If you run a business or manage a team in the Northeast, there are tons of benefits to hiring a contractor. Not only will you save money that you would have spent on hiring a full-time staff member, but you’ll also enjoy the support of an experienced, talented contractor with a wealth of knowledge to draw on.
You’ll be in good company, too. Over half of UK businesses are planning to hire more contractors than permanent staff going forward.
For a successful hiring experience, follow the six steps below.
-
Establish Your Needs
Being specific about your needs will help you find the right candidate for your organisation. Establish details such as the job title, what tasks they’ll be carrying out, who they’ll report to and how long the job will last. That way, your candidates will know exactly what they’re applying for at the outset.
-
Use Job Boards and Third-Party Sites
Once you’ve established what type of candidate you’re looking for, you’ll need a way to find them. That’s where job boards and third-party sites come in.
Sites like qualitycontracts.co.uk can connect you with talented contractors that match your requirements without the need for you to trawl the web to find somebody suitable.
-
Choose Criteria
Once you’ve advertised the role, you can expect applications to come flooding in. But before you select the best fit for your company, establish your criteria. What skills are you looking for? What experience does your dream candidate have? How will you assess their suitability for the role? Bear these criteria in mind when shortlisting candidates.
-
Ask the Right Questions
If you decide to adopt an interview process to assess which candidate is best suited to the role, make sure you think through your questions carefully.
Think about the tasks you’ll need them to perform and the skill set they should have, and create your questions with these in mind.
-
Give Your Contractor Everything They Need
Companies often expect contractors to come into their organisation and hit the ground running, which is typically the case. But to get the most out of your relationship with the contractors, give them everything they’ll need to successfully complete their project from the outset.
Inform them which members of the team perform which tasks so they know who to approach with questions, and ask whether they need any resources to be able to produce results. These resources may be pieces of equipment, data, or support from colleagues – either way, providing them quickly will set your contractor up for success.
-
Solidify Your Expectations
One of the most common reasons why projects fail is poor communication and failure to properly set out your expectations. Let the contractor hire know exactly what you expect from them in terms of workload and deadlines.
If you plan on measuring their success using particular metrics or KPIs, make them clear from the get-go so the contractor can know exactly what they’re aiming for and how to measure their progress.