18 August 2023
Like the rest of the World, New Zealand is facing an unpredictable economic time over the next 12-24 months. Emerging from a global pandemic into election year and officially in recession, many NZ businesses are juggling whether to push ahead with planned ICT initiatives or instead adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach.
A recent ANZ Recruitment Report for the first half of 2023 shows a distinct trend with a steady rise in contract and temp roles (up 1.7% in Q2) and a consistent drop in permanent placements (down 4.7% in Q2).
While there may be a trend towards headcount freezes and sinking lid policies for Full Time Employee FTE hires, there will be some projects that cannot afford to wait, and natural attrition will require a certain level of backfill hiring just to keep the lights on.
Recruiting contractors
- Partner with a reputable contracting services provider. They are well connected and will be able to tap into talent that you would not be able to access otherwise. They will take the time to understand your business and team, saving you time and effort by providing pre-qualified shortlists of suitable resources to consider.
- Hiring Managers should do the hiring. The best outcomes for the business will be if the direct manager hires the contractor themselves, every time. They know the skills they need, the person required and the exact role and deliverables needing to be filled. 90% of the time HR will not be equipped to qualify skilled resources for specific pieces of work.
- Interview carefully, using tools like Zoom or Teams if a face-to-face meeting is not possible. Unlike when hiring for a permanent FTE, multiple interviews involving many different people are not needed when hiring contractors. The key is to utilise the right person in your business to assess whether the contractor has the pre-requisite skills to do the job you need them for – and then move quickly to secure them. The best contractors are in demand and often have several options open to them at any given time.
- Do check the contractor’s references – in particular check what previous clients have said about the contractor’s work and how that might be relevant to your assignment. Don’t be afraid to ask to speak to referees directly to validate specifics. If possible, informal or ‘off the record’ references are a great option also – seek referrals from people you know and trust.
Onboarding contractors
- Set and agree clear expectations of what is required – outcomes and deliverables, hours, place of work, team meetings needed to attend, reporting, etc. This will minimise confusion and allow the contractor to settle in and become a productive member of your team quickly.
Contractor engagement
- While contractors may have different needs than FTEs, this does not mean that the way you engage with them requires a different approach. To get the best value from contract resources, listen to what they have to say, get to know them personally and professionally and provide them with what they need to do their job effectively, whether it is tools or access to stakeholders or decision makers.
Talk to us
Lexel’s Resourcing as a Service (RaaS) team offers customised, flexible resourcing solutions to meet our clients’ ever-changing needs.
We are specialists in the ICT and Digital sector and have a very large and diverse talent pool of contract resources who have been pre-screened and referenced, available for engagement.
We would love to speak with you about your specific requirements and how we can help your business to benefit through engaging flexible resources.
Please contact us to set up a time to chat. Alternatively, you can email Amanda van Ryn, General Manager Resourcing as a Service, who will be happy to assist.