Contracting can best be described as the ultimate try before you buy!

Rather than jumping into a long-term commitment it provides an opportunity for an employee and an employer to work together to see if the fit is right for both parties. It can however be a double-edged sword. As there is no commitment either can pull out of the arrangement if things don’t go to plan.

In recent times we have seen a shift in how employers and employees feel about contract work. The demand for contract roles has increased as the workforce continues to change under new pressures. As companies respond to financial pressures, shrinking resources and ever expanding workloads often their demands do not reduce and they need to find a solution. Staffing is kept lean and mean with no slack for over-and-above projects. Sometimes the only cost effective way around this is to hire contractors to ensure timeframes are met on those non-negotiable projects.

Previously there was a preconception that contractors were “second best”, not of a high enough standard or looking for a way into permanent roles. Thankfully this has changed. Many professionals with a solid background and transferable skills have made a lifestyle choice to become “career contractors”. They are motivated by goals other than security – they want to work from home, have had enough of workplace politics, want time with their family, want to take that trip, or return to study. Contracting can offer that flexibility and balance, giving people more choice. Market conditions also play a role influencing the supply/demand curve. With the candidate market remaining tight and employers facing increasing pressure with managing their costs, both sides need to be flexible in considering their options. Over the last 6 months we (market partners) have seen an increase in candidates who previously would only have considered permanent roles and are now prepared to look at contracting as another option. This has been across both the Services and FMCG sectors. On the employer side they are 6 months in, know their positions and what they can and can’t resource and fund for the remainder of the year so need to consider their options.

So what are the advantages and disadvantages of contracting?

For employers there are numerous advantages:

• Cost effectiveness – no annual leave, sick leave, long-service accruals
• Increased productivity from contractors versus permanents as they don’t have to deal with competing demands and can focus on the task at hand
• Ability to dedicate resources to key projects without affecting the day to day running of the business
• Help to manage resource allocation
• No long-term commitment
• Inject new skills into the organisation with minimal risk

And the disadvantages:

• Some companies are concerned about confidentiality of information but all contractors especially career contractors are aware that their reputation is critical if they are to get
  another role
• Lack of commitment – if a project runs over or a decision hasn’t been made as to the finish date a contractor may have already secured another role or wish to move on

There are also many advantages for the contractor:

• Higher productivity as you don’t have to deal with competing demands or office politics and can focus on the project
• Variety of work places/industries/roles/challenges keeps it interesting and tests the
  individual’s skills to adapt and work in different environments
• Employers often open to giving contractors an opportunity to move across industries or roles as there is little risk for them
• Clarity of job responsibilities and expectations
  – hired for a specific purpose with a timeframe provided
• Paid for every hour you work
• Able to pursue other ambitions and still have an income

And the disadvantages:

• Inconsistency of income or role; depending on the individual and how they adapt and can manage their financials; particularly in-between roles
• No security; my contract ends in 3 weeks, what next?
• No annual leave, sick leave and other employee benefits
• Don’t always feel part of the team
• Minimal training and development; can be a steep learning curve
• Roles won’t always live up to the PD; can sometimes be “below” where you were previously
• Constantly have to adjust to new work environments

Contracting positions in sales and marketing are still in their infancy if you compare them to other
industries like IT, healthcare or industrial that have been using the benefits of contracting for years. There are still companies that find it a relatively new concept however they are embracing contracting to succeed in achieving their targets and objectives.

If you are thinking about a career change, don’t discount contracting as an option. It’s an ideal way to change industries, gain experience in a variety of roles and achieve more choice and balance. Security, even for permanent staff, is a thing of the past so for those willing to sacrifice this illusion there are many exciting benefits.

If you have good skills and an adaptable style then contracting may be worth considering…..and if you have to meet that deadline and don’t have the capacity in your team then perhaps think about what a contractor can do to keep you on track.

Tim

“The Australian Sex Party” does seem to already have a slogan – We’re serious about sex, but they are obviously after something a bit more catchy, meaningful, funny. I don’t know.

Anyway you can find the official press release here and make up your own mind.

Tim

I am hoping it provides some value to my readers as it should link Australian based advertisers to my content and provide some relevant material. Also might ad a few dollars to cover my hosting costs.

