4 Reasons Hiring an Outsider is Good for Your Business

Talent on-demand offers a number of advantages to your business. Some are obvious: Consultants and contractors provide the resources you need to keep work moving while you search for longer-term solutions. Or, they can simply handle a one-time assignment that’s important to address.At the same time, they can enhance your operations in more subtle ways. While the term “outsider” is usually viewed with negative connotations, in business new people bring with them an unbiased approach to their work that hasn’t been influenced by old habits or routine ways of thinking. For example:Too often, companies get stuck in a rut, pursuing the same strategies even though their industry is changing.

1. They Provide a Fresh Perspective

Too often, companies get stuck in a rut, pursuing the same strategies and methodologies even though their industry is changing or consumer behavior has taken several leaps ahead. Bringing in an outsider can expose your team to new ways of thinking about everything from product requirements to financial practices. You may not agree with everything they say, but their ideas are sure to spur conversations and an exploration of doing things in new ways. Both of these are valuable developments in their own right.

2. They Can Shake Things Up

Similarly, organizations sometimes fall into routines that submerge creativity and discourage alternative points of view. Adding a new personality to the team often changes the way the office works. For instance, you may finally realize that you can abandon meetings that took place “because they always have.” The new person may open up fresh lines of communications between team members. In and of themselves, these results may not seem dramatic. But sometimes small changes can re-energize a working group, spurring them to higher levels of productivity and novel ideas for attacking problems that had once seemed intractable.Because they’re not familiar with established routines, newcomers are more likely to break them up.

3. They Can Encourage Collaboration

Here’s another thing about routines: They often discourage collaboration as people slip into certain habits to get their work done, including with whom they communicate. When you introduce a new personality, you’re also introducing someone who brings different approaches to their work. As they go about establishing their own lines of communication within the company, they’re likely to bring together people who may not have normally hashed out issues or explored opportunities in the past. Because they’re not familiar with established routines, newcomers are more likely to break them up.

4. They Expand Your Reach

Talent-on-demand can bring with them new contacts and resources that can benefit your company. These can range from the accountant you’ve been looking for to knowledge of a trade association or other resources whose activities align closely with your business.When you bring in an outsider, their history, disciplines, habits and contacts come with them. In other words, you get more than a new set of hands to accomplish certain tasks – you get a whole new way of looking at your organization, which can lead to asking questions that are worth exploring. Maybe the answers will show that you’re already doing things right. Or, you could expose yourself to new strategies and tactics you hadn’t previously thought of. Either way, your business comes out ahead.