Navigating the New Era of Subcontracting
Due to the high cost of full-time salaried employees, Professional Service companies have heavily adopted the use of subcontractors and part-time professionals, including the use of competitors, to fill specific roles and complete projects with narrow timelines. This approach contrasts with traditional full-time employment, offering flexibility and specialized skills. Importance: With the rapid changes in market demands and the growing need for specialized skills, the fractional workforce model is becoming increasingly essential for businesses to remain competitive and agile.
Opportunity & Risk Coopetition is a concept blending two seemingly opposing business strategies: cooperation and competition. This strategy recognizes that businesses can benefit from cooperating with each other while maintaining a competitive stance in the market. The idea is rooted in game theory and economics, and it applies to situations where companies work together in some areas, such as joint research, shared supply chain resources, or co-development of technologies, while still competing in other areas. The challenge is Trust.
The Rise of the Fractional Workforce
Going all the way back to the 2000s, the fractional workforce has gained momentum with the advent of the gig economy and technological advancements, enabling easier collaboration and communication domestically and throughout the world.
Present data and surveys showing the percentage of small to mid-cap services companies ($50mm in revenues or less), relying on subcontractors. Communications markets engineering, construction, and project management are most prevalent and in constant demand.
Advantages of a Fractional Workforce
Flexibility: Today, mid-cap technology services businesses operate at a frenetic pace, often requiring scaling their workforce teams up or down, having to respond quickly and efficiently to meet operational market changes and client demands without the long-term commitment of hiring full-time employees.
Expertise and Specialization: Today’s services workforce often requires a bevy of bespoke skills and expertise of which hiring a small tiger team may be too niche and costly for a company to maintain in-house specific contract.
Cost-Effectiveness: Explain the potential savings in overhead costs, benefits, and training by hiring experts when needed and scaling your business organically versus having to painfully justify the means of a new salary with a bottleneck of existing sales projects.
Challenges in Managing a Fractional Workforce
How do you Find the Talent? Delving into the competitive landscape for hiring top subcontractors and the importance of building a reliable talent pool is difficult. Scouring LinkedIn for a needle in the haystack, paying a recruiter 20% commissions off the top, or spending valuable internal resources on the search. It’s all daunting.
Challenges Quality Control: Once you find the talent you then need to maintain quality standards, such as setting clear expectations, regular check-ins, and using performance metrics. They may have done things well “their way” but now you need to make sure they are doing it by your company standards.
Communication and Coordination: Keeping everyone in the loop with systems is key. It’s usually the heaviest time investment with ramping up a new team members.
The SOLUTION? Simple. WorkForceG
- WorkForceG fosters Strong Networks: WorkForceG has established Project Management Superusers who are already PM’s who use the WorkForceG Project Tracker and GANTT CHART platforms, streamlining workflows and collaboration and saving you valuable time and money.
- With WorkForceG’s established reviewed list of subcontractors, company and resource bios are on full display, allowing your company to connect with the best resources.
- Peace of Mind: With WorkForceG’s proprietary NDA imbedded signoff, you can work with your new contract partners on your personal projects with confidence.
- Mutual Rating: With WorkforceG’s rating score card, you can match with the best as well as provide positive feedback with your new partners. Predict how the fractional workforce might evolve with advancements in technology and changing economic conditions.
- Call to Action: Encourage businesses to evaluate their current workforce model and consider how integrating a fractional workforce could benefit their operations.