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International organisations, government agencies, or companies regularly contact us when they are in the process of hiring several people for task forces or projects and seeking consultants or freelancers.   

Task Forces, originally created by the United States Navy, are now used by many state and non-governmental organisations, associations and companies to carry out specific temporary ad-hoc assignments.

Employing external consultants, including both experts in their fields and junior staff on fixed-term assignments, is effective for this type of project.

Characteristics of a Task Force

Task Force working groups can be created in various situations to implement different strategies, but often in the case of

• Large projects
• High complexity projects
• Projects involving a significant amount of external resources

As a general rule: 

• There is a chief project manager who has responsibility for the project
• The project becomes an independent structure
• Each participant works full time on the project
• The project is concise, with a specific number of members and consultants
• The group is agile, task-oriented, responsive and productive
• The group brings together talents from different backgrounds, departments, or sectors to bring innovation, better solutions but also to remove risks and poor results
• The group wants to accomplish a specific task in a specific time frame
• The participants are transferred from their original department or assignment or recruited ad hoc for the project under the guidance of the project leader. There may be a mix of people from within the organisation and with external people
• External consultants are usually highly qualified and experts in their field
• Junior consultants and even students on secondment may also be used

What types of organisations and departments use Task Forces?

In a state organisation, all departments and adjacent organisations can be involved:

• Health, sports, scientific research
• Interior, economy, finance, international cooperation
• Human resources, training, education
• Agriculture, environment, spatial planning
• Security, territorial protection, police
• Education, universities 
• Universities, research institutes

All international governmental and non-governmental organisations, such as the UN, regularly use task forces:

• Economic Commission for Europe
• United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
• WHO (World Health Organisation)
• UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund)
• Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
• UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees)
• UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)
• FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations)
• UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)
• UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme)

In a company, the departments that may be involved are:

• Human Resources
• Marketing
• Sales
• Public relations
• Accounting, finance
• Legal department
• Research & Development
• Manufacturing, fabrication
• Quality control
• IT

Examples of Task Forces created for a state, an international organisation or a company

State, State Council, Department of Economics

Issue: Like other professional organizations, a state council or canton aims to boost employment in particular sectors and employee categories by assisting companies in transforming their business models. 

Solution: It sets up a dedicated task force to carry out this task. It must present to the state

a whole range of analyses and measures, but also develop training.

Solution: The task force is made up of representatives from various government departments, representatives of employers’ associations and trade unions, as well as freelance consultants who are experts in their fields and who have been commissioned to advise on specific elements of the state council’s mission.

International Health Organisation

Issue: A global international organisation is tasked by EU and EFTA countries with coordinating a European environment-related health process. Progress towards the goal is steered by a series of conferences held every 5 years. 

A new priority has arisen in the area of nuclear waste storage related to electricity generation.

Solution: The Task Force is composed of officials from WHO states, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations (IGOs/NGOs) as well as scientific experts from several countries who will work for the Task Force on a fee-for-service basis as scientific consultants.

Human ressources

Issue: The human resources department is responsible for the general function of recruiting new staff. But the organisation needs a specific study: “Hiring needs and challenges for the next decade”. 

Solution: It decided to set up a task force to prepare this specific report, which included people from various internal departments but also external consultants specialising in freelance work with a mandate for the duration of the project.

Crisis management: product safety, product recalls, public relations

Issue: A well-known food company is confronted with a food poisoning incident, such as salmonella or E. coli. This is a major crisis because it can lead to a drop in sales and legal action. 

Solution: The CEO of the company orders a recall of all contaminated products and sets up a task force to execute the recall within 48 hours. Internal scientists are assigned to investigate the source of the poisoning.

External PR and communications consultants are commissioned to advise and manage the company’s representatives and also to set up a dedicated website. 

Do you need to hire consultants with different levels of expertise for a Task Force?

You can assign several people from your organisation to work exclusively on the project but also work with external consultants on a freelance basis through Thalent.

Organisations and companies can benefit from the following special features and advantages:

• You can very quickly start working with the consultants of your choice: our team is very reactive
• We have standard pre-established contracts for a wide range of situations between organisations and Thalent and between consultants and an organisation
• Freelance consultants can be hired as part of the Task Force for short or medium term assignments or even on a per job basis
• We take care of payroll and personnel management so that you can focus on other important tasks
• You reduce the tax costs of your task force operation
• The freelance consultant is employed by Thalent and performs a service for you, he or she does not have the status of a freelancer and you do not need to hire them
• The consultant does not need to have a self-employed status 
• Thalent sends an invoice at the end of each month for the services performed by the consultant, the expert, which you pay as you would for any other supplier
• Consultants can work with hourly, daily, weekly or monthly rates
• We pay all social charges, taxes, insurance and take care of work permits if necessary

If you would like to know more, contact us now for more information!

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Author: Kamil Fetouni