As an early adopter to Nuffnang there are some advantages in that they are taking more notice of our opinions and ways in which the system can be improved. So if you are a blogger join up and share the wealth.

I searched to see who else is using Nuffnang to see if they have any feedback yet on how it is going.

Michelle seems to be making the most of the Nuffnang service on her site, it well worth a look at the moment, seems she is after a belt for Christmas.

Das Connection has even discovered there is a Nuffnang Christmas Party tomorrow night, anyone invited?

Karen Cheng an esteemed blogger based in my birthplace Perth is also using Nuffnang so that’s a ringing endorsement.

Anyway the real reason for this post if purely to will the Dell™ Inspiron™ Mini 9! Between my wife and 3 boys I am lucky to get near any one of our computers so to be able to sneak off into the bedroom and blog away on the mini will be a great Christmas present.

All the best Nuffnang.

Tim

We are still in the early days of blogging and corporate bloggers are still experimenting with style and substance. The most successful corporate bloggers have the same characteristics as social bloggers, they are informative, passionate, topical and entertaining/funny.

The article on Brands while lacking any deep analysis does present some very interesting survey results based on Technorati research.

Some of the most interesting insights detailed by the authors were;

“Twice as many bloggers look to other blogs compared to TV, print, or outdoor advertising to learn more about products and services”

“More than eight in ten bloggers post product or brand reviews, and almost nine in ten blog about brands that they love (or hate)”

This leads to the next challenge, how do marketeers influence these people. Web 2.0 is a challenge for the corporate world because any interaction is seen as manipulation and fake. A corporate blogger or forum poster has to be open and show their cards or they will damage the brand when they are found out. But what influence can they have when they obviously come from conflicted point of view?

This challenge has led to, as the article states;

“one in three bloggers has been approached to be a brand advocate. Of
those, more than six in ten were offered payments of some kind.”

Crediblogity - I just invented a word, couldn’t find it on google anyway; The more credible a blog, the more influential its commentary on Brands will become. Get on that band wagon and free samples, holidays etc will follow.

What about Forum posting? Any Comments?

Tim

Anyway when I got over the disappointment I found some interesting stuff on the Hitwise Analysts Blog that relates to us here in FMCG land and the job world as well. Robin Goad – Research Director, Hitwise UK, is responsible for the two articles that interested me the most. Has the credit crunch killed ethical consumerism? follows the Hitwise philosophy that

“search behaviour is a great way of tracking consumer behaviour”

The article looks at the search results for 4 term portfolios that Robin believes gives a good cross section of the ethical consumer. Interestingly only one of these; the “Efficiency” (e.g. ‘loft insulation’, ‘underfloor heating’) portfolio has shown any increase over the past 12 months. The other portfolios have all declined, Carbon/Environment (e.g. ‘co2 emissions’, ‘hybrid cars’), Fair Trade (e.g. ‘fair trade clothing’, ‘charity shops’) and Organic Terms (e.g. ‘organic vegetables’, ‘riverford organic’). Maybe charity does begin at home.

The other article relates to a subject close to all our hearts, Job Searches.  Google Docs benefits from growth in job searches looks at where the action is from the increase in interest in employment/unemployment due to the economic turmoil we are currently experiencing. He is analysing the UK data for traffic on the Business and Finance – Employment and Training websites. We see in the result a very large unseasonal increase in traffic against the usual downward trend from this time of the year leading into Christmas.

The other interesting factoid he picks up on is the traffic from the search term “CV”. An obvious term as we all rush to update our Resume and have the latest and greatest template to impress the recruiters. Just don’t put your picture in it is all I can say – seems to be becoming a scary trend.

Anyway back to the article, it seems Google Docs and Spreadsheets is picking up nearly 20% of the traffic from this search term.  With traffic increasing by over 150% over last year this has become a very popular destination.

This site is well worth keeping an eye on and other Analysts from other regions have good insights as well.

Tim.

After looking at the Tesco emails, I thought it would be a good experiment to see if any Australian retailers/supermarkets are doing emails well. Coles is probably the best place to start as they have recently revamped their emails and also repositioned Coles Online to be Coles.com.au (I think that’s a great thing – one umbrella brand without any sub-brands, so easy for the consumer to remember when they are going online).Dominique Hind’s Collective, Sep 2008

You should read the whole article.