There's work to do, and you need to hire someone.
The question is: Do you want a full-time employee, a temp worker, or a contractor — someone to come in, perform a task, and then leave?
In the online employment world, a "virtual employee" (VE) is full-time, while a "virtual assistant" (VA) is a temp worker or freelancer.
Both have their place. Your logo needs a redesign, but you don't want to hire a graphic designer full-time to produce the image you need. A VA is perfect for the one-time task, and numerous agencies online offer to connect you with an assistant at a range of prices, depending on their locale and the quality of their previous work.
In such a case, you don't need to invest in training. You hire a VA for a one-time role. They're likely juggling multiple gigs in addition to yours, and they're not investing all their time in one place, just like the plumber who goes from house to house.
VAs can also prove worthwhile when you need seasonal help, such as during the Christmas rush.
WHY WE'RE EXCLUSIVELY 'VE'
Virtual assistants have their place in the economy. But at HireSmart, we leave VAs to other agencies. Instead, we focus on virtual employees (VEs). Why? Well, our strength is relationship-building. And that only comes with investing time in both employees and clients.
We want every client to have loyal, qualified, emotionally intelligent, and dependable employees who clocks in for you daily, efficiently taking care of your needs.
Every company needs its stalwarts, its go-to people, and its stars; our business is finding them for you.
SHEDDING LOCAL CONSTRAINTS
Traditionally, organizations place job postings and seek to hire someone who lives within driving distance of the office. A manager may know someone who is a good fit — a friend of a friend.
Hiring in-office labor typically limits the geographic radius of the candidate search. The local position also requires a salary aligned with the area marketplace for such roles. Geography and pay narrow the field of potential candidates.
However, more U.S. small and mid-sized businesses are seeing the bigger picture. You don't have to constrain your search to your immediate surroundings. There's considerable talent abroad: people with a mastery of English, an eagerness to learn, and a great attitude who match the exact skill sets you need. They're available at a fraction of the cost of a U.S. office employee since they live in a country with a lower cost of living than the states.
Anne Lackey's Company Offers a Unique Virtual Solution for Staffing Issues
THE BENEFITS OF A VE OVER VA
Whether a local hire or a virtual one, a full-time employee holds numerous advantages over short-term help.
A VE develops an understanding of your company that no VA can provide. The VE learns your processes, terminology, production speed, and culture. Communication with a VA must focus on a specific project, but VEs are determined to rise above their entry-level position, gain new skills, and prove their worth in your organization while handling various tasks over time.
When VEs reach their goals and are recognized for it, they are loyal, and clients feel that back toward them. A VE is the face you see on screen every day, a presence just like the person in the office you pass in the hall. Managers develop rapport with their VEs just like the in-office employees.
That connection includes shared knowledge about past work, how it was done, and what needs to happen moving forward. VEs provide contextual knowledge in a way no VA can.
Here are 47 tasks a virtual employee can handle for you.
WE'RE THE MARKET LEADERS IN VE STAFFING
At HireSmart, we've spent nearly a decade finding these high quality VEs in the Philippines. It's what we do.
We start with input from clients on what they need. What tasks are holding you back from reaching your targets? What duties are ignored due to a lack of staff to tackle the job?
Every company has an idea of peak performance, but all face impediments to the mountaintop. Yet, some rise higher than others. We love helping businesses climb beyond their competitors by boosting the strength of their staff in the most cost-efficient manner.
Hiring is Hard; Here's How We Help
We hold employees to high standards. Only one percent of our applicants make it through our testing, interview, and training process to serve our clients. At the end of our evaluation process, we present clients with three choices for each position. They pick the best fit, and then the employee enters our certification process, learning about their duties with the client.
WE INVEST IN OUR EMPLOYEES
We invest in our virtual employees and strive to improve their lives. We provide health and dental insurance at no cost to the VEs. We also offer leadership training opportunities and scholarships for their children. When they're in trouble, we step in to help, such as after Typhoon Rai in 2021, when we assisted 31 families affected by the storm.
"They (HireSmart) were concerned and checking in to see how we were doing," said Richan after the typhoon. "You know somebody cares, and you can count on them. They really are family!"
HireSmart Cares Typhoon Assistance — Richan's Story
The human connection is real, and the VEs prove that daily to our clients, who care for their virtual staff.
"They're all very sweet, very nice, very caring," said Tony Pinochi, Maintenance Supervisor at Prandi Property Management, about his virtual staff through HireSmart. "They care about what we think about them. They care about their work product. They are hardworking, smart, and diligent. They want to do good for us all the time. And they do. I absolutely love those girls, and I think they're all amazing."
WANT TO CONSIDER VIRTUAL EMPLOYEES?
Do you want to consider hiring VEs to help you scale your business, lighten the load on in-office staff, or tackle tasks that have fallen by the wayside?
Click here to schedule a free chat with me at your convenience. I'd love to hear how things are going for you and see if we can help you meet your goals and reduce your stress.
It's what we do. We're good at it, and it's fun. The VE experience truly opens a world of possibility. It can for you, too.