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Freelancers are now a prominent presence and are frequently sought by recruiters for filling temporary positions that require the services of skilled professionals. In many large companies, there is no account of how many freelancers are working for them as they are hired by a team or departments and once their job is finished, the transaction is complete. Freelancers come with different levels of qualifications and experience. They are independent experts with critical skills that add value to the project. 


Freelancers provide a unique opportunity

Over 90% of organisations depend on freelancers because – 

  • They give access to required expertise
  • Give access to experts who are too expensive to hire full-time or are inaccessible
  • Reduce the start-up time
  • Expose employees to the knowledge of best practices and industry through the freelancer

Combined with the technological advantage, engaging freelancers gives the company access to global talent with a cost advantage. A flexible blended workforce promotes talent quality and HR cannot ignore it. 


HR Support Needed for Strategic freelance hiring

Deloitte and PwC predict that in the future every company will have a large pool of freelancers supporting their business and many companies will have a small group of full-time employees. It will be HR’s responsibility to manage talent and help organisations adapt to the changes. In the current scenario, HR is not very involved and typically leaves the functions of finding and hiring freelancers to individual managers and procurement. It would be lucrative if HR played an external talent management role where it incorporates recruiting and freelancing and helps in developing productive relationships with virtual talent marketplaces. 


Freelance job portals are challenging traditional talent management

Freelance job portals are providing organisations with talent platforms at every level. They help in mapping the business needs by slotting the internal employees and external freelancers, thus helping them create a blended workforce. Some platforms give organisations access to college students for mini freelance roles that help in building a pathway to a career. Unless HR collaborates with these external job sites or develops tools to compete with them, they will face serious external competition for the most strategic roles. 

However, HR plays a big role in the organisation in teaching managers how to work with blended teams, especially one where experienced freelancers are involved. They can provide the organisation with clarity on the freelancers' roles and the scope of their contributions. Mid-level managers often lack skills and tools for managing blended teams that include remote and on-site members. HR can devise strategies to help managers take advantage of a flexible blended workforce and build a strong team.


HR’s evolving role with freelance engagement

The company’s HR will have a big role to play in preparing the organisation to work with a flexible workforce. HR professionals will have to create tools and dedicated systems to set expectations and oversee freelancers. These tools must be deployed by project managers and others who directly supervise the freelancers to track the freelancer’s performance. They will have to train internal teams in engaging with freelancers, assigning tasks, sourcing them, and letting them go when things aren’t working out. 

The HR’s role will be to develop effective ways to evaluate freelancers and leverage their potential in the organisation. They will have to provide operational support to keep the freelancers happy and ensure that they continue working for the business. 

ZoopUp.com provides a platform for collaborating with freelancers regularly for companies. The HR can assemble teams of freelancers on ZoopUp. We can work closely to create regular engagement opportunities so that the company's freelancer needs are always met on time.

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Zoopup
Create : Jun 03,2022

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