Many workmen and tradesmen work on a contracting basis and are often managed centrally through an agency or company that’s able to help them find work, balance their schedules, and protect them from work mishaps that they’d otherwise experience as self-employed individuals. These agencies are generally seen as an ethical alternative to self-employment, as injuries that tradesmen experience in their self-employed life can cut their income, leaving them quickly destitute and with no protection to help them get back on their feet. In this article, you’ll learn how to best manage contractors on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis.
Getting Jobs
If you’re managing several tradesmen at once, you’re going to want to ensure that you always have enough work coming in to keep them all happy and busy. This also makes sense from your perspective as, while you may be paying your employees a bonus per job, you’ll also have to give them a basic hourly wage – and you’ll want that wage to be spent in work and not wasted outside of it. As such, your responsibility is to help find work for your contractors at all times, thinking about marketing, website maintenance, and contact-ringing throughout the day.
Coverage
The great benefit of managing a number of contractors is that you can cover them all in the same kind of insurance packages and general guarantees, keeping them all safe, instead of them working apart on a self-employed basis. This strength in numbers is far more preferable than the alternative. You can also, for instance, take out a commercial auto insurance policy to cover the entirety of your contracting fleet and take a little from the wages and earnings of your workers to help pay for the policy.
Flexibility
Contractors often became contractors in the first place because they wanted a little flexibility in their work. They, in essence, wanted to be their own boss, choose their own hours, and choose their own set of customers and clients. Because of this, they might begin to feel uncomfortable in a business that manages them, as this isn’t the life that they originally sought out. It’s your responsibility to maintain a level of flexibility in your management style, without allowing complete anarchy to reign – and often you can do this by setting up availability systems online that employees can fill in each and every week of the year.
Bonding
Contracting is a lonesome task and, while you may often find that contractors enjoy their conversations with customers, that’s nothing compared to the constant chatter that you might have in a large office space or factory floor. As such, take time to build bonds between you and your workers – and, of course, amongst your general staff. You may find that hosting a party or a get-together once a month is a great way to build a sense of continuity and excitement within your company, making welfare and solidarity the primary concern of your contracting business.
There you have it – tips to help you manage contractors in a responsible and careful manner.
