How do freelancers develop the competitiveness of businesses?

Freelance profiles now appear as key players in the professional landscape, bringing innovation and competitiveness to companies. However, while 57% of businesses used the services of a freelancer to respond to the talent shortage (Les Échos Start, 2021), the trend has not become widespread since then. In fact, companies do not necessarily have the internal resources to make this transition over the long term, whether it is to organize the administrative follow-up of missions or to integrate freelances-companies collaboration as a vector of innovation to transform its culture. Not turning to freelancers more frequently means first of all cutting yourself off from some of the talent, and subsequently to slowing down the company's competitiveness in the long term. So how can we compete with companies that are perceived as more attractive, in particular because they favour the expertise of a talent rather than a contract? Discover why using freelancers is not only a reinforcement for a project, but also a powerful driver of innovation and competitiveness.

Growth vectors

In recent years, The labor market is experiencing major upheavals : the quest for meaning, the Great Resignation, the increase in the number of freelancers, the democratization of remote working, the prioritization of collaboration vs. the importance of the contract (freelance, permanent, temporary...), even the questioning of productivity models, especially with the emergence of the 4-day week. In short, companies are facing transformation challenges in order to meet the expectations of talent, which have evolved with the current crises.

The growth of your business therefore goes hand in hand with its ability to attract and retain the best talent In particular, it should be taken into account that a significant portion of qualified talent will certainly become freelancers within several years. In 2023, 50% of employees want to become a freelancer within 3 years. Are you ready to anticipate it, knowing that what was a trend is becoming a societal movement?

To prevent this talent drain, companies therefore have an interest in using freelancers now. For example, GAFAMs have been able to attract the best developers by offering them a stimulating and flexible work environment, which has also reinforced the popularity of freelancing, especially in Europe. Efficient and productive, independent talent effectively contributes to the growth of businesses.

Because they are constantly challenged by the different environments they live in, freelancers are in a position to provide innovative solutions to problems encountered by companies. They have the advantage of flexibility, while maintaining high levels of expertise. This allows companies to move forward on strategic projects, without incurring the cost of additional hiring. It also makes it possible to resolve questions of temporality. If you need expertise to carry out a project over a specific period of time, using a freelancer is much more suitable.

Creators of innovation

A company's growth is very often linked to its capacity for innovation and internal transformation. Above all, it is a question of developing one's ability to think outside preconceived frameworks and therefore to develop solutions to respond to situations that are sometimes difficult to unravel without taking a step back.

Using freelancers is a real opportunity to benefit from a new eye on your work methodologies and to seize market trends. You will benefit from multiple advantages in this collaboration, such as:

• a strong ability to identify strengths or areas for improvement, in view of the work environments they may have experienced during their previous missions;
• great agility to quickly understand the context and expectations of a new customer, facilitated by its status, which requires a lot of adaptability;
• an important creativity to offer innovative and adapted solutions, thanks to the diversity of the problems encountered by their former customers.

Moreover, the rise of AI is a perfect example: there are still few experts on the subject, and those who already stand out are for many independent experts. As freelancers are necessarily obliged to train continuously to meet the requests of their clients, it is in their interest to take up the subject quickly. Employees, on the other hand, have first and foremost the challenge of maintaining the company's activity. And this, even before having the opportunity to suggest the implementation of innovative practices in the company. These internal talents will also have to integrate AI into their daily lives but in order to facilitate their current tasks, not to make it their specialty.

Freelancers will help you streamline your internal processes, whether they are, for example, implementing a new accounting tool to streamline the information in your CRM with your current billing software, or the internal reorganization of your teams in view of the new business strategy. More and more businesses understand the need for hybrid teams, which stimulates their innovation process and meets their transformation goals.

Key players in transformation

Self-employed individuals can identify areas for improvement in terms of the successful completion of the mission, but it is entirely possible that this collaboration will lead to the emergence of deeper structuring questions, in line with your fundamentals, values and long-term vision.

We identify three concrete developments:

• expanding talent sources : Where to find freelancers when your company recruits via channels only adapted to the search for employee profiles? You will no doubt have to approach freelance networks. Or maybe you will prefer to be supported by trusted third parties specialized in connecting freelancers and businesses. If you want to regularly use freelancers, it may be interesting to have a logistical tracking tool.
• results-oriented goals : While employees are more generally subject to obligations of means, freelancers can commit to results. This operation can serve as a model for the rest of the business. This would allow operational managers to guide teams towards harmonizing ongoing actions to meet real business goals.
• The valorization of the collective : Despite their independent status, which might suggest the opposite, freelancers enjoy working in a team. On the contrary, they bring a new perspective that benefits the teams. It is therefore necessary to find a balance in order to bring out the best ideas from this collective intelligence.

Today, we all see that the contract is becoming a modality. This does not determine the quality of a profile, it makes it possible to frame the collaboration with a talent according to a common agreement. Whether they are freelance talents or employees, the company will turn to the experts who will have the best impact for the structure.

Freelancers have a welcome perspective for businesses. In the long run, not working with them is a risk. How can you innovate without a fresh perspective? As this collaboration may require structuring and acculturation work, the simplest thing is undoubtedly to get closer to partners in order to make these transformation challenges a reality. Beager, a service that connects freelancers and companies, precisely has the role of facilitating these collaborations, understanding the respective objectives and of course, identifying the right freelancer profile for your needs.