Freelancer Onboarding: Old Way vs New Way

With 1.57 billion freelancers out of a total global workforce of 3.38 billion, the demand for freelance talent is undeniable.

This is further highlighted by a 2024 report that predicts 92% of companies will engage freelancers in the next two years, and by 2027, the freelance workforce is believed to reach 86.5 million. 

The bottom line: The gig economy isn't only here to stay; it's flourishing!

In light of this, agencies need to be prepared.

When companies rely on creative agencies to plug their skills gaps, they must supply qualified candidates and ensure freelancers can start almost immediately.

The problem? Onboarding takes days or even longer.

This slow start is undeniably frustrating for all parties involved. Clients are left waiting, emails bounce back and forth, and multiple documents need signing before a freelancer can work with a client.

Needless to say, this timelapse can significantly hinder project progress and even result in losing clients who become frustrated and move on elsewhere. Similarly, it can also lead to decreased freelancer satisfaction, as they are left waiting and dealing with unnecessary paperwork instead of focusing on their work. 

With that said, let's look at how agencies can streamline their onboarding.

But first:

The Problems With Traditional Freelancer Onboarding

As we've already hinted, several issues underpin the traditional approach to freelance onboarding. To further reiterate the above, here are some sobering statistics:

• 81% report feeling overwhelmed during the onboarding process

• 58% of organizations say their onboarding is mostly about paperwork and systems

• 69% of workers who stick with a firm for three years if they have a great onboarding

• 32% of global executives reporting a poor onboarding experience

This is just a small insight into why agencies need to streamline their onboarding process. While companies might be great at attracting freelancers to their talent pool, they may be less successful at actually onboarding talent for projects.

Obviously, there are unique challenges to managing both strands:

For example, 73% of recruiters struggle to find enough quality talent, and only 12% of workers feel their organization has a good onboarding process. 

Where freelancers are concerned, it’s possible the organizations they work for are otherwise excellent at onboarding employees but simply ignore the importance of doing it well for freelancers.

This is a massive pitfall for enterprises. Poor freelancer onboarding can hurt a working relationship, result in misunderstandings, and create needless paperwork. We'll explore some of these issues in greater detail below:

Outdated Onboarding Methods

As we've already alluded to, sticking to traditional onboarding practices comes with risks:

Most notably, potentially losing top-quality talent to competitors. Frustrated by the slow pace of the onboarding process, freelancers may move on to roles that enable them to hit the ground running quicker, posing a severe threat to your talent pool. The sooner freelancers complete a project, the quicker they get paid- so it's in their interest to work with companies that prioritize a speedy onboarding process.

Reduced productivity is another drawback of a sluggish onboarding system. As a result of needless delays, freelancers might start work feeling frustrated and unmotivated. This is likely to be even more of a problem if freelancers aren't paid on time because their financial details have been lost, requested belatedly, or the organization’s system for invoice submission and payment is antiquated and slow.

Conversely, one report found that 51% of workers go “above and beyond” if they’ve had a good onboarding experience. 

At this point, it's also worth noting that a poor onboarding experience can increase operational costs for your business, with some studies estimating up to 18% of a hire’s salary.

The above concerns aren't just theories. Several real-life businesses have opened up about how their shoddy onboarding processes negatively impacted them.

For example, one international workforce solutions company reports that their onboarding process required significant manual effort and time. As a result, their operations became increasingly challenging. The company recognized the urgent need to centralize its talent's information to help address these challenges. 

Elsewhere, Dr Gleb Tsipursky, dubbed the “The Office Whisperer” by the New York Times, writes on LinkedIn that numerous (unnamed) companies have faced the consequences of poor onboarding. For example, he cites one financial services company that faced compliance-related issues due to poor onboarding, resulting in penalties and reputational damage.  

Old Way vs New Way

Thankfully, there's a solution to streamlining your onboarding processes. To help you get a sense of what's achievable, we'll compare traditional onboarding methods with modern, technology-driven approaches:

The Old Way:

• Contracts are sent via email for freelancers to sign. The freelancer will then email these documents back, resulting in delays.

• Manual paper filing systems are used for contracts and signed agreements (e.g., NDAs, non-competes, data protection, contracts, etc.). This increases the likelihood of human errors, potential misfiling, and lost documents.  

• Similarly, paper records or complicated spreadsheets are used to store freelancer details such as their resume, phone number, address, email address, references, portfolio, and details of previous work.

• Freelancer payment details are kept on paper or via emails bouncing between hiring managers and finance teams, resulting in potential payment delays.

• Freelancer tax documentation is kept in filing cabinets or as email attachments, resulting in details being accidentally deleted or attributed to the wrong person.

• Reliance on email or phone calls to facilitate communication with freelancers during the onboarding process, resulting in a slow and inconsistent approach.

The New Way:

• With a digital contract system, agencies can ensure freelancers can instantly access and sign contracts with an electronic signature, reducing the time it takes to start a project. This not only saves time but also enhances the overall experience for both clients and freelancers.

• All documents are stored centrally in a secure cloud-based platform that freelancers and clients can access whenever needed, including freelancer tax information like IR35, W8, and W9 forms and anti-money laundering checks.

• Freelancer details, such as ID, etc., are uploaded onto one central online platform. This can include details of freelancer skills, past roles, and availability. Managers can access this information at speed when looking to source fresh talent for new projects. 

• Freelancer payment details are inputted into the system by the freelancer during onboarding, allowing your finance team easy access to ensure payments are made on time.

• Communication is supported via tools like Slack that are integrated with your freelance management platform to facilitate instant and secure two-way dialogue before, during, and after onboarding.

How Bubty Can Help

Bubty’s freelance management system can revolutionize your freelancer onboarding process. It can perform all the tasks outlined above, but let’s zone in on some of its spotlight features that can increase your onboarding efficiency by 50%:

• Automated compliance checks: All legal documentation is automated, including background checks, the right to work, and ID and bank screenings. The latter is part of a process called “KYC” (Know Your Customer) checks. This automated workflow helps to ensure these documents meet all the necessary legal requirements.

• Electronic contract signings: Contracts can be signed electronically and stored securely to expedite onboarding. You'll also receive alerts before a contract expires.

• Reduction of manual tasks: Freelancers can upload their resumes, and Bubty’s AI then converts this into a freelancer profile. You can add custom fields to collect all the details you need for your organization. For example, freelancer skills, languages spoken, and so on. 

• Seamless integration with existing HR systems, including Slack and Zapier. 

• Real-time tracking of onboarding statuses: You can view freelance onboarding progress in real-time - you and your freelancer can see what percentage (out of 100%) of onboarding tasks have been completed via the Bubty progress bar. 

• Customized onboarding workflows: You can create multiple tailored workflows to suit different use cases. For example, adding information like background checks, skills, availability, education, etc. 

• Branded onboarding: Bubty’s white-label sign-up page reflects your brand identity. You can share branded public or private links with potential freelancers, meaning your brand is always at the forefront, which can help increase freelancer sign-ups by 80%. 

In other words, the above features will help you speed up the onboarding process and keep your brand identity while ensuring compliance and total accuracy.

Before We Go

Having read this blog post, we hope you now have a better understanding of how a robust, reliable, and speedy freelance management system can help transform your freelancer onboarding process.

Such a system goes a long way towards ensuring tasks don’t fall through the cracks and that onboarded freelancers are impressed because you show them they work in a professional environment. 

For more information on better managing your talent pool, download our free 'Freelance Management Blueprint' today! This will give you a fuller understanding on how to improve your onboarding processes for freelance hires so they return to work with you time and time again. Enjoy!