What Is A Virtual Assistant (VA)? What can they do for my business?
Virtual Assistants are people that work remotely from either their home or from a company-owned office around the globe. You can hire VAs for almost any position with a varied level of education. However, a primary VA usually focuses on email management, scheduling, word processing, and data entry tasks.
Virtual Assistants can provide most of the same services as a company employee but up to a 70% savings. In addition, they come with no long-term agreements; they provide their own office space, equipment, and no overhead cost for benefits such as insurance, Medicare, and Social Security.
Virtual assistants have transformed the workforce, especially since the pandemic. Employers have now realized they can successfully utilize the services of virtual assistants in multiple roles, improve customer satisfaction, and lower overhead costs.
For example, we have virtual assistants who specialize in dental and medical offices. These Virtual Assistants are HIPAA Compliant, trained professionals who can assist medical practitioners with daily, recurring tasks such as New Patient Coordination, Insurance Verification, Accounting, and Patient Concierge Sales Positions. In addition, virtual medical assistants can work with patients through chat, email, or phone.
Virtual assistants are usually highly motivated and educated professionals with either a bachelor's or master's degree. They come prepared and work to ensure that they always live up to their fullest potential. In addition, we offer an additional management layer by assigning an account manager to work with the client and the VA. Our primary goal is to make sure the client and the VA are happy with the arrangement.
Hiring Process.
Hiring new employees can be exhausting and expensive, especially during the "Great Resignation. Controlling the employee turnover rate may take a toll on your business, but it can be influenced by understanding the cost and why it is happening. Your employees help make your company a great place to work, and reducing turnover starts with the hiring process. Estimated employee turnover costs an employer about 33% of their salary to find and hire a replacement. This cost includes hiring, screening, interviewing, onboarding, loss of productivity, training costs, background checks, and time lost while the position is open. Even after interviewing, background checks, etc., you never know if this person is the right fit for your business.
This challenge and the cost associated with that employee turnover essentially disappear by hiring a virtual assistant. One of the best ways to employ is by hiring VA's who you can test on many different skills without any long-term commitment or cost.
Onboarding New Employees.
When you own a small business, you know the only constant is to expect changes. Unfortunately, the chances are that you've had to make some significant changes in your company in response to the pandemic. One of the most significant changes is employing, training, and managing your teams. As a result, we have experienced unprecedented levels of turnover that have shaped the way we run our businesses. As a result, companies need a robust onboarding process for training new hires and retaining employees. When designing your onboarding process, we suggest that your employees feel like part of the team and understand your culture, mission, and vision.
What should you accomplish with your Onboarding process?
Do you have an onboarding process? When designing your program, keep in mind the fundamental goals of an onboarding process. We suggest a core program used for in-person and remote-based employees.
Create the tools and resources needed to train them to become TEAM members.
Prioritize social and interpersonal connections by inviting new hires to TEAM meetings.
Establish access to systems, test logins, and training workflows.
Start slow, and progress steadily with planned training and meeting agendas.
Assign the top 2-3 tasks per week to start the process.
I know it seems more challenging to do remotely, but it's very doable. It takes a well-organized system and the processes to facilitate the training. Here are some guidelines for implementing your onboarding process.
Set employee expectations from the beginning.
The new hire should clearly understand the roles and responsibilities of their assigned position during the interview process. In addition, we suggest you give the employee a written agreement that outlines specific work requirements they agree to do as part of their new position. On the first day, a new employee should meet with their manager to review the agreement, understand their role and responsibilities, and ask questions.
New Hire employee orientation.
Prepare a comprehensive orientation to showcase your company's mission, vision, and values. The new hire has only learned about your company through the interview process and online information. We find it advantageous to introduce the new hire to leadership and different levels of management for clarity on their role. This process will make the new employee feel valued and respected. An onboarding process isn't just about doing the paperwork—your first two opportunities to make a good impression come with the interview and the onboarding process. A comprehensive onboarding process is a must for a new employee. See our "Bridging your Organization for Success Onboarding Manual" for more details.
Talent from Around The Globe.
You can hire Virtual Assistants from many places around the globe, including Africa, the Philippines, India, the UK, the US, ETC. As a result, you will experience a varying level of education and English proficiency in speaking, reading, writing, and work environments.
I highly recommend you hire from a company that provides secured office space, Data Security, Internet Service, and the equipment for the Virtual Assistant. We work hard to give you peace of mind knowing you can safely allow your assistant to work with your clients.
Our Mission is to give people and businesses worldwide the chance to grow effortlessly by creating a bridge for you to a global workforce. Furthermore, to enable your business to reduce your staffing costs by up to 70%.
Glenda Acevedo can simplify your new employee's hiring and onboarding process by customizing the tools and resources needed to train them to become a member of your TEAM. Schedule your FREE consultation to learn more about the services we provide.
Visit our website at glendaacevedo.com or contact Glenda@glendaacevedo.com.