Why You Should Use a Virtual Assistant for Human Resources?

Transcription

1 Why You Should Use a Virtual Assistant for Human Resources?

2 Human Resource Outsourcing. The How To s and Why s Online business is becoming more popular each day. More people bring their businesses virtually, regardless of how big or small they are. This approach gives a lot of benefits to small business owners like you since you can leverage the power of other Virtual Businesses offering administrative services online. Instead of employing a full time employee, you can just get a virtual assistant to do the jobs you hate the most. Or maybe, just the jobs you don t have time doing! Picture Source: Virtual Assistants offer different types of services depending on their expertise and of course, on what they love doing! Looking at the above statement, you can already imagine the wide variation of online services someone can do for your business. It may be an entire accounting department, graphics, website development, marketing, sales, customer service and of course, HR! The list may go on but I ll leave those up to you to imagine the rest. For now, my main focus is to show you how your HR department can be 2

3 outsourced virtually and still function like it s on the next room and you can just walk-in anytime. The Virtual office has a lot of doors. We have the phone system, , video call and the most famous social media chatting. All these will help you communicate with your chosen virtual office, send and receive tasks, do meetings, training, brainstorming and anything you can do online. I can t remember where I heard this but one VA said, I can pretty much do everything except bring you coffee! Picture Source: And that s true to VA s. It may be new to you but the VA industry has been going on even before we all knew how to call it Virtual Assistance. You might be asking by now If a VA is not an employee, then how can I work with him/her? Here are some tips on how to work with VA s and what to expect. 1. You can work with a VA depending on how his/her business policies and contracts. As a business owner, a VA has his/her own policies that you should follow and or negotiate with. Different business owners have different policies so you better ask this first before contracting. In your 3

4 interview with the VA, you can ask what to expect on his/her policies so as to give you an idea if working with him/her is a great fit. Yes, it has to be a great fit or you would find it hard to work with someone you don t like. 2. You work under a contract. Everything should be written in business even if it s called virtual. There is an online tool that s use to sign contracts and it s called Echosign, very popular among VA s. Echosign functions as a legal document where you just type your name and it is recognized in most countries as legal and binding if you put your electronic signature there. Meaning, when you simply type your name. So be careful with typing your name on Echosign without reading the content. Make sure that you understood all provisions before signing to avoid future problems Expect to pay upfront or negotiate. VA s normally ask for an advance payment as part of their security. I understand if you may hesitate at first so I would suggest to buy/pay a few hours of service first and just increase as you get more comfortable. Yes, VA s are mostly paid hourly though 4

5 there are service packages available, too. What s good about it is that, VA s are often open for negotiation with regard to service packages. If you don t see what you need in their packages, simply tell them what kind of work you need them to do and he/she will create or suggest a package just for you depending on his/her rates as well. 4. As soon as work starts, give him/her detailed instruction on the kind of task you want him/her to do. You should also consider the training time as part of the cost you have to incur. Even if you get an employee, training is also needed in order to familiarize himself/herself with the kind of work you want done. 5. VA s are experts. They are business owners, too and mostly knows about marketing, sales, business branding and public relations so you can also ask for advice if needed. Nurture the relationship and you might find yourself not just a VA that helps with your business but a partner and friend, too. Happy outsourcing! 5

6 Do You Want to Know Why Hiring a VA is a Good Idea? Just look at the ways it will save your business in these tough economic times. Most businesses are looking for ways to cut costs or ways to keep running their businesses with a limited staff. Hiring a Virtual Assistant cost approximately 40% less than using a full-time employee. A Virtual Assistant will pay their own taxes so you don t have to worry about payroll taxes. They also provide their own insurance, saving you on benefits costs. They also provide their own equipment and work from their own office. This all saves your company budget for bills, depreciation and office space! An HR Virtual Assistant would work well with: 1. Staffing Agencies 2. Independent Recruiters 3. Small business Owners 4. HR Consultants 5. Career Coaches 6. Resume Writers And a Virtual Assistant can help with the following services: Background/Reference Checks Benefit Enrollment Candidate correspondence Candidate follow-up Initial Phone Interview Job Descriptions Job Postings 6

7 Offer/Rejection Letters Performance Appraisals Policies & Procedural Manuals Pre-screening Resumes Scheduling Interviews Training Manuals Travel arrangements They can also provide an online presence on the internet for you. Set up and manage your social media accounts Increase online presence through link building/article and press release submission Submit articles/blogs/press releases to the most popular directories Tweet open job requisitions Build your list quickly and effectively Create and manage your newsletter Virtual Assistants are perfect for Businesses and Solopreneurs that: 1. Are spending too much time on the administrative side of human resources. 2. Have no experience with human resources and can't afford to a hire a full-time person. 3. Need help with projects that occur at particular times of the year. (Like benefit enrollment appraisals) 4. Need ongoing help but not on a full-time basis. 5. Need to cut costs but still need some assistance. What are the benefits of working with a Human Resources Virtual Assistant? They already have the background in human resources so little training is involved. 7

8 They love what they do and are self-starters, just like any other business. They know how to post jobs and how to pre-screen the resumes received. They know the laws of each state, critical if you are hiring for multiple sites. They have the experience that can greatly benefit your business, saving your company thousands of dollars every year. They can manage employees The virtual human resource services makes HR management easier and at a lower price. Outsourcing to an HR Virtual Assistant allows you to focus on your core business, while knowing the administrative side of the business is being taken care of for you. -Brigette Carrington Owner-BMC Virtual Solutions Your Virtual Human Resource Department 8