How Etch UK automates processes and effectively manages their freelance talent pool with Worksuite

Prior to partnering with Worksuite, Etch’s business model had adapted to become more invested in a scalable workforce, and their freelancer network had increased significantly as part of this evolution. ​

With the growth of their consultant and contractor pool, it began taking more time to conduct manual tasks as part of the communication and onboarding process. There was no centralized way to manage their growing freelance network, as data about contractors was split across multiple systems–increasing the risk of manual error and missing information.

“We had many areas for improvement. Our existing freelance management tools and processes were time consuming, costly, and manual, so they were open to errors. Tasks were split across multiple systems and access was restricted which meant we were reliant on select staff. And data wasn’t presented in a clear format, which made assessments of our talent pool difficult. This is what we wanted to improve”

Etch’s business model relies on their contracted resource community, so it was essential that they found an effective solution. They knew they needed to invest in the management of their sizeable network in order to better attract, onboard, and maintain an accurate and relevant talent pool for ongoing project requirements.​ Etch also knew that there were areas in which they could strengthen processes around documentation and due diligence, and improve automation through API links with third party software. 

“We needed a central tool which was completely focused on freelance management that could bring together all information and process workflows.”

After researching several other freelancer management platforms and running through their demos, Etch knew that none of these providers could meet their specific needs.

“They either didn’t have all the functionality or flexibility that we wanted, or were more focused towards providing a marketplace of existing candidates, similar to a recruitment platform. We’d already nurtured our own networks, so we didn’t need help with recruiting new talent. The management aspect was our focus.”

When Etch came across Worksuite and spoke with their team, they were confident the platform was the right solution to meet their current and possible future business needs as Worksuite demonstrated their investment in continuous product improvement. 

“Everyone at Worksuite was very helpful and knowledgeable and were able to demonstrate how we could achieve our specific goals through the tool. They were focused on listening to our needs up front and showing us areas of the product that we wanted to see, rather than just providing a generic overview. This was helpful as it allowed us to quickly understand how Worksuite could work for our business.”

Etch wanted to automate their processes as much as possible so that they could free up time to grow their business. With Worksuite, they knew they would be able to take a lot of the hard work out of their current freelancer management process.

Etch and Worksuite began the setup and implementation process, which involved customizations to suit Etch’s specific needs – including custom fields, specific workflows, and reporting.

“We had a weekly implementation call to handle our task backlog and worked through it together. It was necessary to have a dedicated project owner from our side in order to drive progress, assign task priorities, and build-out aspects which we could edit ourselves. Our implementation manager at Worksuite was always on hand to support and problem-solve for us to find the best solution.”

Worksuite automatically uploaded Etch’s existing freelance talent pool to the platform, which enabled them to see the data more clearly and begin to update records more easily. Following a period of implementation, they piloted the new platform with a few of their most trusted contractors, before general roll-out, in order to gather early feedback and manage suggested improvements to workflows.

Etch’s freelancers adopted the new system quickly. All the feedback was positive, and suggestions for improvement were taken on board and implemented where feasible. 

Etch gives both their freelancers and internal staff ongoing education to ensure everyone involved is using the processes and workflows as intended, as they are constantly evolving how they use the tool.

After implementation was completed, it was only a few weeks before the immediate team handling resources saw improved time efficiencies. Members of the Operations and Commercial team, plus client-facing staff who manage projects noticed the most benefits, including: 

“By automating our freelance management processes we’re able to attract talent more quickly, and communicate with them more efficiently. The diligence around paperwork, legal contracts, and insurance certificates have been tightened up much more too, so we can be assured that we’ve always got the right securities in place and trust that the Worksuite platform is handling everything.”

Etch uses the full end-to-end Worksuite tool, including recruiting, onboarding, task management, and payment tracking to manage their talent pool for hundreds of contractors in the UK. 

They are also able to: