USE EXTERNAL PROFESSIONALS
... TO ELIMINATE YOUR SKILLS SHORTAGE
External expertise is available at short notice and may open up new perspectives for your project. Explore how to find and successfully contract the right external professionals.
Contents:
- Challenges that companies need to overcome
- Some industries are particularly affected by skills shortage
- How to contract freelancers sensibly to eliminate skills shortage
- Encourage knowledge sharing
- You are affected by skills shortage? Hays can help you recruit
- Conclusion: Integrating freelancers with intuition
Challenges that companies need to overcome
The skills shortage in Germany is a major challenge for the German economy. One solution may be to use external professionals to map out a long-term shortage of know-how. Use this opportunity and recognise the potentials of freelancers.
- A lack of experience along with concerns from internal staff often get in the way of using freelancers. Therefore, internal capacities are used instead of engaging external professionals. A significant advantage of freelancers is their flexibility. They are used to quickly adjust to new projects and responsibilities. This is often not the case with internal solutions.
- How to find the right external expert? Hays offers you an extensive community with a host of experienced freelancers and reviewed references. Our recruiters search for the professional that is right for you and present you profiles tailored to you. This will save your company valuable time, which you would otherwise need to spend on looking for and selecting potential candidates.
- When contracting an external professional, visibility is critical to avoiding internal resistance. Explain to your employees that the external professional provides temporary and clearly defined support that will benefit all parties. This is how you can respond proactively before fear of and prejudice against freelancers arise.
Some industries are particularly affected by skills shortage
Skills shortage is particularly noticeable in highly specialised industries. Searching for suitable employees is sometimes very difficult. To still be able to manage projects and work, it is often indispensable to contract external professionals. A large number of professions has been affected by this development, such as
- software developers
- IT consultants
- database specialists
- automation professionals
- construction professionals
- engineers
How to contract freelancers sensibly to eliminate skills shortage
There are different scenarios for how to profitably contract self-employed professionals without risking well-established internal processes. Please pay particular attention to the following:
- Tell your team that freelancers will be contracted for certain work.
- Plan together, explain beforehand what services are contractually agreed and specify them—the freelancer’s and those of the other team members. Increased communication will make it clear to everyone that external professionals will not threaten internal jobs but rather offer the opportunity to generate input from outside. Careful differentiation will give your employees peace of mind.
- Particularly for SMBs it is often not worth it to advertise a new full-time position for certain highly specialised work. The self-employed professional will always be contracted just for a specific project. Please communicate this openly to prevent assumptions and speculation.
- Ensure correct collaboration with freelancers. They are not contracted as full team members. A poorly balanced relationship between freelancers and employees may create a feeling that soon all jobs will be filled by external professionals.
- To ensure communication is as simple and expedient as possible, introduce the freelancer to their contact so they know straight away who to turn to if uncertainties arise. This will save time and resources for your company and the freelancer.
- If tools, permissions or internal access is needed for the external professional to render their service, provide those beforehand. This will ensure smooth workflows and avoid delays from missing licences or similar.
Encourage knowledge sharing
If an external expert participates in a project, knowledge is automatically shared. Your employees can benefit from the freelancer’s know-how. You can expedite and support this positive aspect of knowledge sharing:
- When recruiting them, explain to self-employed professionals that knowledge should be shared during the course of the project. Both sides will benefit in the medium term. However, team members will find themselves in a situation where they can learn new knowledge and train what they have learned.
- Encourage your own staff to ask questions: The more knowledge they take away from working with the self-employed professional, the better for the company.
You are affected by skills shortage? Hays can help you recruit
You would like to contract an external professional for a project? The advantages are manifold:
- We have the largest community of self-employed professionals in the German-speaking region and will select the right professionals for you from our database.
- Our processes for recruiting and providing replacement professionals are quick and easy.
- You can find our contacts at a host of locations across Germany and the world.
- Our freelancers can be contracted very flexibly. Tell us what we need and we will promptly recommend the right freelancer to you.
Conclusion: Integrating freelancers with intuition
Early communication between external experts and the team in terms of professional and personal aspects makes it easier for all involved parties and enables you to make the most of each freelancer recruitment.
Reassure your employees that their jobs and competencies are not at risk. At the same time, freelancers need to receive all the relevant information and authorisations needed for working on a project. Here at Hays we are happy to help you find the right expert for your project and alleviate skills shortage where needed.
You are looking for a suitable freelancer for your project?
Send us your request and we will match the perfect freelancers for you.
