and writing up a legally binding services agreement. Make sure to consult with legal professionals, accountants and your HR department if you want to work with freelancers.
Scope of Work
Before deciding to work with freelancers, it’s important to take stock of the skills and expertise you have internally. Ideally, independent contractors should be hired to plug any skill gaps you may have in your team or complete tasks that your business simply doesn’t have the capacity to complete.
Digital marketing is an area that many businesses partly delegate to freelancers. The exact type of marketing tasks that you outsource should depend on what your team needs. For example, if you have a very small SEO team, you can consider outsourcing some content writing to freelancers. On the other hand, if your brand manager is doubling as a social media manager, consider hiring freelancers to write post copy or create visuals.
Marketing isn’t the only thing you can outsource to freelancers. Web development, graphic design and sales are all examples of tasks that independent contractors can perform for you if needed. You might also want to go after a new contract, in which case, a freelance bid writer will mean you can harness an expert for the best pitch without having to commit to a full-time employee. Even professionals in a specialist field, like solicitors, can be hired on a contractual basis to help you pursue a venture that might have complicated laws and permissions involved.
Sit down and figure out where your business needs help before you post job listings for independent contractors.
Culture Fit
A culture can make or break a company, so it’s important to build one that promotes individual and collective growth, fairness and teamwork. Bringing in the right people is the key to creating this sort of culture, and this applies both to full-time employees and freelancers.
Although freelancers don’t typically work on-site, they can still affect your business’s culture through your in-house employees’ interactions with them. One way to gauge whether or not a freelancer shares your business’s values is to do a quick face-to-face interview prior to hiring them. Another is simply to read their application documents carefully and gauge their personalities through your communications with them.
Freelancers with a strong work ethic and a willingness to learn can strengthen your business culture. Conversely, contractors who are a less-than-ideal fit can erode this culture and even negatively impact the rest of your team. So, choose who you work with wisely, even if it is just on a contractual basis.
You can also consider inviting your freelancer to work on-site with your employees if they wish. More people in the office means more people contributing to your company culture, so you can make use of your contractors to help elevate your culture.
Practical Experience
When businesses look to fill a role, the number one factor they look for is typically experience. This is true whether the role in question is full-time or contractual. Previous work experience demonstrates that a particular freelancer knows how to perform a specific task and won’t require lots of training before they start providing value to your company. This is an important consideration, as many businesses simply don’t have the time or resources to invest in extensive training for freelancers.
It's also important to remember that experience doesn't always have to come in the form of a traditional 9-5 job. Many people who are looking for freelance work are students, those who have been out of work for a while and people with careers in other fields looking to make some extra money. Some forms of work experience that can demonstrate a freelancer’s ability include virtual work, internships and other freelance positions. Try to keep an open mind when sifting through potential candidates, and you're sure to find contractors who can add plenty of value to your business.
Key Takeaways
Working with freelancers offers many benefits to companies looking to support their workforce without committing to hiring more full-time employees, including flexibility, cost-effectiveness and expertise. However, if you want to get the most value out of a freelance working engagement, you need to go about the hiring process in the right way.
In this piece, we've covered some of the most important considerations to take into account when hiring freelancers. Incorporate them into your hiring process today to bolster your ranks and get more work done.
