1701: Four Reasons Why Your Business Needs Freelancers AND Tips on How To Ensure Your Employees Are Fit for Your Organization

[00:00:00] This is Optimal Work Daily, Four Reasons Why Your Business Needs Freelancers by Michael Levitt of BreakfastLeadership.com. Every business, especially small businesses, could benefit from hiring freelancers if you have a small or startup business where you sometimes have to wear many hats. From doing the accounting, owning the marketing, dealing with customer support issues, and even operating the phones when someone calls in sick, it can sometimes be quite a mess and very overwhelming.

[00:00:30] Therefore, it's time for you to hire people who are good at specific skills so that your focus can stay on being great at your core competencies. Hiring freelancers enables you to get more done in less time so that you don't feel overwhelmed by career responsibilities. Small businesses are not known for having endless resources of money to pay full-time employees. With freelance workers, even if their hourly rates are higher than what an in-house employee would make in the same position,

[00:00:57] you can still save more money because of the time it would take for you to train someone on your company's processes. Here are four benefits of hiring freelancers. Save time and money. There's no need for training or supervision when you hire a freelancer. They know what they're doing, which means that you don't have to put in as much time or effort into your business. You may be able to skip certain red tape tasks, such as filing for permissions and waiting days for the government's approval if there's no permanent office space.

[00:01:24] This saves you both the money and time so you can focus on other things, such as developing new products or services, your online reputation management, marketing, and growing your business. Access to specialized knowledge and or skills. Freelancers typically have a high level of expertise in a particular area, allowing them to perform their tasks with greater efficiency than just an average person off the street might be able to accomplish.

[00:01:49] So, for example, if you need help with web design, you can hire a freelancer who specializes in this field rather than wasting time looking for someone who may or may not know what they're doing. You can also find freelancers experienced in writing, public relations, photography, social media marketing, as well as virtually any other job-related task that your company may require. This saves you money because there is no need to hire people without the necessary skills for the job.

[00:02:16] In addition, if one person quits, another highly qualified person is readily available to fill their position. Greater talent pool By hiring freelancers, you have access to a greater talent pool, which can be helpful when your business grows and you need more people to accomplish tasks. In addition, freelancers from around the world are able to bid for your project, allowing you to pick the best possible candidate for your needs. With traditional employees, this isn't as easy. Should they quit or should you let them go?

[00:02:45] In addition, if a traditional employee lacks skills for a particular type of task, you would likely have difficulties finding other employees with those same skill sets. No drama It's also challenging to find employees who will work well together as a team because there is typically only one or two people from a given geographical location. With freelancers, you don't have to worry about these problems because they're not committed to your company,

[00:03:11] but rather provide their services on an as-needed basis, making the process easier for everyone involved. Tips on how to ensure your employees are fit for your organization by Michael Levitt of breakfastleadership.com Employees are essential to any organization. You can't run a company without them. First, however, you want to be sure that the people working for your company are suitable for it.

[00:03:39] If not, they will likely do more harm than good. But how do you know what qualifications an employee needs? Here are some tips on how to ensure your employees are fit for your organization. Only recruit those with the right skills. If you want to build a company of highly skilled staff, they must meet the requirements needed for your organization. Recruitment at this level requires extra care and attention because their lack of experience could leave your customers dissatisfied with the service provided once on board.

[00:04:08] Ensure you recruit only those who have been taught best practices by asking the right questions during the recruitment process. Invest in employee care service. Fit employees are not only more productive, but they also tend to stay at your organization longer. This is why companies need to invest in employee care services. It will ensure that you have a team of physically and mentally healthy people, which can lead to better performance all around. Investing in the right kind of help doesn't mean that you must break the bank.

[00:04:38] Instead, try looking into independent care service providers like chaplain organizations. They're more affordable than you might think and can get your employees back on track in no time. Create wellness programs. Help to cultivate a culture of wellness and promote healthy habits. Employees who work well with colleagues, feel valued, have competitive salaries, and enjoy their jobs are more likely to be fit and productive for the organization. In addition, employees who take care of themselves tend to be happier at work,

[00:05:07] leading them to be more productive and ultimately more likely to stay with the company. Schedule for benchmarking. Maintain a regular schedule for benchmarking. The best time to perform your annual employee health check is during the fall, so you have enough time before year end to get all of this done. But if that doesn't work with your organization, then don't hesitate to do it any other time of year. Just be sure you schedule it. Upgrade their skills and knowledge.

[00:05:34] Employees need to adjust and learn new skills to keep up with the constant changes that are happening within an organization. The key is giving them the tools they need and encouraging employees to take the initiative when it comes to learning new things. Knowledge is power, but only if the employees feel empowered to take on new challenges. Another way to ensure that they fit your organization is by keeping them active and engaged in the company culture. How?

[00:05:59] Encourage a healthy work environment where no one feels uncomfortable about going out of their comfort zone and have employees feel comfortable asking questions about learning something new or being responsible for specific tasks. Organizations need to be able to understand that not all employees are the same. Therefore, more effort needs to be put into developing a customized training program for each employee to keep up with their specific goals and aspirations. Employees should never feel left behind,

[00:06:27] but instead empowered by receiving the proper tools they need both mentally and physically. Conclusion People who aren't fit for your organization can cause a lot of harm to it. They put the company at risk and could be harmful physically, mentally, or both. So ensure that they're fit for your organization before bringing them on board. You just listened to the posts titled Four Reasons Why Your Business Needs Freelancers

[00:06:55] and Tips on How to Ensure Your Employees Are Fit for Your Organization, both by Michael Leavitt of breakfastleadership.com. Thank you to Michael for letting us share his work today. Let me tell you a little bit about Michael Leavitt. He is the founder and chief burnout officer of the Breakfast Leadership Network, which is a San Diego and Toronto-based burnout media firm. He's a certified NLP and CBT therapist. NLP is neuro-linguistic programming, and CBT is cognitive behavioral therapy.

[00:07:25] And he's one of the world's leading authorities in burnout recovery and prevention. He is also a Fortune 500 consultant, number one bestselling author, and host of the Breakfast Leadership Show, which is a top 200 podcast on iTunes. He's a two-time top 20 global thought leader on culture with Thinkers360, and a former healthcare executive, CIO, and CFO overseeing $2 billion budgets. So he's pretty much seen and done it all.

[00:07:51] You can come by breakfastleadership.com for a lot more articles from Michael. Plus, please check out his speaking, media, and more. And I have that linked in this episode's description for you. Again, thanks so much to Michael for permission to narrate his work. But that should do it for today. Hope you're having a great week so far. I thank you, of course, for being a subscriber to the show and for sharing it with others when you get a chance. And I will see you right back here tomorrow, where your optimal life awaits.