Completing required evaluations (based on the school’s expectations)
2.4 Working with freelancers
More and more small businesses are relying on freelancers to provide services ranging from copywriting to strategic planning. It makes good sense. You hire the help you need when you need it, and you are not faced with the burden of paying a full-time salary. One of the best referral sources for freelance assistance is other small businesses. Ask your colleagues who they have used and what results were obtained. Were they horrified, dissatisfied, satisfied, or elated with the results? Were deadlines met? Would they use the same person or company again?
The best freelancers to hire are those who have already worked for other companies in the same business as you. They will already have knowledge they can draw from, and you will save time in briefing them and feel more confident that the finished work product will be acceptable.
Just as when you are hiring temporary employees through an agency, the more precisely you can indicate what you are looking for, the more likely you are to get what you want. This seems to make perfect sense, but many employers get lazy at this point and provide sparse instructions.
Know what you want when you make your initial assignment. Put your requirements, payment agreements, and any other important elements of the relationship in writing so that both you and your freelancer have guidelines to follow and are clear about what is expected.
Assign someone in your company to be the person through whom communication can be channeled from the off-site employee to others in your company — and vice versa. This individual will need to keep up to date on what projects the employee is working on, what his or her schedule looks like for the future, when he or she will be in the office, etc.
Regardless of how good the person you are working with is, if you are not able to communicate effectively with your freelance help, your projects are destined for disaster. You need to be open, honest, and thorough when explaining a project and reviewing completed work. Here are some tips for working effectively with outside help:
• Talk about price up front. Get a written estimate that spells out what is to be done, when it is due, when money will be paid, what circumstances would result in additional charges, and what happens if you are not satisfied with the work.
• Provide ample informational material. The more information you can provide, the happier you will be with the completed project.
• Be available to answer questions, review work, etc.
• Be open to new ideas. Don’t interfere. Don’t tell your freelancers how to do their job. That is what you are paying them for. But ...
• Don’t be afraid to speak up if they are way off base. Be constructive in your criticism.
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Working with temporary employees and freelancers can be a good alternative to hiring permanent staff members. Sometimes, though, these temporary solutions just are not appropriate. When that’s the case, you need to begin preparing for hiring.
2
Preparing for Hiring
You have carefully considered your need for additional staff and have determined that you do, indeed, need to hire an employee. This decision is typically made for one of two reasons:
(a) Your ability to produce products or provide services is hindered because you do not have adequate staff to cover production needs.
(b) You have a need for a specific skill that is not present in your existing workforce.
When you hire, you need to do it right. Doing it right means doing it in the most cost-effective and time-efficient manner possible. Hiring a new employee may seem like a fairly straightforward endeavor upon first examination, but don’t act before carefully preparing.
While there are never any guarantees that the person you hire will work out, there are some steps you can take to attract the best candidates, and precautions you can take to improve your chances of making an informed decision.
1. Determining What You Need
Before you start the process of hiring somebody for a new or existing position, you have to know what you are looking for. The more completely you understand the position for which you will be interviewing, the better you will be able to evaluate applications and choose the best ones for consideration.
Job descriptions and specifications are two tools that will greatly help you evaluate potential candidates.
1.1 Job description
A job description is a written record of the responsibilities of a particular job. It indicates the qualifications required for the position and outlines how the job relates to others in the company. In a clear, concise manner, the job description should indicate:
• Position title
• Salary or pay grade
• Department
• To whom the position is accountable (the supervisor/manager)
• Hours required
• A summary of the job
• Major responsibilities or tasks
• Qualifications
• Relation of the position to others in the company
The job description should be organized in such a way that it indicates not only the responsibilities involved, but also the relative importance of these responsibilities. Within the broad categories mentioned above, you will want to include such information as the following examples:
• Extent of authority exercised over the position
• Level of complexity of the duties performed
• Amount of internal and external contact
• Amount of access to confidential information
• Amount of independent judgment required
• Amount of pressure involved in the job
• Type of machinery or equipment used
• Working conditions
• Terms of employment
If the position you are filling is new, preparing the job description will help you clarify what the position entails and its necessary qualifications. If you are filling a position that is being vacated, and if it is possible to do so, ask the departing employee to update the job description. It is common for a job description to become quickly outdated.
A departing employee may also help you review the
