As the world of work continues to change, so too does the way we recruit and retain top talent. In today’s tight job market, attracting and retaining top freelance talent is more important than ever – especially for talent marketplaces. Having a mobile-friendly digital experience and offering benefits are just two ways you can stand out to freelancers. Here are our top five tips for attracting and retaining the best freelance talent out there.
Be open to talent across the globe
With the rise of the gig economy, more and more businesses are turning to freelancers to get the job done. As such, it’s important to be open to working with freelancers from all over the world. If I’m a freelancer, the last thing I want is to feel like I’m restricted by my location. If you’re only considering candidates who live in a certain area, you could be missing out on some of the best talent out there.
Traditionally, the complications of compliance and misclassification risks are huge limiting factors for many organizations looking to hire around the globe – or for those looking to hire even local freelancers. In today’s world, however, a modern payroll platform can serve as a Global Employer of Record and automate classification to allow you to send and receive global payments in a seamless way to properly classified workers.
Have a mobile-friendly digital experience
Think about the last time you tried to do something on your phone that wasn’t designed for mobile. It probably wasn’t a great experience, right? The same goes for your freelancers. If they’re constantly having to switch between their phone and their computer to track their hours, they’re going to get frustrated – and may even look for another gig. In fact, Broadband reports that in 2022, 56% of online market share belonged to mobile devices.
After all, your freelancers are likely working from all over the world and will need to be able to access their work effortlessly from any device. As your payroll service, GreenLight’s easy-to-use interface and mobile-friendly access will give your freelancers the experience they’re looking for.
Be able to onboard them in minutes
Onboarding is an essential part of working with any freelancer, and it’s especially important for retention. SHRM writes: “69 percent of employees are more likely to stay with a company for three years if they experienced great onboarding.”
Onboarding fulfills to critical needs for engaging top talent: you want to make sure that they have all the information they need to be successful in their work for you, and you need to be sure you have all the information you need from them in one secure place.
The tedious paperwork involved in onboarding can be automated through your payroll service provider. For example, with Greenlight’s easy-to-use onboarding feature, you can invite them to join you with just a couple of clicks on the GreenLight app – or an API. Your workers will be ready to get to work in minutes with our intuitive, automated onboarding.
Pay freelancers promptly and consistently
Freelancers are independent contractors which means they are not beholden to traditional employment models—but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t get paid on time! As such, it’s important to be reliable, prompt, and consistent when it comes to paying your freelancers. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it will also help you retain top talent.
At Greenlight, we understand how important it is to get your workers paid on time and without any hassle. That’s why we make it easy for workers to track and submit time or invoices. We send you one consolidated bill, and we process payments while taking care of taxes.
Offer qualifying freelancers benefits
If I’m a freelancer, I know that one of the things I’m sacrificing by not having a traditional job is access to benefits. However, if you’re willing to offer benefits like equity to your freelancers, you’re more likely to attract and retain top freelance talent.
When you hire using GreenLight, after you onboard your freelancers in minutes, you can then easily get qualifying workers registered for perks such as professional liability insurance, 401K, and even health care. We have partnered with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield to provide freelancers with health insurance that would be difficult or even impossible for them to receive on their own.
Highly-skilled talent has many options for where to work, and if you’re ready to help your business stand out from the rest while getting your contractors up and running ASAP, schedule a GreenLight demo here. We worry about employee classification, local regulations, contracts, invoicing, and benefits, so that you can focus on what matters most—people.
