What to keep in mind before hiring an online team member? Looking to hire a virtual employee?
Proper management of time is what differentiates successful business owners from others. According to Miles Davis, time isn’t the main thing, it’s the only thing. And this is especially true for Business owners.
With tons of companies looking at cost effective ways to fast track their business success and pursue a healthy, life-work balance, virtual employees are becoming incredibly popular.
As a Business Owner, being overwhelmed – unable to connect and balance the essential areas in your life and business – can leave you feeling out of control and unsatisfied!
Hiring virtual employees can help take back control and ensure that no part of your life or business gets neglected. You will be happy and your business will be more sustainable and can be scaled real fast. It will allow you to cut costs, increase efficiency and clear a pathway for progression.
But how do you hire one?
In this article, we’ll go over a couple of things you need to know to hire the perfect virtual employee.
What Is A Virtual Employee?
A virtual employee, also known as a remote employee, is someone you hire online to provide a service to you or your company remotely. You can hire them to do pretty much anything: develop software, create digital marketing campaigns and even become your permanent Virtual Assistant (VA), executive or Online Business Manager (OBM).
How do they differ from virtual freelancers?
As virtual freelancers aren’t tied to any company, they can work for multiple clients at the same time. They’re also often paid hourly or per project.
Virtual employees, however, work for a single employer. They function as regular employees with fixed salaries and benefits. They’re just not in the same office as you!
While we understand that time is money, it’s important not to rush into hiring a virtual team. Why? Well, the first reason is obvious – when you rush into things they just don’t get done right. The second reason may not be as obvious.
Allowing your job application time on the web means more hits, therefore, the potential for more candidates to choose from. Casting a wide net is vital when looking for a long-term team member because it allows higher probability of finding the team member with the skill set you desire. But remember, not all job roles are created equal.
We suggest you take a ‘role-before-people’ approach
The first step in hiring a virtual employee is determining what YOU need to enjoy a healthy, life-work balance and what the business needs to fast track growth.
Time audit
We suggest that you do a TIME AUDIT and regularly revise it. What department in your business have you been neglecting due to NOT ENOUGH TIME?
Is it your Product or Service Development, Operations, Marketing, Sales, Finance, HR or maybe your Admin and IT solutions?
Business Structure and Chart
After you’ve identified the top three departments that you see as a priority to ensure you fast track your business success. The next step would be to look at your Business Structure for each of these - identify the roles needed for each department and what their key responsibilities are and map it out in the form of a Business Chart.
Do you need to create brand awareness or exposure?
Then you’ll need a Virtual Marketer, like a Social Media Manager, Content Writer and Video Editor.
Do you need more leads or appointments?
Then you’ll need an Appointment Setter - a bonus if they can sell by chat.
Do you need help improving customer satisfaction?
If you have mapped out your customer journey, have processes and systems in place, then you know you need to hire a Virtual Customer Service Executive.
If you need help with your TIME AUDIT, BUSINESS CHART or just want to discuss your options reach out to our Outsourcing Consultants at [email protected].
Keep in mind that not all tasks can be done virtually and differ from industry to industry.
For example, if you need a sales rep for products, you can’t hire a virtual employee for an outside sales role, unless they live in the territory you want them to cover!
The key is to identify what you need and then determine if it can be done virtually by referring to your Business Chart.
The next step would be to write a good job description. Check out our Hiring an online team member.
If you need help with your TIME AUDIT, BUSINESS CHART or just want to discuss your options reach out to our Outsourcing Consultants at [email protected].
Wishing you all the best as you pursue a healthy, life-work balance while fast tracking your business growth.