Before the pandemic, experts predicted that by 2025, roughly 70% of the world’s workforce would work remotely at least a few days a month.
Fast-forward to the present, and the pandemic has, if anything, accelerated this shift to external workforce models. Companies are not only allowing full-time employees to work remotely, but they are also relying increasingly on freelancers.
Currently, more than 90% of companies rely on freelance workers and plan to increase their use.
Have you yet to start leveraging the benefits of an external workforce?
If so, it’s time you got on board with the gig economy and start using it to your advantage. Continue reading to find out the top advantages that a flexible workforce can bring you.
1. Easier “Hiring”
One of the benefits of developing an external workforce is an easier “hiring” process. Yes, you will need to invest time into sourcing the right freelancers and contractors for the job. However, once you have pinpointed which contractors you want to use, the startup process is minimal.
Traditional employees typically require lengthy onboarding and orientation processes that can last for months. Besides taking time, regular onboarding processes also have certain costs associated with them, such as training.
With an independent contractor, you won’t need to worry about any of these steps. You won’t need to introduce them to your entire floor or organize team building or social events to integrate them into your company.
You also won’t need to worry about payroll admin, workstations, name tags, company email addresses, etc.
2. High-Quality Outcomes and Faster Turnaround Times
Besides being easier to hire, independent contractors and freelancers often deliver high-quality outcomes on faster turnaround times.
Freelancers and contractors are typically highly self-motivated. They are also more likely to push to complete a project, even if it means working longer hours to get it done on time.
Freelancers know that their reputation depends on the success of each project. Because they aren’t guaranteed to receive more work from you, they are also usually more motivated to excel at each project, as this might increase the likelihood of keeping you as an ongoing client.
Of course, there are contractors out there who do not strive to exceed expectations and might deliver a sub-par project to you. However, if this happens, you can easily move into a different freelancer. You don’t need to go through an involved employee termination process.
What’s more, you can also reduce the chance of hiring a sub-standard contractor by utilizing a good contractor management system or FMS.
3. Access to Top Talent and Niche Skills
According to research, the talent gap in North America has tripled over the last decade, leaving 69% of organizations struggling to fill positions.
If you’re having a hard time finding the right talent, you might want to look into building an external workforce. Utilizing external contractors and freelancers allows you to tap into a rapidly growing talent pool.
In some cases, you might need or want to find someone who you can employ full-time. If this is the case, a freelance contractor can still help you bridge the gap until you can find a permanent employee for the role.
4. Easier Scaling
Another valuable advantage of building up a strong external workforce is easier scaling.
Scaling can be incredibly challenging, especially on a human resources front. Inevitably, there is a period where there’s too much work for your current teams, but not quite enough to warrant additional employees.
These in-between phases can be very awkward, especially if budgets are tight.
On the other hand, if scaling is happening quickly, it might not be budget that’s an issue, but rather time. You simply might not have much time to find, hire, onboard, and train new employees during periods of fast growth.
This is a time when an external workforce can really shine. Finding new external contractors is quick and simple. Keeping track of their work is also simple if you utilize a comprehensive contractor management solution.
With an external workforce in your corner, you can take on more and scale and pivot to meet demand because you know you can tap into extra manpower at the drop of a hat.
5. Enhanced Agility
Along with easier scaling, building an external workforce will also allow you enhanced agility. If you need to scale back operations or pivot to serve new needs, you can do this quickly and seamlessly if you have access to an on-demand external workforce.
In today’s age, agility is becoming a huge factor of success and can often be the make or break for business survival and profitability.
6. Access to New, Innovative Ideas
Sometimes, the longer people stay within an organization, the more difficult it is for them to arrive at new, innovative ideas.
If you have an external workforce on hand, you might be surprised at how much they can bring to the table in terms of fresh insights and outside perspectives. Because independent contractors typically work with various businesses, they might be able to cross-pollinate ideas from one industry or organization to another and suggest solutions that internal employees might not think of.
7. Reduced Human Capital Costs
Another attractive benefit of building an external workforce is that you can start saving money through reduced human capital costs.
The more full-time employees you have, the higher your human capital costs will be.
Although independent contractor services can seem more expensive on the surface, they won’t trigger payroll taxes or cost you employee benefits or overheads.
8. Reduced Risk
Last but not least, an external workforce also comes with reduced risk. If you’re unhappy with a contractor’s work or simply don’t require their services anymore, terminating any existing agreements is usually very simple.
On the other hand, terminating an in-house employee can be an involved and lengthy process.
Besides this, you also aren’t liable for the personal safety of external contractors.
Are You Looking to Build Your External Workforce?
Having an external workforce at your fingertips has a host of advantages. From reduced risks and overheads to enhanced agility and access to talent, there really isn’t any reason not to start building an external and flexible workforce.
Worried about how to find and manage external talent? JobBliss is your solution.
Our advanced contractor management system allows you to quickly find and manage top-quality talent for all your workforce needs through both an internal private database and marketplace. JobBliss gives your hiring managers access to approved resources and allows centralized access to projects and contractors into one easy-to-use dashboard.
You can achieve a lower cost of repeat searching and onboarding, as well as access to more unknown talent across your organization.
JobBliss also gives hiring managers forecasting abilities which allows you to see trends and prepare ahead of time for increased workforce needs.
Less siloing, more control, and more project insights.
Interested to see how JobBliss works? Sign up for a free demo today.
