What is Virtual Staffing
Virtual staffing is an exclusive co-employment opportunity. Usually, the position is company-specific, rather than specific to the person working in it. This type of arrangement often works for small business owners or companies with seasonal hiring needs because everybody always has something to do, but the work schedule will be different every day. The professional staff also benefit from this arrangement because they can choose not to relocate, which may make the position more fun and satisfying for them.
Covering your niche market can provide you with a lot of creative freedom when matching applicants’ qualifications with employers’ needs – allowing you to stay creative and Virtual staffing is a skilled workforce that only exists virtually and only offers services to clients. Virtual staffing platforms provide their clients with flexible options on when they want to work and how many hours they want to spend working each day, week, or month. This flexibility really benefits entrepreneurs and other professionals who need additional help but don’t want to go through the hiring process again and again.
Salary and Cost Savings of Staffing
Handing off the different stages of an order to an assistant is an intuitive process that can help a business save a lot of money. However, it’s important to tackle the salary and cost savings head-on. There is a misconception with hiring a VA that their service will be free or comparatively cheaper than hiring a full-time employee. A key feature with virtual assistants is that they offer their service for a flat monthly fee as opposed to hourly rates, which can reduce hourly rates significantly depending on the number of hours spent on projects. This flat fee sometimes doesn’t include administrative tasks such as purchasing toilet paper.
Cost-saving: I don’t charge for work. Elaborating on the virtual assistant’s, “salaries and benefits for one full-time staff person cost around $100,000+ per year. The cost of a virtual assistant is around $5 and up.”
Qualifying a Business for Staffing
One of the most important questions a virtual assistant has to ask a business owner is, “why”. This question can be difficult for some service providers, but it should always be the first question a virtual assistant asks this person.
Once a company has been qualified, the next step of the process is to determine their staffing needs. This includes a determination of the service requirements or skill sets that are needed for a position and what employees matching these qualifications would cost. The company will also provide information on an appropriate timeline for filling a position and any related expectations, such as providing all necessary paperwork ahead of time.
Having a Plan for Analytics
What analytics tools suit my needs, and who will run them? Who is responsible for what? How often should I collect data? These are all examples of questions that need to be answered before starting your business. What data do you want to collect?
The first step is to figure out what data do you want to collect. If you’re just looking at metrics about the use of your app, there are plenty of services out there that will automatically do this for you. But if you’re looking for something different – like social media shares or KPI reports, then things can collect analytics about your business performance. Gather data that will inform decisions to be made. Look at what is working and adjust accordingly. During audience building, have an idea of what types of content your target market wants to see the most.
Your 5 Steps to Hiring Virtual Assistants
The first step is to list all of the tasks you anticipate needing out of a virtual assistant. The second step is to take a look at your list and determine which you need more help with or may require a different skill set. Then, complete a task analysis sheet by sorting the tasks by the level of effort they require followed by finding someone who can handle those tasks. In the last step, select from those people if they quoted well and their customer reviews are good, then hire them!
Virtual Assistants are not cheap, but they can provide a tremendous array of services at a fraction of the cost of employing full-time employees. The key to making your hiring process successful lies in going through your set of 5 steps before ever making your first long-term hire.
Training your Virtual Staff
The goal here is to make sure you are killing two birds with one virtual assistant. A good way to do this is by setting high expectations for your staff and making improvements in their performance when they reach these targets. Training them can be quite easy, depending on what training software or platform you use for the process.
Training your virtual staff can be difficult, but there are tools that help. If you don’t go the in-person training route, online live sessions are an option. These meetings typically take up to 30 minutes and can get your statement of work document complete without having to drive out of the office.
Training your virtual staff members is not something to take lightly. These are the ones that are representing your business in front of clients, so it’s critical they are trained in providing exemplary customer service. Sit down with them on a regular basis to make sure they are properly trained. Make sure the most important points are clearly spelled out in their job descriptions too-it can be embarrassing when they don’t know just what’s expected of them.
Conclusion
Simply put, a virtual assistant is a computer user who tackles administrative tasks without actually sitting in front of a really. These tasks can be duplicated or virtualized and shared via the internet with others. The beauty behind this profession is that virtually anyone can do it as long as they have reliable connectivity and their skillset fits one of the five processes listed above. Speak to your employees, employees from previous jobs or workers from other office environments that you know personally and see if any of them want to help you with the admin work that accompanies your business.
