What are the advantages of freelance-business collaboration?
Is freelancing a talent like any other? We hear a lot about freelancing but it is often difficult to understand the daily life of a freelancer. This is particularly the case for many companies that do not yet dare to call on these talents because this status raises many questions. Does a freelancer really cost more than an employee? Are freelancers less committed talents than employees? In this article, we offer you answers using feedback from Jérémy Benmoussa, former freelancer and Chief Digital & Data Officer France & Iberia, who shares his vision of the potential of freelance-business collaboration.
Summary
What is the daily life of a freelancer?
What are the advantages of working with freelancers?
Focus on total workforce management
What is the daily life of a freelancer?
The portrait of a freelancer
Originally, the word freelance would have its source in literature: the freelancer was the one who sold his combat strength to the lord who had the means to offer his protection. Today, a freelancer is a professional who sells his expertise, unlike an employee who offers his time to a company in order to be able to exercise his skills.
“Freelancing is a very personal response. Workers start freelancing because they want above all to be autonomous, to manage their time and to manage their own project.” explains Jérémy Benmoussa.”
At first glance, freelancers would therefore be less sensitive to the concept of commitment than an employee. But for this former freelancer, it is precisely a contradiction that should not be committed.
“Boss or customer, it doesn't matter. We are committed to projects. When I was a manager, I had a responsibility to my employees. When I was a freelancer, I was responsible for my clients' projects. Regardless of the status, I always had a commitment to a third party.”
The freedom to create opportunities
“Not everyone is cut out to be a freelancer or an entrepreneur. In my opinion, there are those who want to be autonomous, to choose their missions, to set up their projects and there are those who want to remain employed. However, it is not a final choice. I think they are mostly stages of life.”
In fact, a freelancer and an employee do not share the same advantages. Perhaps that is what marks the difference between these two statuses. The freedom of freelancer status cannot be separated from the concept of risk. On the contrary, wage earners benefit from a more protective framework since employees devote their time to a company over time. Employers therefore have a duty to ensure their financial security in particular.
“You don't have to become a freelancer to do what you do as an employee, with fixed hours, a single client and therefore the same constraints. Being a freelancer precisely implies the freedom and autonomy to move away from the wage system. Freelancers therefore have a duty to look for other advantages, such as saving time or financial gain. Freelancing allows you to create opportunities and often, this corresponds to people who are not too wait-and-see.”
What are the advantages of working with freelancers?
Flexibility in the service of emergency
Freelancing is a major difficulty for many businesses: how to understand freelancers when they are so different from each other? One of the answers is not to apply the rules of employment to profiles who have precisely chosen another scheme.
There are as many freelancers as there are organization methods: those who work staggered hours, those who want to manage one or 10 customers, etc. On the business side, this flexibility is precisely an advantage. When I use freelancers, I contact them for very specific missions, to better manage my costs and to benefit from flexibility in the skills I require. In particular, I work with freelancers because I have specific needs for specific expertise. I am not going to recruit these experts because these needs are not permanent. The wage model therefore does not apply well to this situation.
Long-lasting professional relationships
Contrary to what one might imagine, working with a freelancer can precisely develop a long-term relationship. Businesses have every interest in maintaining contact with the independent workers who collaborated on their project for several reasons:
As I appreciate the freelancing model, I will prefer to look for freelancers who will set up a team in order to collaborate on my project. We get to know each other, to work together, we create human relationships, it's more pleasant in terms of the project and the human. When there are recurring missions: it's a win-win model. I deeply believe that the missions that work the most are those where I have been able to build a lasting relationship with freelancers because we have developed a common working method. Moreover, when freelancers and employees already know each other, the start of the project is faster because freelancers are more easily integrated into the team and the context elements are already familiar to them.
Focus on total workforce management
Freelancing creates an entire ecosystem. Freelancers know each other and the companies that seek them out are generally familiar with these networks of freelancers. Those who have not yet passed this milestone often share the same problems: talent shortage, purchasing constraints or even difficulties in managing talent. These companies would benefit from broadening their field of research by considering more freelance-business collaboration, for example.
The role of a freelancer is to reassure businesses that status is not essential. He must remember that it is the commitment that counts. Many businesses don't use freelancers because they have a misconception about freelancing. While at times, it might be a considerable advantage in the face of their recruitment problems. Many large companies have already understood this. It is the turn of SMEs to understand this. But the responsibility lies with freelancers who must reassure them and convince them of the need for their services.
This is in particular what makes the term of Total Workforce Management. Why not effectively conceive of the company as an ecosystem of internal and external talents who collaborate together for the success of common projects?
Above all, businesses want their projects to succeed. In fact, we especially want the project to meet the deadlines, for the time to market to be resolved, for the business to be carried out and for there to be above all turnover. After all, the status of talent will have no importance on the outcome of the project. If the employer wants to secure these skills, then this question must be addressed in another context.
Freelancing has many advantages for companies: flexibility, immediate expertise, better cost management... If companies do not have the possibility of offering a long-term contract, why then limit themselves to the wage scheme? They would benefit a lot from investing in these new ways of collaboration, which are there, above all, to enable everyone to achieve their goals. If projects achieve the expected results and if talent feels more fulfilled, what are we waiting for to implement this virtuous circle on a larger scale?
