Even though we live in a world where everything around us has become hi-tech, we must not ignore the human aspect of the business. It is vital to have a strong team of people working for you if you aspire to build and expand your business. This means that the team you assemble should back your vision, is on the same page as you and build a better and stronger future for your business.
Businesses or recruiting agencies today have 2 kinds of people working for them – employees and contractors. While employees are the ones who work directly for you and you have a formal authority over them, contractors are freelancers who you don’t have a formal authority over. It is already a difficult task to retain your talent and when you want to retain your contractors, you must make sure your intentions are communicated to them through your words and actions.
Here are a few tips employers including recruiting agencies could use to retain the contractors and even try to convert them into employees.
- Hire the right candidates: It all starts with hiring the right contractors that help towards the overall productivity of your company. When you hire the right people, they will help make your company flourish and you would want to keep them working for you. Each candidate has some strengths and weaknesses. It is your job as an employer to understand how that person’s strengths would be a good fit into your organization and its culture. That decision can help you hire the right candidate.
- Set the guidelines and communicate them: When you have contractors working for you, it is important for you to convey what is expected of them. You could get your expectations across either via an email or a printed brochure. This makes the initial awkwardness (if there is any) fade away between a contractor and the employer.
- Get an idea on Contractor Expectations: It is nice when you talk to your contractors about what they expect from the project and experience. The conversation should take place once they are hired and continue throughout their time with the company. This helps the employers get an idea on the contractor’s long term goals – whether he wants to be working on his own or he wants to settle down with a company and enjoy the perks of being a full-time employee. Different things motivate different people. Some people may like the freedom and money that comes with being a contractor whereas some others may like the feeling of being settled in one job and spend more time with their loved ones.
- Be welcoming and build a good rapport: Even though it is true that the time a contractor spends in a company is very limited and project-bound, you should not keep the relationship purely transactional. It is nice to make the contractors feel welcome and make him feel part of a team. Ask questions, get to know the contractor as a person, ask about his likes/dislikes, invite him to important meetings and understand how he would fit into the company culture if you decide to offer him employment in the future.
- Be open and be flexible: Contractors are self-motivated and prefer working on their own. Be flexible with their working patterns and schedules. It is best not to micromanage them. Asking them for results repeatedly can spoil your relations with them. Leave them alone but be in touch with them and they will deliver. If you think there is an issue that needs to be sorted, talk to them and give them feedback. Tell them what you think of their work. Also, be open and ask for feedback from their side. This will help in strengthening your relationship with them and improve performance.
In this global age where switching jobs and worker turnover has become a norm, these tips may help companies including the recruiting agencies retain their contractors and even convert them into full-time employees.