Managing freelancers used to be a huge pain for The OLIVER Agency. Their best work came from their freelancers but there was so much admin work involved that it was becoming a problem for nearly all of their different teams.
But using Worksome has enabled them to automate a lot of their admin tasks, remove unnecessary back and forth between departments, and be more strategic about their resource planning. And the numbers speak for themselves.
Before Worksome, OLIVER would spend 5.25 hours on admin work, per contract. With Worksome, it only takes them 1.4 hours per contract. That’s 74% less time per contract and that time saved adds up pretty quickly into cost savings. When they look at it on a yearly basis, that’s $30k per year saved on admin work.
Before Worksome
OLIVER’s Head of Resourcing could never be sure of how many freelancers they had in the business at any given time. He would have to resort to asking IT how many users were registered under their open licensing software, but he knew this wasn’t a very reliable way to handle freelance management.
OLIVER’s accounts payable department was also unhappy. They were constantly receiving invoices with no insight into who or what they were for. They’d send them to their Head of Resourcing, who would have to stay on top of which teams were working on what so that he knew who to forward them to.
And then it would be their turn to be frustrated. They had often submitted these invoices weeks — sometimes months — prior and would have to track down what the freelancer had worked on and how long they were working for. And because invoices were sent to the wrong teams so often, aligning costs correctly was almost impossible.
From reactive workforce planning to strategic workforce planning
With admin tasks like payments, contracts, and billing automated by Worksome, a lot of the back and forth between teams disappeared. That has allowed them to really focus on more strategic improvements to their internal teams so they can better service their clients. Before, seeing the bigger picture was impossible because they were so bogged down by trying to get a grasp on their present. But now the bigger picture is really clear.
They can easily see what they’re spending on their freelance workforce, where they’re spending it, where they need to add extra resources, and more. They can look at resourcing trends throughout the years and know in advance where they’ll need more help so that they can line up freelancers beforehand, instead of trying to play catchup.
And the shift from being a reactive business to looking at what the future of resourcing can be and planning properly hasn’t just resulted in better work for their clients. Their internal teams are a lot less stressed and happier with their work too.
Moving forward with better visibility
Like most other businesses, their biggest challenge amidst the Great Resignation is volume and resources. People are constantly leaving and switching jobs right now, and that includes freelancers. It’s a constant game of planning ahead, bringing new people in, and trying to give as much stability as possible to their existing teams.
Now that they have real insight into their freelance workforce at any given time, their next goal is to build a consistent pool of freelancers in Worksome so they aren’t looking for new freelancers each time they have a new project. Using an FMS has made it easy to start to better leverage their top freelancers with clear insight into how busy they are and when projects will wrap up.
Unique needs require tailored solutions
Great service and collaboration quickly came up when asked if there was anything else they’d like to share about their experience with Worksome.
Freelance workforces give companies the ability to be more flexible depending on their needs, so naturally freelance management is going to look a little different for every business. Fortunately, that’s exactly what Oliver found with Worksome.
Ready to see similar results for your business? Click here to request a demo and learn more about how Worksome can help you manage your freelance workforce.
