Want loyalty? Hire FTEs! Want an expendable workforce? Hire contractors! Want short term experts to solve problems? Hire consultants (*at a premium price)! But what if you want high performing Agile teams? What type of workers should you look to hire then?
What is better? Being a full time employee (FTE) or being a contractor or temporary/contingent worker? They each have their pros and cons to both the business and the individual. Having experienced both, I thought it would be helpful for others to understand key differences between both staffing options so they can make the most informed decision for themselves and their companies. When trying to be Agile, the choice has its own unique challenges regarding team engagement, motivation, and team forming/harmony, which will be discussed in more detail in a subsequent post.
A friend asked me the other day about my job and what I actually did. It’s difficult to explain IT to people who are not in the industry because many think all we do is fix computers. Now try to explain project management and Scrum. Regardless as I was explaining my role as a ScrumMaster and project manager in application development he rephrased his question, “How do you make the company money?” A valid question, but one that takes some thought.
