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How to Select the Right Freelancer for the Work

2016-02-25 11:03:41

Jon YoungerTelma VialeNorm SmallwoodAaron Younger

February 23, 2016

Leading public and private sector organizations are increasing their dependence

on external expertise. The benefits are compelling: increased flexibility,

speed, and innovation as well as cost management. As organizations confront new

competitive challenges and disruptive technologies, an agile approach to talent

provides both a means of rapid strategic change, as well as a way to increase

strategic capability. But the selection of external talent project-based

consultants, technical advisors, and gigsters is often challenging.

Selection 101 is obvious: expertise, relevant experience, cultural fit,

availability and cost. But beyond these basics, we have found a set of five

fundamental principles to direct the choice of who, what, and when. These

principles can make a big difference in getting the right people on board:

1. Make your external talent strategy transparent. You can only select from the

agile talent you attract, which suggests that you must have a talent strategy

that is clear and attractive to the quality of external expertise you need. As

many have commented, top consultants and gigsters have many options and are

primarily drawn to opportunities that are meaningful and challenging, and where

the organization and its leadership provides a productive and respectful

environment for external talent.

However, a good agile talent strategy needs to be communicated as effectively

internally as it is externally. Employees want to know how the choice of

external vs. internal talent fits into the overall resourcing and business

plan. If unclear, internal staff may engender suspicion about why the

organization has chosen to go outside rather than inside, why leaders are

seeking temporary or part-time assistance rather than full-time expertise, and

whether there are deeper implications for example, does it suggest longer term

changes in terms of organization performance and career concerns?

2. Ask who can do the real job: 1X, 3X or 10X? Organizations bring agile talent

on board to achieve a result they feel unable to achieve without reaching

outside for assistance. But it is important for leaders and their Procurement

or HR colleagues to honestly and explicitly determine the level of contribution

that is required, and ensure the chosen external expert is up to the task. Does

the task require an effective external resource (1X), a particularly strong and

experienced agile talent (3X), or truly senior and amazing expertise (10X)?

Too often leaders bring in the wrong external colleagues to save cost or time,

and the individuals recruited lack the experience or talent to achieve the

level of innovation or impact required. Or, conversely, management imports a

truly extraordinary talent for the type of assignment that should be handled by

a lesser resource, one who may be more available, less expensive, or more able

and willing to facilitate a transfer technical capability than a true star. In

short, the selection process needs to specify the contribution needed, and to

ensure that the chosen resource delivers.

3. Define table stakes and differentiators. Individuals bring a mix of skills,

experiences and qualities to the organizations that employ them. In selecting

agile talent, it s crucial that hiring managers understand the difference

between table stakes competencies and the critical few competency

differentiators that are essential for success at the level of contribution

required (e.g., 1X, 3X or 10X). Table stakes competencies are those one can t

get in the door without. But to deliver the outcome for which the organization

initially decided to seek external help, what critical few competencies or

experiences are truly needed? That is the question that needs to be answered

early and honestly, and the basis upon which agile talents are best selected.

4. Involve the right organization members. Choosing agile talent ought to

involve the individuals who will depend on the external resource, and those on

whom the agile talent will depend. But organizations are often weak in this

aspect of the selection process. Problems we typically see include:

not involving individuals who are key to the external s success in completing

the assignment;

involving too many people in unproductive or unfocused ways;

taking too long by being sloppy about the decision criteria either too many,

or too few, or not outcome-oriented;

focusing disproportionately on social criteria, making selection a beauty

contest (who we like best);

choosing safe ( Nobody ever got fired hiring ___ ) instead of fully meeting the

challenge.

In the final analysis, a good selection process for agile talent is ultimately

nothing more or less than a disciplined effort to determine who best has the

competence and expertise to achieving the goal.

5. Keep selecting through frequent review. We have been on both sides of agile

talent as executives hiring external experts and as consultants advising

leaders. Our consistent experience, from both sides, is that agile talent

relationships are more successful when performance is measured rigorously,

frequently, and both sides honestly review progress with clear criteria for

continuing, changing, or ending the relationship. More often is better than

less often. The process of regular, rigorous, review should be laser-focused on

a real agenda: the competencies figured as crucial differentiators, and how

well progress and client acceptance corresponds to expectations and agreements.

This mechanism helps organizations to avoid the error of continuing a

relationship that isn t delivering sufficient results.

Agile talent assignments vary tremendously, from the anthropologists advising

Google/Alphabet to the consultants supporting SAP implementations, or the

part-time designer of Christmas cards for Hallmark. But while the work may

differ, the selection process ought to align means and ends as tightly as

possible. Using these five principles, leaders and their advisors in Purchasing

and HR are likely to do a far better job of selecting the agile talent they

need, and more nearly establishing the conditions for project success.

Jon Younger is a partner of the Agile Talent Collaborative and the author of

several books in HR and talent management, including Agile Talent (HBR Press,

2016). He can be reached at jon@agiletalentco.com.

Telma Viale is director of Organization Development for SRI Executive and can

be reached at tviale@sri-executive.com.

Norm Smallwood is co-founder of The RBL Group, a strategic HR and leadership

systems advisory firm, and the coauthor of several books including Agile Talent

(HBR Press, 2016). He is a partner in the Agile Talent Collaborative and can be

reached at Nsmallwood@RBL.net.

Aaron Younger is a partner in the Agile Talent Collaborative and can be reached

at Aaron@agiletalentco.com.