With the COVID-19 virus forcing non-essential workers to stay at home and practice self-isolation and social distancing, your organization now has to suddenly support an entirely remote workforce.

While many companies are cutting costs and attempting to stay away from acquiring new talent, it’s possible that your business has seen the benefits of continued investment into its workforce.

Making sure you have the right resources and expertise to continue providing your clients with the service they have come to expect will give your business an advantage over the competition and put you in good stead for future growth.

To ensure your company is able to keep up with your client’s demands, your business will need to make sure it continues to hire talented workers, access new expertise for specific projects and scale up or down its workforce depending on market conditions.

Remote workers and the contingent workforce can help you do just that. In fact, contingent workers will help your organization realize a number of benefits, including:

• an increased ability to fill skills gaps in your organization;
• access to a more flexible workforce;
• faster and more cost-effective hiring processes;
• you can trial new staff members or positions with the idea of making them permanent;
• and the ability to assess business needs on an ongoing basis.

It’s highly likely that your company already makes use of the contingent workforce. An Intuit 2020 estimated that a staggering 25-30 percent of the entire US workforce is currently contingent - and more than 80 percent of large corporations are planning on “substantially increasing” their use of these workers in the coming years.

Despite the sheer number of contingent workers and the benefits they bring companies across North America, hiring and managing remote workers can seem intimidating.

Finding the right person, making sure they perform their job to a high standard and ensuring your business complies with co-employment regulations are just a few of the many things your company must take into account when hiring and managing contingent workers.

To make sure your company is able to acquire the right remote workers and maximize the benefits that come with them, HCMWorks has listed a few contingent workforce recruitment tips here:

Conduct interviews remotely

Due to the social distancing recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic, you won’t be able to interview remote workers in person. It’s actually good to get into this habit anyway, as interviewing your remote workers in person will only lead to wasted time and extra costs that make your contingent workforce strategy far less effective.

When interviewing remote workers, make sure they are fully prepared for the interview with a calendar invite and full details of what software the interview will be sent through. By making sure you are organized and your interview is prepared, you will be able to fully concentrate on whether the candidate is right for your business.

Be as flexible as possible

Some companies fall into the trap of asking their remote workers to stick to the old-fashioned and traditional 9-to-5 workday. However, since contract workers have the freedom to choose their own hours and where they work from, this could leave your business falling foul to co-employment regulations.

Not only that, but this method could also seriously limit your access to top talent. Today’s workers want to be given more flexibility. If you can do this, you’ll be able to expand your talent pool and access the most talented workers within your industry.

Make sure you have a world-class candidate experience

To hire the best remote workers in your industry, your business needs to position itself as an “employer of choice”. That means making sure each workers’ experience with you is seamless, from the initial contact they have with you to offboarding.

Remote workers who have a world-class experience with your organization will be significantly more productive, more likely to work with you again in the future and far more likely to recommend you as an employer to their peers.

Partner with an expert MSP

Working with a wide range of vendors, managing your contingent workforce and making sure your company acquires the talented remote workers you need to drive your company forward is complex. It takes a team of experts to implement a successful contingent workforce strategy that is unified across your entire company.

That’s why you should consider partnering with a managed services provider (MSP).

An MSP will ensure that your business is able to acquire the right resources to fill growing talent gaps, manage those workers to save time and money, as well as ensure your organization is meeting all co-employment regulations.

Want to learn more about an MSP strategy and how your organization can acquire world-class remote workers? Contact HCMWorks today. Our team of contingent workforce experts would love to answer any questions you have.