Supply and demand works for contractors, and right now it's a
buyer's market. Nicole Gonifas looks at best practice when
recruiting and managing today's IT contractors.
If you're an IT manager about to make your first foray into
contract recruitment, consider your timing fortunate. Unfavourable
market conditions, including job cuts and recruitment freezes among
some of the UK's largest technology organisations, have meant that
there are presently more good contractors available than before.
Which certainly improves your chances of finding the right one for
your business requirements.
But before you set the recruitment ball rolling, it is important to
ensure your reasons for bringing a contractor on board are sound. A
mistake will only waste time and cost your department money. As a
general guide, permanent staff are used for strategy and business
architecture, while freelancers are hired for specialised project
work or time-sensitive developments. Companies also utilise
contractors to cover employment shortages within IT departments, to
transfer skills to full-time personnel, or to improve performance
figures by keeping permanent headcount low.
While it is possible to hire freelancers directly, most companies
prefer to outsource the recruitment function to an agency, in order
to save time and hassle. According to Simon Churan, UK staffing
director of IT recruiter Certes, a good agency should be able to
provide its clients with information on contractor rates, skill
shortages and availability. It should hold a database of
candidates, advertise to fill your vacancy if it can't immediately
match your requirements, carefully pre-screen potential candidates,
including background and reference checks, and perform technical
testing if required.
The agency should also arrange interviews and, once the right
candidate has been selected, draw up contracts and offer ongoing
support to both parties. "Agencies act as high-speed links to
skilled resources," Churan explained. "We will negotiate, mediate,
and generally save time on behalf of the client. We provide
'distance' between the end-user and the contractor, thereby
reducing the tax and employee benefit liability of the client, and
pay the contractor every month. We also deal with all contractual
issues, and provide a professional set of terms and conditions."
As with all types of business, however, the quality of recruitment
companies can, and does, vary considerably. Veteran agency users
advise screening a recruitment firm as you would a potential
employee, and suggest seeking out those that best understand the
culture of your company and the technology you use.
Rather than focusing on the size of the agency (remember, big is
not always best), Alexander Francis director, Shelley Gorys,
believes clients should look at how long the company has been in
business for, and what its track record is. "Ask what the total
sales per employee is within the organisation," she recommended.
"Alexander Francis has just eight staff, but each employee brings
in in the region of £750,000 a year. Expect excellent service,
consider the agency's margins - ours are between 15 and 22 per
cent, and we should earn that money - and lastly, if you really
want to know the quality of the company, phone in as a candidate
and say you'd like to register!"
Accreditation by an industry body, such as the Recruitment and
Employment Confederation (REC) can also be useful, as it indicates
that the agency has agreed to be bound by a code of conduct to
behave ethically and professionally.
Agency issues aside, the whole process of hiring and managing IT
contractors will run more smoothly if you've established early on
what you're looking for in a contractor. Obviously, his or her
technical knowledge, ability, and previous experience will be key,
but there are other factors which may influence your working
relationship, or affect the successful completion of a project. For
Neil Argent, head of IT business systems support at publishing
house Reed Business Information, a contractor's 'personality fit'
is as important as his technical expertise. "Personality fit is
vital," explained Argent. "Even if the contractor is only with us
for a short period of time, he needs to become an integral part of
the team, and so must be trusted by other members of staff. He also
needs to be able to communicate well with others, and give and
receive feedback." Additional matters to take account of include
the freelancer's willingness to deliver the work as agreed, his
flexibility, problem-solving skills, and attitude to
supervision.
Although contractors do value their autonomy, it would be a mistake
to assume that once they've been briefed on the role, they can be
left to their own devices. Particularly because they do not have
the luxury of a 'settling in period', freelancers need care and
attention, in the early days of a contract at least. A good manager
will therefore provide clear direction, and agree a set of
structured goals with the contractor. He will also monitor and
track performance and liase with the freelancer daily to ensure
there are no problems. "It is worth the extra investment you make
in terms of your time and energy to ensure that contractors are
fitting in nicely," commented Argent. "It improves your
relationship, and you get more out of them."
Because reputations count for a lot in the contracting world,
problems with freelancers on-site are rare. However, tensions can
occur between permanent and contract staff, typically when there is
resentment about the amount of money the freelancer is being paid
(although such details should be kept strictly confidential), or
the contractor is not seen to be pulling his weight. Weak technical
skills, or unsatisfactory levels of productivity or absenteeism,
can also pose problems, as might poor time keeping on the part of
the contractor, browsing the Internet, handling personal e-mails at
work, and a failure to follow instructions.
In the unlikely event that the problem proves to be insurmountable,
clients will generally have a clause enabling them to terminate a
contract. But, when addressing conflict situations, managers are
advised to always involve the agency, particularly if the problem
is an ongoing one. Adam Fletcher, director of consultant services
at Computer People, says the agent remains the intermediary between
client and freelancer for the duration of the contract, and as
such, should play an active role in resolving any difficulties.
"Issues should be few and far between, especially if the agent is
managing the assignment properly and is close to both parties, but
part of our success at Computer People is that we make problem
resolution an absolute priority."
Boxtext: case study
Computer services group, ICL uses contractors to perform a variety
of functions in its IT department, from helpdesk support and
testing, to software development, database design, and project
management.
At present, approximately 900 of its 12,500 staff in the UK and
Ireland are contract personnel, working on assignments of varying
length, from three months upwards.
ICL's recruitment methods are in some ways unique. The organisation
has its own in-house agency, IT Contractor Services (ITCS), and
prefers to deal directly with freelancers via their personal
service companies. It advertises vacancies on numerous web-based
job boards and has built up its own database of contractors, but
will engage the services of preferred supplier agencies when
necessary. In this way, ICL manages to keep its recruitment costs
down, as well as maintain much closer control over contractors and
how they are used.
Cathy Doyle, supplier manager of the division, says contractors are
tasked and managed according to the project at hand. Wherever
possible however, specific deliverables or a work schedule will be
set, and then monitored.
She advises IT managers looking to take on freelance staff to
ensure in the first instance that contractors are the most
appropriate and cost-effective solution, and that only reputable
agencies are used to source them. Doyle also warns against allowing
contractors to become indispensable, so that the company is not
'held to ransom' over rates paid or contract extensions.