Opinion
Navigating
the gig
economy
April 2020. Making sure you have up-to-
date contracts that are tailored to each
location you operate in is essential to
make sure you can work fairly and legally
internationally.
Lee Ali, MD of Expo Stars,
explains how to work effectively
with freelancers around the world
T
he number of people going
self-employed is growing fast.
Recent stats from TUC indicate the
self-employment market in Britain
has more than doubled in size over
the past three years and now accounts
for 4.7 million workers. It’s not just in
the UK we are seeing this, but also in
many other countries around the world.
Self-employment options vary greatly,
from those working in the gig economy
and zero-hour contracts to specialist
freelancers and consultants who are
experts in a certain skill or sector, as well
as people starting and growing their own
businesses.
Working in the conference and
exhibition industry, we would find it
difficult to operate without freelance
support. Due to the global nature of
our own business, we currently work
with a network of 2,500 freelancers and
specialist promotional staff, which we’ve
carefully built up since the business was
founded in 2007.From the very start,
it was essential that we built a strong,
engaged and talented network to ensure
we can best serve our clients. But, like
with many things, this is something you
have to dedicate time to and, as time has
passed, I’ve learnt there are a number of
factors and potentially challenges to take
into consideration to work effectively
with freelance and temporary staff.
Your team – whether permanent, full-
time, temporary or freelance – represent
you and your business. It’s therefore
vital to invest time in selecting the right
42 — October
people. We have a thorough interview
process, which usually takes place over
a video call due to location and time
differences, so we can determine their
suitability. Testing candidates so we
can determine their personality and
communications styles is also important,
as so much of working in exhibitions
is to do with effective face-to-face
engagement. We’ve also developed
our own internal booking system over
the last five years, which allows us to
streamline how we allocate staff to jobs,
taking into consideration psychology
profiling, communications style, location,
experience, languages and previous
feedback.
To ensure everything runs smoothly
at the event, detailed briefings are
essential. It’s worthwhile briefing the
team before the event and setting aside
time every morning to run through roles
and responsibilities for the day, as well as
answering any questions the team may
have, so everyone feels confident in what
they are doing.
Understand local laws
The law is continuously evolving to
protect workers, and legislation will differ
from country to country. Key players in
the gig economy like Deliveroo and Uber
have led to many countries changing
their rules, and these laws also apply
to traditional employers working with
freelancers or specialist consultants. In
the UK specifically, the IR35 rules will
be extended to the private sector from
Take care of your freelance staff
Working in events can be both
physically and mentally demanding,
so regardless of whether you employ
permanent or freelance staff, you need
to look after their health and wellbeing.
Encourage your team to eat well and
drink lots of water, schedule in regular
breaks and make sure they are taking
time out to rest. To ensure you have an
efficient and productive team, managers
should strive to create a stress-free
environment where everyone feels
relaxed. I’m a big believer of practicing
mindfulness and meditation to achieve
this, and it’s something we encourage all
of our core team to learn and develop.
Freelancer rates and the local
economy
As with permanent staff, payment
rates for freelancers differ depending on
location. Be mindful if you are working in
countries with a more expensive economy
like Scandinavia, Singapore and USA, as
freelance rates tend to be substantially
higher compared to the UK and some
other European countries due to high
local tax rates, the cost of living and
sometimes even a lack of availability of
freelancers. Research your costs at least
four-to-six months in advance and look at
all available options. You might in some
cases find it’s cheaper to fly local staff out
rather than hiring them locally. But make
sure you’re taking in consideration the
criteria of staff you need – for example if
they need to be aware of certain cultures
and customs or speak specific languages.
With freelancers, if you take the time
to carefully select your staff, give clear
briefings, offer a reasonable rate of pay,
and work with your legal team to ensure
your paperwork is in order, you’ll have
a strong, motivated workforce for every
event, allowing you to focus on achieving
the best possible results.