Taking care of freelancers, above and beyond paying them for the work they do, is crucial to making the partnership both meaningful and productive. In the past few years, businesses are gradually turning to freelance workers to fill talent shortages and build more versatile teams. And while it can be a perfect solution to reach out to freelancers to fill these gaps in your workforce, here’s our take on the importance of taking care of freelancers beyond the paycheck, and how to do it well.

Why Taking Care of Freelancers Is Important

The practical Perspective:

• When freelancers feel valued and cared for, there is a higher chance that they’ll keep working with you. This way, you will save time and cost on the hiring and training process.
• Your freelancers are already familiar with what your business is about including your mission and vision, your brand, and more, making the turnaround time faster than before.
• Freelancers will usually go the extra mile when they have developed an overall healthy client relationship.

The Catholic Perspective:

• Every single person matters. From God’s perspective, there is no better worker. Maybe some people are more efficient than others, however every person deserves a good place to work and a fair wage.
• Maybe your business doesn’t have the funds to take on an additional full-time employee, and that’s why you’ve turned to a freelancer for a short-term project. If that’s the case, consider that you are doing your small part to help this individual, and perhaps their family, make a decent living.
• The Catholic Church has always supported the dignity of work. Work is a concrete way for all of God’s children to sanctify their lives. Providing a safe and fulfilling workplace, even for just a few projects, can be your way to help freelancers find holiness and fulfillment in their lives.

9 Ways to Take Care of Freelancers

#1. Foster a Positive Freelancer Relationship

Just because they are freelancers, doesn’t mean they won’t appreciate the care you can offer. Although it may be different from a usual employer-employee relationship, fostering a relationship with your freelancers matters.

Instead of looking at them simply as a company add-on, treat them as part of your team. The feeling of being able to talk freely and comfortably to you as a client creates a positive atmosphere. And knowing what matters to them is of great importance if you want to have a positive relationship.

#2. Communicate Consistently

While freelancers like to work independently, communicating with them regularly and consistently matters. These conversations build trust which is essential for quality production. This is because when trust is established, freelancers become confident to share new ideas and discuss them further with the team. Taking care of freelancers in this way fosters greater creativity and higher-quality content.

#3. Show Appreciation

A short message expressing your appreciation for a job well done, or simply for being part of a team, uplifts the spirit of your freelancer to continue working with you.

One of the primary reasons why freelancers ventured into the online world is the hope of avoiding an unhealthy working environment and starting a stress-free lifestyle. So be sure to show some appreciation from time to time.

#4. Provide Feedback

Sadly, for some freelancers, feedback only comes when they’ve done something wrong. Giving honest feedback to your freelancers is probably one of the best ways you can help them build their careers. Freelancers appreciate it if you can spot possible improvement, and if you take the time to share with them in a way that is purely giving.

Feedback can be an essential part of helping freelancers build out a resume, which can serve as an ongoing marketing tool for attracting potential clients.

#5. Set Your Expectations Right

Most freelancers, if not all, are niche-driven and would want to focus on their respective specializations. This doesn’t mean they can’t do other things you would want them to do, but setting your expectations too high may disappoint both parties.

Freelancers only expect to deliver the service you hired them for, and going overboard as a client can lead to trouble.

#6. Step In, if necessary

Although most freelancers are well-trained in their respective specializations, there will be a time when freelancers don’t make significant progress.

Freelancers can sometimes have a hard time taking on a task and would greatly appreciate it if clients would step in to give insights. 

#7. Never Micromanage

Freelancers ventured into the online world with the hope of being their own boss—no control-freak management, no more nags, memos, and salary deductions because of heavy traffic. That means micromanagement is out of the picture.

Freelancers won’t want to be controlled in every part of their job, although occasional consultation is a positive.

Give motivation and input, but don’t micromanage their actions. There must be a sense of trust that the freelancers are doing their job and at their best.

#8. Pay Freelancers Fairly

Hiring a freelancer is probably your best choice regardless of if you are a start-up business or not.

It might be more inexpensive to hire a freelancer than to add a full-time employee to your company, but don’t think of it as a way of offering lowball rates to them.

Freelancers are experts in their fields and deserve to be reasonably paid. This is an essential part of taking care of freelancers. 

#9. Recognize and Reward Your Freelancers

The short-term goals of freelancers are to complete a project, get paid, and move to the next job. But is that how it is supposed to end? How do you inspire them?

Everybody loves that they are appreciated and thanked. If a project goes well, consider offering the freelancer a small gift or token of your gratitude. This can come in a form of constructive feedback, recommendations, and if possible, a monetary bonus.

Looking at how businesses opt to hire independent talent, there is a great chance that your freelancers will leave you if they don’t receive the care they deserve. These freelancers are a valuable skill set on their own, so knowing why and how you should take care of them is very important.

