Optimizing Your Creative Resourcing Mix: Key Considerations when Building Out Your Team
It’s crucial to find the right balance for your team to support the work, but how do you know what the right resource is for you? Our recent webinar, “Blending In-House, Freelance, and Agency Talent: Creative Resourcing Without the Chaos,” with experts from Rippling and Fisher Phillips, provided some valuable insights on how to optimize your creative resourcing mix while minimizing risks. Check out the glossary of terms that will be helpful to navigate the exciting yet complex world of creative talent management.
The Landscape of Talent
Understanding the differences between full-time employees (FTEs), freelancers, contractors, and agency partners is key to managing your talent effectively. In today’s fast-paced environment, many organizations turn to independent contractors to save costs. While this approach can be beneficial, it’s essential to be aware of the hidden risks that might outweigh the savings. How you treat these contractors is incredibly important when it comes to compliance and legal implications.
Ask yourself: Are you integrating contractors into your team? Are you providing them with resources like equipment and email addresses or including them in regular company-wide meetings? If you’re treating them like employees, you may inadvertently misclassify them, which can lead to serious penalties.
Legal Compliance: A Vital Aspect
Legal compliance is essential when working with independent contractors as misclassification can result in significant financial repercussions. For instance, if a contractor files for unemployment benefits and is found to be misclassified, your organization could face penalties, including unpaid taxes and fines.
A well-known example is Microsoft, which paid $100 million to resolve lawsuits involving independent contractors who were treated like employees. If working with independent contractors, make sure to give them the freedom to manage their workloads and projects.
Crafting Your Resourcing Strategy
A thoughtful resourcing strategy should begin with scoping out the work and the collaboration needed, as well as align with your business goals and budget. Here are some questions to guide you:
Check in-house first, do you have those skills somewhere?
Is the work different from what the employees are doing?
Do you need a special expertise or do you need broad capabilities?
How integral is the work to the function of the organization?
While hiring an independent contractor may seem like a low cost and efficient choice, the hidden costs that can arise make it critical to only hire them when the work aligns with their role. For this reason, agencies can often be a lower-risk choice since they manage their own teams, allowing you to focus on your core objectives without getting bogged down in legal details.
The Path Forward in Creative Resourcing
By embracing the strengths of in-house teams, freelancers, and agencies, you can enhance your creative capabilities while effectively managing costs and mitigating risks. Begin by determining what type of support and work you need, and level of integration. Our list of 10 Tips for Creative Resourcing can help be a reminder of the steps to take and things to consider when you’re ready to build out your talent pool and resourcing mix.
If you have any questions or want to share your thoughts, we’d love to hear from you! We’re here to help you navigate the complexities of creative resourcing—without the chaos!