One of the questions our customers have about our repair and maintenance services regards employment. They want to know whether we have a team of in-house employees or whether we work with subcontractors. The fact is that we use a combination of both subcontractors and in-house employees to complete projects of all types because of the benefits that come with both.
The following is a breakdown of the differences between subcontractors and in-house employees and the advantages that are unique to each one.
Unlike subcontractors, our employees work directly for us. Employees don't run a business and instead perform tasks that primarily benefit their employer. There are several key benefits of hiring employees over subcontractors, which include:
Our employees share the same goal as our organisation. This helps align them with the business and encourages them to achieve the same results, which means that if we have specific goals for clients, our in-house employees will also work toward them.
Employees often have training programs and other resources available to them via their employer to develop their skills. This helps them become experts in their field and enables them to grow with their employer. As a result, clients benefit from working with highly skilled professionals who have sufficient training and experience.
Another benefit of hiring employees is the level of familiarity they develop with specific projects and clientele. Subcontractors may work for many contractors and those contractors' clients, which can limit the amount of familiarity they gain. Employees, meanwhile, become accustomed to what particular projects entail and have a deep understanding of what individual clients need and want. This helps increase our employees' reliability and efficiency as they build lasting relationships with clients.
An example of this is after completing work over a ten-year maintenance contract, our employees who've worked under this contract will know the jobs, staff, site, what work has been completed, and other factors that make them more dependable than subcontractors who change from job to job.
The costs of a subcontractor can vary from business to business, but costs are consistent with in-house employees. Having a team of employees entails paying a consistent wage that helps make the cost of operations and projects more predictable.
Unlike employees, subcontractors work independently and take jobs under contractors. Although having in-house employees is often advantageous, these professionals come with certain benefits of their own. Those benefits include:
Subcontractors are generally more flexible, as we can hire different experts for a project based on the project's unique requirements. Hiring these professionals also allows for greater flexibility managing the relationship, as we don't need to consider the continuation of certain benefits for subcontractors. As soon as a job is complete, it's easy to offboard the subcontractor.
Companies often work with subcontractors to bring on staff with certain specialised expertise. For example, a project may require an individual with a unique set of skills and a level of experience that in-house employees don't currently possess. In these cases, we can assemble a team of professionals based on the needs of each project.
Hiring new in-house employees entails locating the right candidate and onboarding them via training and other early steps, which can be time-consuming. Subcontractors are hired based on their speciality, and they can begin work on the designated project, allowing for increased efficiency.
To reap the benefits of both subcontractors and in-house employees, First Response employs a number of in-house employees along with a collection of subcontractors. This enables us to procure the resources our clients need to get maintenance jobs done right the first time whenever they work with us. While we have a team of experienced and knowledgeable employees, we also harness the power of working with specialised contractors.