We are in a moment in history where companies need to develop new ways to integrate their employees. Taking it further, we believe that companies must rethink their conception of what is an employee. A flexible workforce is one that’s able to grow and shrink in size at any given time by the needs of the employer. Companies are growing, and with that, solutions like a flexible workforce need to be implemented to support the efforts of the full-time staff during busier times or for specific periods. Ironhack is an example of this in Portugal.
Ironhack is a tech school that started in Madrid in 2013 as an answer to the huge unemployment crisis that Spain was facing, giving its students the chance to learn new skills and pursue meaningful careers in Web Development, UX/UI Design and Data Analytics. As any offline business, it is dependent on infrastructures to scale-up. The school teams are based in 3 main roles:
The Staff, which are the people working on growing the business like the General Manager.
The teachers who can have two main roles:
- The Lead Teachers, which are experienced Web Developers, UX Designers, and Data Analysts coming from the tech industry.
- Teacher Assistants (TAs), advanced and outstanding students that Ironhack invites to give support in the classroom.
This last role comes with a lot of rotation which translates into a big amount of paperwork — payslip, doubts, etc — that can take valuable time and focus from the staff — so Ironhack needed a flexible solution to save time and maximize the organization’s efficiency.
That’s why the Teaching Assistants are usually contractors — independent workers who have set-up their own one-person companies or can work full-time on a project basis. Contractors are project-driven — they enjoy the flexibility and are moved by the novelty pursuing new challenges after finishing a project.
Companies like Ironhack experience a big shift in the demand of people power because of the periodicity of the courses, which implies the need for a flexible workforce that can be adjusted to the company needs. However, managing a flexible workforce can be time-consuming and very bureaucratic when it comes to contracts and taxes. The solution found by Ironhack in Landing.Jobs is the externalization of this process.
“Right now, we have a contractor format with the TAs where they are invoicing Landing and Landing invoices Ironhack.” Álvaro Gonzalez, General Manager from Ironhack Lisbon
Landing.Jobs takes care of every part of the process so Ironhack can be focused on what they do best — teaching and growing the business. Instead of receiving dozens of invoices per month and confirming each one, Ironhack receives only one — Landing.Jobs takes care of contracts, NDAs and payment processing. Plus, all the contractors get tax advice within our service to make sure they are informed and fiscally compliant.
Other options might include the purchase of SaaS products to help automate the process — even though these don’t manage every step of the process, they do diminish the workload and facilitate it.
After creating strategies to manage this flexible workforce, another big topic is developing a work culture. How can leaders bring contractors to their organization’s culture?
Contractors usually do not have typical onboarding and training, which are used to build a sense of community and belonging in the company. The culture is not strengthened in the formal moments, but in the little breaks and encounters next to the coffee machine. This means there are new opportunities to explore that can make them feel welcomed, integrated and part of the team. Their physical presence can be leveraged to communicate the company culture by including them in team lunches, team building activities and company meetings.
When creating a strong culture within your company, you need to integrate Contractors as any other full-time employee — choose to onboard them as you’d to do anyone else, let them be a part of all activities and make sure they are motivated by more than money.
“Being a TA is not a typical freelancer job, they aren’t a tool used to reach a goal, they are a part of the Ironhack community. I don’t care if you are a part-time teacher, a full-time teacher, an assistant or staff. It’s my team and I don’t have multiple teams. I have one team that are the people I trust to grow Ironhack. The contractual format should not shape the integration of the team. Everyone onboards the same product with the same ambition.” Álvaro Gonzalez, General Manager from Ironhack Lisbon.
It is important that companies make sure the entire workforce feels part of the company’s culture, regardless of their employment status. This can be done through big and small gestures, like celebrating wins and supporting them through times of need.
The way we work is changing. The flexible work model is evolving and if this pandemic is teaching us something is the fact that companies and businesses will have to redefine their workforce and cultures to adapt to this new reality and meet the expectations of their current and future employees.
If you want to know more about contracting and what we can do for you and your business, feel free to reach out to us via email at wegotyourback@landing.jobs.
Aim for more!
Your Landing.Jobs team
0 Comments