Businesses have been fighting for survival throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As sales and earnings declined in lockstep with the economy during the global health crisis, organizations were forced to discover creative methods to do more with less.
This has necessitated the employment of more contingent employees to satisfy production deadlines and corporate requirements in the field of talent management. It's a strategy that a large number of businesses employ to survive.
However, using this group of workers is not as simple as it seems. This takes extensive preparation to account for the employees' demands and expectations.
Also Read: A New Generation of AI: Robot Nurse
Include Contingent Workers in the Team
Although contingent workers are temporary employees, they are significant assets to your business. That is why you need to treat them like family. This may be difficult if other employees view them as temporary and are hesitant to accept them. Overcoming this obstacle begins with proper onboarding.
Onboard contingent workers, as soon as you know, you will be hiring them for a project or job. By including them early on, you offer them the chance to develop a stronger connection to the project and organization. Additionally, they have time to establish connections with colleagues. To ensure a seamless onboarding process, take the time to enable team member introductions and explain each person's job. Additionally, it may be beneficial to designate mentors inside the organization to teach contingent employees the ropes and incorporate them into the organization.
Apart from onboarding, identify ways for contingent workers to become involved in the business. Include them in workplace social events or relevant training activities to provide them with an opportunity to develop stronger links with colleagues and a sense of belonging. Encourage them to attend company-sponsored networking events or volunteer for any community service projects in which employees are involved.
Make Communication a Priority to Assist With Assimilation
Connecting these employees to the company culture can be challenging at times. Contingent employees "may not feel the same level of commitment to an employer's vision and objectives as a typical employee," write Deloitte's Kelly Monahan and Kerry Reid.
These employees must be seen and heard throughout the organization to combat this. Consistent two-way communication is critical for contingent employees to experience a sense of connection to the brand, the culture, teammates, and projects.
To facilitate communication, businesses should provide access to any internal employee communication platforms, such as an intranet or messaging platform, and ensure that these employees get corporate newsletters. Invite them to meetings pertaining to their individual initiatives as well as those pertaining to the firm as a whole. Encourage them to provide feedback and express their views, ideas, and concerns.
This way, you communicate the corporate culture to contingent employees and ask them to participate in it.
Establish Clearly Defined Expectations on Both Sides
Both the employer and the contingent worker will have expectations about how the working relationship will develop. Expectations should be reasonable and attainable to set your employees up for success. They include salary, deliverables, contract duration, and other advantages. Before signing any contracts, ensure that you have a firm grasp on each of them.
As you create these expectations, take care not to dictate or attempt to manage how contingent personnel accomplish their task. Thus, the nature of the working relationship is altered, and the worker may be regarded as an employee rather than an independent contractor.
That is why it is crucial to have a well-written contract that clearly defines all expectations within the bounds of a legal working relationship between an organization and a contract worker. Additionally, it creates the foundation for a fruitful connection.
Create Growth Opportunities for Contingent Workers
While contingent employees are often employed for their particular talents, they always seek to improve existing abilities and acquire new ones to maximize the value of their services. If you can provide them with development chances, they are more likely to remain loyal to the organization and be accessible for future jobs.
Speak with your contingent staff and learn about their future goals. Utilize this information to find possible future employment prospects with the organization and how you can prepare them for such jobs via learning and development opportunities. While investing in a temporary worker may seem to be a risky choice, it has the potential to pay off in the long term by avoiding the costs associated with recruiting and onboarding new employees.
Additionally, doing so fosters loyalty among contingent employees, who value your encouragement of their development. They may be more eager to take on more work or give novel ideas to help the business develop and succeed.
See also: Google Pixel 6 & 6 Pro Leaked! What we know so far
Utilize the Appropriate Technology to Manage Contingent Workers
As with permanent employees, firms must be able to manage the logistics of contingent workforce employment and monitor their performance. This may be challenging since they must be handled in a manner that "minimizes compliance risk and administrative overhead." That is where the technology may be beneficial.
For instance, whereas permanent employees may clock in and out of work, contingent workers are unlikely to be able to do so legally. Thus, measuring their performance is more about determining their progress toward deliverables than about the amount of time they spend on a project. However, monitoring such information may be somewhat time-consuming if you have to do so regularly for each contract employee.
With the right technology stacks, businesses can more easily handle the intricacies of contingent worker contracts, such as onboarding, work frequency, invoicing, compensation, and performance monitoring. By centralizing this data, a corporation can manage its contingent labour more efficiently and prepare for future demands from this group of employees.
If handled effectively, contingent labour may be a benefit to your business, enabling you not just to survive but flourish in difficult times. That is why it is critical to go above and above to ensure they feel appreciated and involved with the firm. Managing them alongside your permanent personnel will not be simple. Still, with the correct strategy, plan, and tools, you will be able to optimize the value they offer to your organization.
Featured image: Office character vector created by katemangostar - www.freepik.com
Subscribe to Whitepapers.online to learn about new updates and changes made by tech giants that affect health, marketing, business, and other fields. Also, if you like our content, please share on social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, and more.