Businesses of all sizes make ample use of contractors. In some instances, these individuals are used on an almost constant basis, while in others, they’re only called upon once in a great while. If your enterprise wouldn’t be able to function in the absence of contractors, it’s in your best interest to retain the ones who have proven themselves dependable. However, if your best contractors have other clients to tend to or feel undervalued by your enterprise, hanging onto them long-term may be easier said than done. Fortunately, keeping high-performing contractors happy doesn’t have to be an arduous undertaking. Any business looking to retain reliable contractors can benefit from the following pointers.
Offer Consistent Work
If you’re fond of a certain contractor’s work but only enlist their services once in a blue moon, don’t be surprised if they turn down work you wish to give them. If this individual draws the bulk of their income from other clients, the assignments you offer are unlikely to be deemed a priority. On the flipside, throwing work their way on a consistent basis will ensure that they don’t forget about you. Many contractors prioritize clients who work with them regularly over clients who rarely get in touch, so if you wish to remain on a contractor’s radar, make sure to provide them with an incentive to remember you.
Provide Room for Advancement
If you’ve been working with a contractor for a long time and are pleased with the quality of their work, providing room for advancement can effectively incentivize them to stick with you. Depending on the size of your enterprise and its budget for contractors, “room for advancement” can take on a number of meanings. More often than not, however, this means increased compensation and/or a guarantee of a certain amount of work per month. Not only will this make a contractor more likely to stick with you, but it will also help ensure that you get their best work. Since this will also require you to make alterations to certain contractors’ contracts, consider using the convenient contract management software from Exari.
Offer Fulltime Opportunities
Some businesses use contractors on such a consistent basis that those individuals are essentially fulltime employees – only without salaries, health benefits, and other amenities. Although this is often done in the interest of saving money, it can be very unfair to contractors who work fulltime while making only a fraction of what salaried workers earn. Not every business has the capital to extended full-time employment offers to each of its contractors, but if there are any contractors your enterprise would have trouble functioning without, making them full-time employees may be the most effective way to retain them.
Countless enterprises, large and small, rely on the efforts of contractors. Despite being unsalaried workers, many contractors consistently put their best foot forward for the sake of their clients. Of course, not all contractors are equally dependable, and some of them can be very difficult to work with. However, if your business has a stable of contractors it wishes to retain, you’ll need to take steps to keep them happy.
