Most successful businesses hire virtual assistants because there are too many tasks for a small business owner to handle by themselves.
However, saving precious time by hiring a virtual assistant may make all the difference, but there are still many pitfalls to consider before you commit to hiring.
Hiring a new virtual assistant saves time, allowing you to dedicate your efforts to manage other areas of the business.
Unfortunately, companies make common mistakes when hiring simply because they don’t follow the correct business processes before hiring.
This article explains seven pitfalls you must avoid when hiring a virtual worker.
7 Pitfalls To Avoid When Hiring A Virtual Assistant
1. Bad Job Description
Hiring someone to do remote work may save time for your business, but if you hire for the wrong reasons, then it will end up costing you valuable time and money.
It may sound simple but creating the proper job description is vital. Unfortunately, many organisations fail to get the most out of their virtual assistant because they write terrible job descriptions at the start.
Knowing what your business needs before hiring is critical. Otherwise, you will end up with a virtual assistant who hasn’t got the relevant skillset.
Evaluating your administration needs and how a virtual assistant could benefit your company will point you toward hiring a suitable remote worker.
For example, if you require assistance with managing your social media platforms, you must state this clearly in the written job advert.
Not all VAs will be skilled in managing social media. Therefore you may want to have proof of their knowledge before hiring.
The more transparent you are in your job advert, the less chance there is of you hiring an unsuitable worker.
2. Setting Wrong Expectations
Setting inflated expectations of your virtual assistant is unfair to the person you hire and will lead to a stressful and unhealthy working relationship.
By nature, business owners can be hard taskmasters, and having unrealistic expectations of their staff is not uncommon. Make sure you don’t fall into this category.
Working remotely can be tricky because it takes time to get used to the working methods of different companies, so time and patience are the right directions to take.
Therefore, be sure to set achievable task goals before you start the process of sourcing your virtual assistant.
The person you hire will likely be in a different timezone, so being aware of the time zone differences is critical, as is allowing them time to settle into their new role and learn new skills.
With time comes experience, so setting the right expectations at the start and then evaluating them further down the line will achieve the right results.
3. Not Prepared For VA Training And Onboarding
Someone once said: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”. This is so true of businesses relating to onboarding and virtual assistant training.
Often company owners are happy to grow their virtual assistants into the deep end and expect them to swim. Unfortunately, this is unrealistic and unfair.
Even the most experienced virtual assistants need on-the-job training to adapt to a business’ methods and practices.
The new hire will require training in how you like to use different software platforms and how best to communicate with other members of staff.
Every company has its specific way of doing things and its own internal IT system, and you can’t expect your virtual assistant to know their way around your company’s IT network instantly.
All excellent businesses have a clear development training pathway so that all workers remain motivated and ambitious.
4. Inexperience With Language Barriers
The monetary advantages of having a virtual assistant based in another country are clear to see, but businesses are often blind to language and cultural barriers.
Of course, you wouldn’t hire someone who couldn’t speak English, but there is a massive difference between being able to communicate in English and working in English.
Therefore, it is vitally important that you try to assess how good their command of the English language is, including business industry terminology, before you hire them.
As they will probably be working in a different part of the world, many problems can occur from cultural misunderstandings, poor internet connection, and not knowing the time difference between each country.
The last thing you want is to hire the first person who applies for the role only to find that they cannot work the hours you require due to religious or cultural commitments.
5. Micro Management
There is no point in hiring a virtual assistant to do administrative tasks if you are unwilling to hand responsibility for the tasks within their job title.
Building trust takes time, but you must approach hiring a virtual assistant correctly. Yes, you are the boss, but you must fight the urge to be a control freak.
Being constantly micromanaging your virtual assistant and needlessly changing tasks that they have done because you like to put your stamp on things will only lead to a bad working relationship.
It is far more beneficial for all parties if you are supportive and encouraging. This way, your virtual assistant will feel they approach you if they have a problem.
Trusting your virtual assistant and having open communication with them will allow them to thrive, establishing loyalty on both sides.
6. No formulated KPIs
When you hire from a virtual assistant business or if you hire from a freelance website, you still have to implement key performance indicators (KPIs).
Surprisingly, many companies fail to have structured KPIs for all staff and, more importantly, virtual assistants.
Using KPIs to help you measure your virtual assistant’s overall job performance is vital as they are working remotely, and you may not pick up on poor performance as quickly as you would if they were working in the same office.
Fairness is vital in any working environment; just because the person isn’t in the same room as you doesn’t mean you should treat them differently.
Virtual assistant KPIs are the most important because you will have to evaluate their work more frequently.
Your virtual assistant needs clear goals and targets to be set within their KPIs. Otherwise, they will become demoralised and set poor standards.
7. Unclear Standard Operating Procedures
Many companies face challenges because they are unclear about their standard operating procedures (SOPs).
New businesses are often too keen to get up and running and don’t realise that SOPs are essential if you want to avoid problems in the future.
All of your business processes need to contain clear step-by-step instructions on how you expect them to complete different tasks.
It’s the only way that you can ensure that things are done to your standards and it helps to avoid misunderstandings.
Let Us Help You Manage Your VAs
There are countless pitfalls businesses can fall into when hiring virtual assistants, and it is easy to make the mistake of putting things off and assuming everything will be alright.
But, failing to have all the necessary procedures in place from the get-go will only lead to your business having a bad experience hiring a virtual assistant.
If you don’t focus on the main skills you require from your virtual assistant and your communication levels are poor, you will never go in the right direction.
If you don’t have the time to source, hire, train and manage your virtual assistant, then contact our virtual assistant business to find out how easily we can get you up and running.