Understanding Contractors’ Priorities and Preferences | How to Attract and Retain Them

Understanding Contractors’ Priorities and Preferences – How to Attract and Retain Them

Using contingent workers for your business can be a big part of your workforce strategy. On our blog we also wrote about how hiring contractors can be beneficial to your business. We discussed why contracts or temporary positions are becoming the preferred type of employment. According to a 2017 Inuit report, contractors occupy 37% of the workforce and it is expected to reach about 43% by 2020.

If your organization needs to hire contractors for reasons like short replacements, projects or analysis, as an employer you will need to differentiate yourself from the market by understanding what the contractors’ priorities and preferences are in order to attract the best talent.

What are contractors’ priorities and preferences?

They are generally content with the position they hold. More than half of the contractors are satisfied with their jobs.

Contractors are usually motivated by compensations. 43% of contract workers would look at compensation and the company culture more than other aspects when accepting an offer. Whereas, benefits and career growth are less important to them.

They experience less work pressure. Contractors are generally straightforward with their work ethic and are less likely to take on extra tasks.

They will be less likely to leave their current role. Contractors are more loyal to their role than most workers. Due to the nature of their work, they must keep their reputation in the industry, so they will finish their current contract before moving on to the next.

Even if they are happy with their work, feel less pressure, are less likely to move on to another role, and prefer compensation over benefits, you still have other ways to attract them; promoting your company culture is one of them. You can work with your HR team or hire a recruitment agency to re-evaluate if the role is up to market expectations. You will need to work on your employer branding, find ways to promote the structure of the company. Promote the day to day tasks, the environment of the office, the team that the contractor will be working with, etc. Most importantly, the concept is to think of how this role will benefit the contractor.

When the time comes to retain the contractor, the culture has a big influence on the final decision. The two key aspects the contractor focuses on are open communication and strong leadership. Benefits can also be offered as attraction keys.

Nowadays, companies tend to hire people with specific skills, in this case, contractors also hold the same criteria. Your goals is to become their employer of choice. To attract or retain contractors, it will be important for you to understand what they value the most and their preferences. Workaround these aspects to sell your role.