Search here for Catholic job postings, or Catholic Professionals you can hire.

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As the world turns more towards remote work, you might be asking yourself if you should change with it. While remote Catholic hiring isn’t the standard for most ministries, there are plenty of benefits that come with a remote workforce.

Just How Big is Remote Work?

If you’re waiting for this whole remote work thing to blow over and the traditional office to come back, you’ll be waiting a long time. Remote work will be persisting; a large chunk of the US workforce is remote now, and that won’t change anytime soon.

Yes, some formerly remote jobs are starting to return to the office. Some people prefer working in an office (or at least splitting time between home and the office). There are some tangible benefits to in-office work. However, roughly half of the workers in the United States would consider quitting a job that required them to return to the office.

Why Remote Teams Make Sense

First and foremost, you’ll be losing out on a large portion of the talent pool without the option for remote work. More than ever, employees are demanding workplace options that fit their lifestyles. If you want to hire competitively, you’ll have to consider offering remote options.

You aren’t just looking to increase your talent pool, though; you want to hire and keep qualified employees. Remote work increases productivity for many employees. Sure, some people need the structure of an office environment, especially at the entry-level. However, a seasoned professional that knows the job well doesn’t need oversight or micromanaging. In fact, that extra degree of freedom provided by remote work may be what your employees need to be their most productive.

When you get rid of commutes and office distractions, employees can focus more of their time and energy on the task at hand, offering better and more efficient work. You’ll also find that lowered stress boosts overall morale.

The benefits aren’t just psychological, though. At a bare minimum, you can cut down your overhead costs. For businesses renting an office space in a major city, you know just how much of a hit your bottom line takes every month. Why not get rid of a large chunk of your expenses? That money can go towards company improvements or increased pay rates, attracting and retaining better employees.

Why Remote Catholic Hiring is Important

We often forget just how modern the idea of going to an office or leaving home for work is. If we look back on the history of remote work, we notice that we’ve only been “going to work” in the modern sense for about 200 years. Before the Industrial Revolution, work life and home life were intricately tied.

When we look at The Liturgy of the Hours, we see how intimately family, labor, and prayer were all tied together at one point. Participating in remote work allows the greater possibility of a return to that lifestyle. Yes, it’s a version of that life that fits the modern world, but it still participates in that tradition.

If you’re a Catholic organization, you understand that employees are more than just an equation to be adjusted. Yes, satisfied employees do better work, and you want that, but that’s just the surface level. From a pragmatic standpoint, Catholic organizations often don’t have the budget for competitive salaries. You can make up for what you may not have in monetary compensation with creative benefits like remote work.

Your Catholic Business Values should include contributing to the full flourishing of your employees. Remember that you don’t want your employees to put their entire self-worth or identity into their job, even if that job is ministry or Church-related.

You don’t need to offer the perfect job, but you need to recognize your employees’ human and spiritual needs.

One of the most pro-life things you can do as an employer is give your team the ability to spend time at home. Your employees may have young children or parents they need to take care of. Or at least this will afford them the time to be in community with friends and family during the week.

If your employees can do the same work in a shorter time frame with less stress, they have more freedom to see themselves in relation to things beyond the job. That extra time can go to prayer, service, or just time with the family. Remote work can promote a more well-rounded identity and a healthier, more Catholic relation to work.

Is There a Middle Ground?

Not ready to commit fully to remote Catholic hiring? That’s fair – it’s definitely a change from the status quo. Luckily, there is a middle ground in the form of hybrid work. Not everyone can go fully remote, but most can do some level of remote work. Maybe that’s three days in the office and two days at home, or some other splitting of your employees’ time. However you go about it, a hybrid option is a great way to boost employee morale and retain your hardworking staff.

If you’re looking to go hybrid (or fully remote, for that matter), there will be a learning curve. Plenty of us already went through that learning curve during the first significant transition to remote work in 2020, so it may not be as steep as you think. The best way to go about this if you’re looking to take your Catholic jobs into the remote world is to understand there will be some hiccups. If productivity takes a short-term dip, that’s okay. Work at home productivity statistics should climb once the growing pains are passed.

As a Catholic organization, you have an obligation toward your employees’ emotional and spiritual needs. No, you don’t have to turn everything upside down and take ultimate responsibility for your team’s prayer life. That won’t be healthy. However, it is up to you to reasonably accommodate your team’s spiritual and personal needs. Remote hiring is a prominent way to do just that!

About the Author:

Joe Coleman is a freelance writer, editor, and audio production consultant. He holds a BA in Philosophy from Loyola Marymount University (and actually uses it from time to time). A former fellow at KNOM Catholic Radio in Western Alaska, he got his start as an on-air host, producer, and news writer. Currently, you can find him in Southern California writing about national parks, outdoor gear, and the role of Catholics in the business world.

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