Now that I am doing far more permanent work but still working with contractors about 70% of my time. I feel I can write a decent guide on the different types of contractor you will come across. Its semi humorous, but the content is real and it affects how you have to manage and work with such people.
Serious consultant.
To me a Consultant is a definite term. They are somebody who you know by reputation or by experience, they are not hired in the boring sense, they are consulted and they are retained and often you have to tempt them away from what they are already doing. Obviously, from a HR and legal point of view, you treat them just like any other contractor. But they tend to arrive on your doorstep, up to speed and with a solid understanding of everything that’s going on, they may have even already worked in the company you are in, or at the very least had years and years of experience in the issues you are trying to solve.
They tend to be people with 15+ years of experience, or have even built the product you are working with. They seldom play corporate politics because it holds no interest and they are in it for the long term so don’t want any ill feelings to effect peoples opinion of their professionalism. After your job, there will be another job and reputation precedes them.
Their only downsides are the fact they tend to cost a lot (you get what you pay for), and seldom bend on this point if you are getting pressured from internal corporate sources i.e. “XX is too expensive, get them to cut their rate”, also they are often impersonated by people without the real skill sets.
Consultancy consultant
So this is a consultant you receive as part of a team provided by a larger consultancy (KPMG would be the example that leaps to mind) They tend to be really good and solid, however they often do not to have a consultant mindset. Yes, their company has a contract with you, but they see the work in a slightly different fashion, far more like a permanent member of staff. They will have greater loyalty to their own internal managers than you, they get bored much easier, and they tend to think of things in terms of their own long term growth within their own company. So whereas with a professional consultant, if you hired them and paid them, they will do the same boring job for ages because they know that is the role they are paid for. consultancy consultants do not do this. They have to be treated to a certain extent, like a permanent staff member.
There is in addition one known issue with consultancy consultants, and that is training, Yes they will initially send you their best to get the business, but as soon as they can, they will swap out their top people to stock staff members, in addition any training they receive from your selves will become an asset they will sell on to the next suitable market and while this is the case with all contractors, its more noticeable with larger consultancies as they often have a more comprehensive appreciation of the market place and your competitors. I should point out here that there is nothing wrong with this practice, in fact it would be strange if they did not do both of these things as it would be detrimental to their business but it is something you should be aware of.
Agency contractors.
This is what I would class as a normal and standard contractor, you send out a request to the agencies or even another sub consultancy to go fetch a certain skill set, you receive a short list, you review their CV, Then you pick the one(s) you want. There are good and bad ones. But they tend to be on the whole good because they’ve been in this job for years. I have been one of them and I’ve known good and bad, however they tend to be solid and dependable because they want to do the job for as long as they can. They’re in this for the money mainly. They tend to be a little bit on the cynical side as they have been kicked solidly by various governments for the last 20 or 30 years. And they do not trust a single person within your agency or company.
High Turnover Contractors
These tend to be contractors that you see for the lower end of the skill tree. But even that is being unfair because they come in various individual skill levels. You often see them in helpdesk support or fixed price development, Used by outsourcers from various countries. Their main characteristic is that they tend not to think of your work as a long term speciality skill. They are just good at something and you get them to do something similar, they will not stay in their current position for a career. One of the easiest way to identify them is when you have video calls, they will not turn on the video. They often don’t even log in under their own name. They often use accounts from previous users. They move in and out so fast that the normal setup and retention process simply does not apply to them. The best way of helping them is to make sure you have decent documentation. They are always very good at coming up to speed fast but if they are “put upon” they will retreat behind the letter of any statement of work or documentation. So make sure it’s clear and concise, However if I was honest I would say the best way to work together is to NOT treat them as disposable and not to just demand a never ending string of high priority things from them.
Conclusion
While I have categorised people into groups here, I did not do it as a way to discriminate between the types, but as a way to give you as a client the opportunity to find the best from each person you contract with, and to realise they all have ways in which they are the best solution to meet your needs.