The Benefits of Giving Contingent Workers a Voice in Your Organization

Every day, staffing firms, managed service providers (MSPs) and their clients look for new and more effective ways to attract, employ and retain the best and the brightest talent from a pool of roughly 56 million freelance workers.

With unemployment at 3.8 percent, MSP and their clients are having to reach across geographic boundaries and offer competitive pay, appealing benefits and interesting projects to succeed in today’s candidate-driven job market.

However, many companies may be overlooking the one truly low-cost perk that has proven to reduce turnover and boost engagement among contingent workers: A voice in the workplace.

Experts define “employee voice” as the opportunity for workers to express what’s important to them and to offer ideas about how to improve hiring processes, job design and conditions in the workplace. The verified benefits include increased retention and engagement, improved job satisfaction and higher levels of innovation and initiative.

Creating the right forum to gather feedback from contingent workers and responding to concerns can be tricky and should be managed by their employers. To be sure, there is no one-voice-fits-all solution; but here are a few ways of working together to give contingent workers a voice in the company.

Ways to Improvement 

• Empower Suppliers

In addition to getting clients on board with the idea, program managers can help facilitate the process by asking suppliers to regularly gather feedback and suggestions from contractors assigned to the company.

In fact, simply making an effort to ask can boost morale and productivity, as surveys show that contractors value open, two-way communication, much like their counterparts in regular full-time positions.

What’s more, asking insightful questions at various stages of the employment life-cycle may yield ideas for perfecting and streamlining the hiring process and improving the contingent worker experience.

For example, did contractors receive all of the information they needed during orientation and on-boarding? Do they have the necessary tools and support to be fully productive and successful? Would they accept another assignment or recommend the company to their colleagues? What suggestions do they have for improvement?

Initiating a regular and ongoing Q&A process will help suppliers objectively evaluate information, spot common concerns and address small issues before they grow into large problems. 

• Present Constructive Feedback

Incorporating a system to communicate the views of contractors is a critical next step in implementing a voice-of-employee strategy.

For instance, program managers may want to consider establishing a supplier forum, where staffing representatives can come together to share issues and suggestions for improvement gleaned from conversations with contingents.

Uniting participants who have the power to recommend solutions, reduce wasteful activity and increase quality will produce ideas and action plans that will have a positive impact on program effectiveness and worker satisfaction. Better still, by knowing what’s important to contingent workers and what’s achievable within the organization, program managers can estimate cost, time savings and risks before recommending changes to the client. 

• Complete the Communications Loop

Contingent workers will lose confidence in a voice of employee system if they feel like they aren’t being listened to. That’s why MSPs and their staffing partners need to work together continually to close the feedback loop.

As an example, staffing representatives need to share the results of surveys and supplier forums with contingents, convey changes and action plans and explain the reasons why a situation or issue can’t be addressed. Employee experience matters. Issuing progress reports is a great way to let contingents know that their opinions and work are valued and to make sure they are satisfied with their assignments.

Today’s contingent workers want the opportunity to play an active role in shaping their careers and work environment. It’s time for MSPs and their supplier partners to give them a voice and start listening.