I love how comedians follow the “Yes, and…” rule. Players in a comedy bit accept what another improviser has said and then expand on that line of thinking.
I’ll spare you any jokes, but the premise of running with an idea and seeing where it leads is a great brainstorming tool.
Person A: “How can we jazz up our cake sales?”
Person B: “What if we put cake on a stick?”
Person A: “Yes, and we can sell it like a lollipop.”
Turns out, putting cake on a stick was a clever business move. People get a piece of cake in a convenient form, with a little less caloric investment than a regular slice, and for less cost. The phrase “sold like hot cakes” can now be amended to “sold like cake pops.”
Committing to “Yes, and...” takes any idea beyond immediate rejection and momentarily validates it, even if it’s absurd. It encourages the continuous flow of ideas, allowing unexpected solutions and innovations to emerge.
Honestly, HireSmart is simply a “Yes, and…” proposition carried to a successful extreme. My husband and I considered something that felt absurd at first.
“What if we hire globally?”
“Yes, and what if we delegate duties to offshore employees?”
“Yes, and what if we have more time to do other tasks?”
“Yes, and what if we hire more virtual employees and grow our business?”
After committing to global hiring, Mark and I continued a long string of “Yes, and…” moves. Now, nearly a decade later, our company serves clients across the U.S. with hundreds of highly vetted Filipino virtual employees carrying out a wide range of duties and helping businesses reach their goals.
Anne Lackey’s Company Offers a Unique Virtual Solution for Staffing Issues
Early in our global hiring efforts, we discovered that the Philippines is the top place to find thoughtful, intelligent, ambitious, dedicated, and articulate virtual employees in a market with a much lower cost of living than the U.S. That means you can pay virtual employees good wages in their market at a much more affordable rate than paying employees for the same work in your immediate surroundings. Your bill rate for your HireSmart virtual employees is a flat $9.50 an hour.
“The people that you (HireSmart) have given us are smart and sharp,” said Lori, a U.S. real estate executive who employs six Filipino virtual employees through HireSmart. “They ask questions. They just have great work ethics, and they’re good-hearted people. I don’t have any issues with anything, and they support each other. It’s a strong team. And it wouldn’t be strong if I had one weak link. But they’re all strong.”
We’ve helped so many business owners and managers scale their companies, reduce costs, handle more tasks, and relieve stress.
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We are also passionately dedicated to doing this right. I developed a method of finding talent, my “Anne-alytics,” that puts potential candidates through a gamut of testing, interviews, and assessments.
Only one percent of applicants ever serve a client for us, meaning we only hire those who prove themselves in terms of skills, communication, work ethic, and professionalism. Our placement success rate is over 96 percent. That’s because we match specific skill sets to your particular needs. We also require VEs to pass our certification process, where we work with your employee for 40 hours to train them for their role with you before onboarding.
Our certification process is our key to success. It allows us to ensure employees have the necessary skills and talent to serve our clients. We have live trainers, including myself, so we can easily evaluate their skills. We track our success and adapt as needed. If I wouldn’t hire a candidate for my company, they won’t be processed through to our clients.
Perhaps you’ll find yourself posing the same question that Mark and I did a decade ago: “What if we hire globally?”
If you’re considering abandoning the “Nah, forget it” and thinking more about a “Yes, and…”, well, we’ve run the long marathon of “Yes, and…”
I’m glad to answer any questions. No, there won’t be improvisational comedy, but I’m confident we can leave you smiling.
If you feel like chatting, click here to schedule a time that suits you.