Although hiring a virtual assistant (VA) is similar to hiring a traditional employee in many ways, it is not without its differences. The most prominent difference is that a VA works for and with you solely digitally, typically in a remote location rather than an office.
In many ways, hiring a VA follows the same process as hiring any other employee would. However, just as employers can make mistakes when hiring a regular employee, so too can they make mistakes when looking to hire a VA.
In this article, I want to cover the 10 most common mistakes that employers make (and should avoid) when hiring a VA — regardless of the reason for hiring them.
1. Not Identifying the Need or Goal of Your VA
One of the largest mistakes you can make when hiring an employee or VA is assuming that that person will know what needs to be done without proper instruction. When outsourcing help through a VA, both the reason behind your wanting to hire him/her and the goals you expect him/her to help you reach must be clearly defined right off the bat.
Before you begin scouting for VA candidates to hire, make sure that the candidate you hire will be utilized in the right way for the right reason. Without a clear understanding behind the reason to hire him/her in the first place, you are going to end up simply wasting valuable time and money.
2. Not Defining Expectations of Your VA
While similar to the first mistake listed above, the VA you hire will need to be given clear instructions for the type and amount of work expected of him/her. This should be avoided as early as possible in the hiring process, beginning with outlining the job description you post to begin scouting for potential candidates. That description should include no less than the following:
- A brief scope of the work expected of candidates;
- A list of skills required or desired by candidates;
- The type of work arrangement expected of you; and
- Any other required information, specifications, or preferences
By clearly stating these expectations in the job description, you can save yourself a lot of time vetting through candidates with less experience or qualifications for the job you need.
3. A Lack of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
Employees at each organization should be able to understand the SOPs of the jobs they are conducting and the company for which they work. Without clearly defined SOPs, communication and expectations for your VA’s job can quickly become muddled and cause needless back-and-forth, as to how his/her work process should be conducted and executed.
Make sure your VA has a clear understanding of the software, apps, platforms, and other systems you and your employees routinely use in their work for your company, as well as how these procedures integrate into the overall workflow process of your company.
4. A Lack of Proper Training
Many employers make the mistake of assuming that just because a VA comes with an advanced set of skills or industry knowledge that he/she does not need to be trained in how to work with you or other employees at their company. However, having and following a seamless onboarding process for every new employee — virtual or otherwise — is paramount in ensuring that your VA can continue adding value to your organization from the work he/she does.
Taking the time to chat with your VA on what the work he/she is expected to do, how he/she is expected to do it, and how it will contribute to the overall goals of your business. This will not only help you and your VA get on the same page, but also help keep the VA aligned to the current and future goals you have for your business.
5. Hiring the First Candidate or Applicant
Just like any other employee you seek to hire, each VA candidate you bring into your organization must be properly audited and vetted. This holds true not only regarding their qualifications for the job he/she will be doing, but also for how he/she aligns with your company’s internal culture.
Each employee and VA you hire is trusted with a key component of your business’s operations. In order to make sure that the candidate you are hiring is indeed the best fit for the role, you will need to ask him/her questions that go beyond his/her qualifications and experience, along with traditional vetting measures such as background checks and checking social media for any potential issues or problematic situations the VA may cause.
6. Being Unprepared for Remote Working
This should go without saying, but the entire reason behind hiring a VA in the first place is to find a qualified candidate to support your business’s goals from a remote setting. While most VA candidates are already familiar with the concept and intricacies of remote work, many employers who are not as accustomed to them may find that managing a remote VA is more difficult or complicated than they originally thought.
If you are not as familiar or comfortable with the concept of managing a remote VA, try asking around within your network to see which colleagues or peers of yours have experience in this realm. This way, you will be able to be more prepared and realistic as to what is mutually expected regarding the remote arrangement between you, your business, and your new VA.
7. Hiring a VA for One Task or Too Many Tasks
Employers should never hire and onboard a new employee for the sole purpose of knocking out a single task or two at your company. This holds true for VAs, as well. Like any traditional employee, you and your company will gain far more value out of the candidate hired when you both are focused on the long-term outcome, rather than short-term gains.
Similarly, most VA candidates are experts in a particular niche; rarely, if ever, are they to be seen or treated as “jacks of all trades.” You would not want a VA candidate hired for a sales support position to also fulfill the role of social media manager, even if he/she also has prior experience in this field.
By making sure that both you and the VA clearly understand what is expected of him/her in the role at your company, you can avoid both a wasted hire and overloading the VA with too many tasks that may be irrelevant to the work he/she was originally hired to do.
8. Hiring Too Many VA Candidates Too Quickly
Whenever a business or organization starts to see rapid growth, it can be easy for leadership to get excited about the prospect of hiring additional team members to take on more work. The downside to this is that the larger your team becomes, the more time and resources it will take to properly manage each department and individual team member.
Instead, try to take a slower pace in hiring additional team members, especially if you want or expect them to be virtual assistants. After all, your internal hiring, onboarding, and training process will need to be followed for each new hire in order to make sure each new candidate is the right fit for the role — even if that role is to help oversee the hiring and management of new team members.
9. Lack of Understanding of Cultural Differences
For more than a decade, both India and the Philippines have been hot spots of growth for outsourcing VAs and other virtual/remote employees. Hiring VAs from either region can bring your business qualified candidates at affordable rates, but each worldly region you outsource VAs from has its own rich history complete with social norms, values, and beliefs that can differ wildly.
As such, it is crucial not to expect a candidate from halfway around the world to sacrifice some of their cultural beliefs or norms for the sake of a job role. Rather, their different practices and beliefs should be factored into their vetting and auditing process as a candidate to ensure that they can be accommodated or aligned into your organization as seamlessly and efficiently as possible.
10. Lack of Proper (and Timely) Communication
Communication is perhaps the most vital component of any winning business or organization. Without it, little (if anything) will be done properly or on time. This goes double for remote employees and VAs who are not able to be physically present in an office alongside you or other managers at your company.
As a leader, it is your responsibility to leave lines of communication as open and transparent as possible. This includes being receptive and responsible to feedback, criticism, expectations, and more in a concise and timely manner. Things like differences in time zones can make this difficult, especially when your VA is located thousands of miles away or more. However, there are a multitude of online tools and digital platforms like Zoom, WebEx, Asana, and Salesforce that make communicating regularly with remote employees and VAs much easier and more efficient.
