Not all marketing projects and tasks require hiring a full-time employee. Different clients and projects may also require different skill sets and approaches. Therefore, hiring a full-time employee that specializes in a single marketing area does not cut it.
If you are running an in-house marketing team or a digital marketing agency, hiring a contingent workforce may be the right option for you.
A contingent workforce is a talent pool consisting of freelancers and independent contractors. Since they are not your full-time employees, they are not on your company’s payroll. You can hire them either directly or via a staffing agency.
This article teaches you how to hire and manage contingent workers.
The Benefits of Hiring Contingent Employees
The gig economy is crucial to remaining profitable in the new normal. Namely, when hiring full-time employees, your company is responsible for providing benefits, such as health insurance, paid time off, sick leave, etc. When hiring a contingent workforce, you can avoid administrative costs associated with hiring full-time staff.
Flexibility is another advantage of hiring contingent marketers. They have the skills and experience needed to execute a wide range of projects fast and efficiently. You can hire them on an on-demand basis and terminate their employment once you meet the deadlines.
Know the Types of Contingent Employees
There are several contingent worker categories you should keep in mind. Here are some of them:
Temporary Workers
Just like their mere name says, temporary workers are hired for limited periods. You hire them for specific business requirements.
They usually replace employees on sick leave and fill performance gaps during the holidays and busy production periods. Fixed-term employees provide you with the flexibility and experience you need to grow.
A period of temporary employment should not exceed one year and needs to have a specified date.
Consultants
Consultants are an essential addition to marketing teams. You hire them on a project basis to help you acquire missing skills and expertise to complete the project. They will work with your in-house team to help them build, implement, and execute their marketing plan.
A consultant helps your business set clear goals and develop a marketing message that resonates with your audiences.
Managed Services
Managed marketing services help your business increase its throughput and provide operational continuity. A third-party marketing company creates a team of two or more people accountable for achieving the predefined KPIs.
Outsourcing your marketing efforts to third-party professionals benefits your business in multiple ways. They have the experience, knowledge, and tools needed to meet project goals on time.
Comply with your Country’s Legislative Framework
In a recent article, the professionals behind CXC Global in Europe warn companies about the legal challenges to the gig economy. CXC explains that employment legislation in the UK and other European countries has not caught up with the rapid growth of the gig economy.
One such example is Deliveroo that classified its drivers as self-employed. The Amsterdam Court of Appeal ruled against the company, meaning their drivers can now receive minimum wage, holiday pay, and pension.
Employee misclassification and the lack of engagement may result in penalties and reputational risks. To avoid that, consider outsourcing contingent workforce management to agencies.
Align your Contingent Workforce Plan with your Marketing Strategy
Before you hire contingent workers for your marketing team, you need to analyze its current performance.
Reassess your Marketing Goals
Start by reviewing your current marketing goals and strategies. Also, analyze your key performance indicators (KPIs) and the marketing metrics you use to measure marketing success.
Build a Skills Assessment List
Once set and review your marketing goals, it is time to make a skills assessment list. It should specify the number of people needed for each stage of the project, time frame estimates, and the skills required.
Creating a skills assessment list may be daunting, but it is worth the effort. It helps you build a strategic contingent workforce plan and meet your marketing needs on time.
Review your Marketing Budget
A marketing budget determines how much you can allocate to marketing over a specific period, such as a month, quarter, or year. Before hiring contingent workers, the goal is to consider all costs associated with your business, such as hiring costs, marketing tools, third-party agencies, website maintenance expenses, and so forth.
Explore the budgets that have already been allotted to freelance workers, independent consultants, or marketing agencies. Consider any unexpected expenses and cross-charges you may need to cover when outsourcing marketing.
Only by reviewing your marketing budget can you allocate your resources to the right places and understand how much you can spend on your contingent workers.
Manage your Contingent Workforce and Encourage Team Diversity
Whether your contingent workforce works onsite or remotely, you need to manage them effectively. Invest in cloud-based team collaboration and project management tools that will facilitate their communication with your full-time marketers and provide real-time access to project data.
Also, making independent workers more included should remain a priority for your organization. Here are a few D&I tactics to apply to your contingent workforce program:
- Make your D&I program accessible to contingent workers.
- Establish a policy that provides contingent workers with training and participation in company events.
- Avoid any visual identification that makes continent workers stand out.
- Initiate open communication between continent workers and company managers.
If you lack the strategy and tools for managing a remote workforce, consider hiring a contingent workforce management agency to support you.
Team Up with the Right Marketing Workforce Supplier
Identifying, hiring, and onboarding highly qualified contingent workers requires a lot of planning. To simplify the process, consider outsourcing contingent workforce hiring and management to an experienced third-party marketing workforce supplier.
For starters, connect with marketing professionals that have already hired marketing workforce suppliers. Ask them for referrals. When performing research, pay attention to client reviews and testimonials, too.
Also, make sure they have already worked with clients in similar industries and with the same goals and culture. That way, they can assess your needs and provide you with the right contingent workers.
Over to You
Amid the Coronavirus pandemic, hiring independent marketing professionals helps you reduce labor costs and remain profitable.
To hire the right contingent workers, you first need to understand what kind of independent contractors you need, set your budget, and build a solid contingent workforce planning strategy.
If you lack resources and experience in hiring and managing a contingent workforce, hire a trustworthy agency to help you.
