It’s our third year into the pandemic and although challenging we are still here trying to live the dream and grow our businesses expeditiously. Your business despite the pandemic has gotten to the point where you must hire someone to assist with the workload but sadly you don’t have the capacity to hire a full-time employee but to avoid risk of burnout it is important to invest in hiring a freelancer.
Below are the ten guiding steps you need to help you recruit the right person to work with you:
1. Interview
After sourcing out potential freelancers you could hire for a job it is wise to set up an informal interview, either meet up in a coffee shop or set up a video call just to have a feel of their personality and learn about their career journey, skills and even interests outside of their work routine.
This is important to do because you will be working closely and alongside them and if you don’t mesh well from the get-go chances are you will have friction throughout your time of working together and it can lead to sabotage on their end or them delaying you further in what you needed to have achieved through working with them.
2. Setting your expectations
It is important to set the expectations of regular communication and preferred method of working. During this part of the conversation, you should also inform the individual on how often you like a report or check-ins on the work you need them to do. Thereafter also give the freelancer an opportunity to advise on how they work too and what they can regularly commit too, and if this is not aligned with how you like to work you can inform them of your reasons and proceed to continue with your search for a better suited person should there be no compromise on their end.
3. Set an agreement of a fair paying structure
Research on the fair paying fees for the role you’re hiring the freelancer to do and check with others who may have hired someone with a similar skillset. During your informal interview also ask the freelancer to share their rate card and if you feel they are underselling their skills then this could be an indication that they may in the end not achieve tasks set because they are underexperienced in the areas you need them to be. If they are above your pay grade ability you can see if they are willing to negotiate to the paying fee withing your ability, and if not go back to searching again. When it comes to money it is important to ensure you’re both aligned, mitigating challenges that could ultimately cost you completing your assignment and projects as hoped.
4. Get references and portfolio
If you are aligned after the first three steps, then enquire on references and portfolio of their work, because you can find yourself in a situation where most things check out, but the freelancer has embellished their work skillset and abilities. And if you can also check to see if you know anyone within your circles and industry who has worked with them and can speak objectively on their character and work ethic.
5. Create an official MOU contract between the both of you
Once you have come to the decision you will hire them and they have accepted your offer, you should create an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) that highlights the roles and responsibilities, set expectations, and agreed pay and how regularly that will be as well as how long they will be working with you for the said project. This agreement should be verified by both your lawyers and adhere to the laws of the country you will be working at. If they are not in the same country as you seek legal advice on how best to set up the contract and ensure the way you pay them adheres to the tax laws too.
6. KPI reporting system
To ensure you’re regularly up to date with daily progress and are observing how the person hired is working, and in what pace especially when not in communication you should set up a KPI reporting documentation. This is easy to do as you can do so via Google sheets or use apps such as Trello, and the freelancer can constantly update their achievements and indicate the status of a particular job. This is also a great way to ensure transparency, avoid micromanaging and gives you the chance to quickly address any challenges, provide guidance and/or gain clarity on certain set tasks that might cause a delay if not accomplished as planned.
7. Provide them with the original documentation and/or materials required.
This is imperative that the freelancer has everything they need to compete the tasks required. If your job is either based on software development, developing existing website and/or social media management you need to share with them all the information their require from images to passwords to previous work plan because it will help ensure they do the job with as much precision as possible and maintain the same standards set. If not provided this might mean you having to extend the timeline of ensuring the job goals are achieved as they may have to either recreate something completely new or re-edit what is within their means too.
Freelancers are a great add on to one’s business but only if you as the business owner are clear of your expectations of what needs doing and ensure you maintain a positive working culture in order to ensure the person completes the job tasks set, because if it ends badly and the person hired has access to sensitive information it can lead to them potentially sabotaging your life’s work so to speak.
Happy hiring and sending you all the excellence you need for your business to excel and grow in the manner you wish it too.
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