Continuing the success story of our recent client acquisition, Ken reflects on his personal experiences and how that influences the activities that Rooost undertake to help keep their clients workforce working towards their company's overarching goals.

By definition, a contractor is employed on a temporary basis and undertakes a contract to provide labour to perform a service or do a job. So when a contractor appears at a new site – being selected for a role nobody else could fulfil – what are the permanent members of staff supposed to expect?

A lot of the expectations are about money, i.e. "if you're paid so much, you must be good." – although there is a lot of ignorance surrounding contractor pay and what they provide other than a specific skill or expertise. Let’s not forget that, they've probably paid for their education and training themselves; when they are not working, they are not being paid (holiday pay; sick pay etc.) and they come fully equipped with all the tools they need to do the job – and with no expectations that they should be provided!

The circumstances of a contractor's position also dictates high expectations. It is therefore a requirement of being a contractor to behave as an outsider because they are a hired hand, brought in to provide a particular set of expert skills. It is very difficult for them to integrate as a team member like a new employee.

But not all contracts are for specialist skills to fill a niche in an existing team. Companies sometimes create entire project teams from contract staff because of the flexibility to hire and fire, and to suffer fewer complications in terms of employment rights – and that just amplifies the behaviours! 

Even so, contractors are still expected to hit the ground running; contribute to those high expectations; have immunity to staff politics; take fewer holidays; have less sick leave; and, not least, have great enthusiasm – something that declines in the jaded permanent team.

The contractor must, therefore, be a robust individual – and is likely to be treated as such. And the question raised in this article is… 

“Is how a contractor is treated aligning with the company's strategic goals?” 

Because they provide a service and are remunerated by payment of an invoice doesn’t mean they can be treated like a product. Of course, they will have KPIs; measurements; checks and balances etc. but they are human beings and must be treated as such – just like permanent employees in fact. By doing this, it will contribute to an alignment with your strategic goals more than any KPI measurement – how can it not? So the answer to the question this article raises is for the reader who employs contractors to reflect on how their contractors are treated and ask themselves, “are they treated like the permanent team?” And if they are working away from home whilst on contract, do we provide them with the additional support they will need – accommodation that meets their specific needs; tips on how to improve sleep; identifying and managing stress; improving their health and wellbeing; resources on the local town or city they are living in.

To find out more on how we support contractors who are working away from home, contact us at [email protected] or call us on +44(0)1926 298916.

Locations where Rooost operate are: Aberdeen, Bath, Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Chelmsford, Cheltenham, Chester, Coventry, Edinburgh, Exeter, Glasgow, Ipswich, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Luton, Manchester, Newcastle, Norwich, Oxford, Sheffield, Southampton, Southend, Stoke-on-Trent