Freelancer or Employee

Contractors

Many times companies get into a position where they need some special jobs that might only be needed for a short period of time. Contracted help is when someone is not on your payroll and has a W2 and paycheck directly with withholdings. These contractors are hired and paid directly though and agency or you. If they are US contractors they will require you to supply a tax form and filing if over $500. This is also applicable to attorneys, even if they are a corporation.  If you use an agency they generally will provide that form to the contractor. Popular freelancer positions usually are work at home positions. It can be database, customer service or website work. Upwork is the leading platform to hire Independent contractors. They allow you to post and get replies and bids from independent contractors. Generally some posting platforms require a fee or if using the services will require a percentage of the amount paid as they work directly for the company platform and get paid from there too. It can be very competitive market place with more people wanting to work from home also if you don’t mind hiring abroad can open up lots more opportunities. Keep in mind that if you hire a Freelancer they must be independent of your company. Sometimes it can be a flag to a government agency if someone is working at the company office and has a company business card as to why they are not subject to with holdings.

Employees

If you are hiring and decide to choose to hire an employee versus an independent contractor can have it’s pros and cons, if you are caught in choosing which option. You won’t have much of an option if you expect an onsite work environment will be clear you cannot hire an independent contractor, unless its short term work that has a termination date, or intermittent. Having an employee can provide more of a commitment to the company and can open up more people responding to your position, if outside agency or agency type platforms. You will have to make sure all the legalities for hiring are in place, signs posted in public places, government paper work and reporting and with holdings. You may take on a little bit more liability in some areas for unemployment or work place claims. If you are starting out in business there is plenty of resources online to aid in the set up for employees. The broader range of employees will be much larger as most people looking don’t ever think about freelancing and the filing requirements and paying taxes at the end of the year.

Summary:

Whether you chose to hire a freelancer or employee can be the difference of weighing out the options and costs. Freelancers can make excellent long term assets to your company and the ease of bidding for the position and seeing their online reviews can make it easy see their past jobs. However, the challenges can be they also may be working for a few different jobs and might not be flexible to certain customer service hours. Hiring full-time or part-time employees can have a local impact and show employees more of a long term commitment and a sense of belonging.

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How to Hire a Professional Remote Employee

Remote

Commercialized use of technology is rapidly changing conventional operations across industries. Complete sectors, such as schools and offices, are taking a digital turn. Hence, the concept of remote workers is on the rise.

Working remotely allows professionals to work outside the traditional office space. This idea revolves around the notion that individuals do not need a designated office space to perform their tasks. Instead, they have the flexibility to work from anywhere in the world as long as they effectively meet their deadlines.

There are different ways people prefer to work remotely. For instance, some people work from home most of the time but occasionally report to their offices for in-person meetings or follow-ups. Meanwhile, others choose to either work in co-working spaces or the complete opposite: hit the road to be their most productive self.

Remote employment bears mutual benefits for employers and employee. Employees relish their flexible lifestyle, which allows them to maintain a work-life balance. This is a contributing factor in maintaining good health, mentally and physically, as they bear comparatively less stress. A recent study found that remote employees, in comparison to regular employees, are 69% more punctual with their work.

According to a survey conducted by SurePayroll, 86% of participants stated they happen to be their most productive self when they work alone in a relaxed environment. Furthermore, 66% of managers stated they receive better quality of work from employees who work from home.

Indeed, increased productivity from remote employee benefits employers and employees. Employees feel more passionate about their work when they derive a certain level of inspiration from their surroundings. Meanwhile, from a diverse group of people, employers yield greater profits with better quality of work.

Here are some ways an organization can hire competent remote employees:

Evaluate Organization’s Processes and Goals

Assessing processes and goals of the organization will help determine its current potential, and the targets they want to achieve. This will give a clear picture of the type of remote employees they are looking for and where they can find them.

Even though many employers use Craigslist to post their jobs, leading organizations employ a variety of job portals and social networks to reach the ideal candidates. The most commonly used job boards are Flexjobs, We work remotely, Working Nomads, and RemoteOK. On the other hand, Work From, Nomad List, Digital Nomad Jobs, and Remote & Travel Jobs, are popular social networks for filling remote vacancies.

The recruitment process of traditional employee consists of five phases; i) recruitment planning, ii) strategy development, iii) searching, iv) screening and v) short-listing. Organizations tend to modify these phases as per their requirements.

Moreover, telephonic conversations and virtual interviews were the only sources used by recruiters to assess their pool of candidates. Today, organizations tend to use a variety of tools to assist in the hiring process.

For instance, recruiters commonly use Spark Hire, job and HireVue for conducting effective interviews. These tools enable recruiters to schedule interviews in different time-zones as employers can send their questions and candidates answer them in their own time. This way, recruiters can make viable decisions by comparing candidates thoroughly.

Most often, employers tend to make some common mistakes that render the recruitment process ineffective. These mistakes include no face-to-face contact, asking unfitted interview questions with no considerations for cross-borders, and speeding up the process of skipping skills assessments.

List All the Required Characteristics

Organizations should know the exact qualities they are looking for in remote employee. Attention to detail, self-starters, and professionalism are some of the most sought-after traits by employers in remote candidates.

To cover for the physical aspect of evaluation, employers tend to use a variety of tools to identify candidates from a cultural aspect. Tools, such as ThriveMap, Saberr, and Human, are a great way to determine if the candidate will be a good fit for the organization’s culture.

These data-driven and artificially intelligent tools not only assist in estimating candidates’ behavioral approach but remove any kind of biases that can influence decision making due to cultural differences.

Moreover, to verify the information a candidate provides, organizations should ask for referrals. Eventually, referrals are the most effective way to verify a candidate’s profile from someone who has had direct interaction.

Make Unambiguous Contracts

Employers should make a clear offer to candidates who have all the necessary information from timing, salary package, legal rights of both the parties and so on. This way, there is no room for any discrepancies, and employers and employees can proceed with their dealings in a systematic manner.

Moreover, unambiguous contracts are a great way to ensure that either party’s rights are not violated in the process and they can yield mutual benefits out of their transactions.

Manage and Retain Hires

Hiring remote employee is a long and tedious process that consumes organizations’ precious time and resources. Therefore, wise employers tend to work on their plan to retain remote employees during the hiring process.

Since employers have to compete with physical limitations to keep remote employees satisfied, they adopt a variety of different monetary and non monetary approaches to compensate. For instance, providing an attractive salary regardless of the exchange rate is one way to retain their employees.

Other meaningful benefits include memberships to co-working spaces, insurance, and professional development. Most often, employers ask their remote employees for the kind of perks they will find most useful and reward them accordingly.

The concept of remote employment brings numerous monetary and non monetary benefits to both the organization and individuals. However, both remote employees and employers need to understand that their interaction requires a similar level of professionalism as is prevalent in conventional workplaces. With the right set of practices, remote employment proves mutually beneficial.

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