Things to know before hiring Virtual Assistants in 2021

Things to know before hiring Virtual Assistants in 2021. 2020 was indeed a strange year or, rather a transition period for the traditional workforce. 

The year in which, an astounding 4.7 million people worked remotely in the U.S. alone. Well, that adds up to roughly 3.4 percent of the overall population. (Source: flexjobs.com)

The figures around the globe are equally high.

What do all of these figures indicate?

Well, it is now clear that the future belongs to ‘Virtual Employees’ and ‘Virtual Assistants’.

Coronavirus and the subsequent crisis is truly an eye opener to all the entrepreneurs and business houses.

A computer, high speed internet connectivity and a platform for seamless communication is all that most professionals need, in order to complete their day-to-day business activities.

In lieu of a brick and mortar team, a workforce strengthened by Virtual Assistants is what you can expect in the upcoming years. So, it is important for you to understand the crux of hiring a Virtual Assistant in 2021. This blog has the details. Read on…..

The Enhanced Virtual Assistant Task List

Initially, Virtual Assistants were given secondary tasks to complete; but this trend has drastically changed. Today, organizations have VA teams capable of completing a wide array of tasks. From business support, digital marketing, business consulting, content writing to bookkeeping, the list is never ending.

Furthermore, Virtual Assistants are also given not-so-regular tasks such as data management or business model innovation. According to a relevant research report published by ‘Canada life’, it is evident that Virtual Assistants are 20 percentage less stressed than the cubicle workers. Less the stress, more productivity can be expected. Tasks on an assistant’s plate will be completed faster than those of the regular office employees. Exploiting this opportunity, more businesses are willing to rely on VA services than ever before.

To supply VA demands in the market, more VA organizations are mushrooming at a random rate. To be truth spoken, not all of them are reliable.

#1 Point to Remember: Don’t get your business murdered by VA frauds and scams.

If you are unsure about how to choose a Virtual Assistant, talk to someone who understands the VA business. Also, online portals have thousands of listings and, choosing an assistant befitting your organization is an expert’s task.

Look for authenticity, experience, portfolios, rate per hour, value additions and remember this, a trustworthy organization will analyze a project first and then prepare for onboarding. 

Unchanged Top VA Destinations

India and Philippines will remain to be the top best destinations from where businesses will hire Virtual Assistants. It is not just the low charges that attract people towards the VAs in these countries. There are other reasons too. Most of the experts in India are well-educated and they provide their services virtually, as a part-time earning source or as a way to manage time. The perk is most of them are English Speaking. Meanwhile, Filipino ‘Virtual Assistants’ are well organized. They chart out the entire flow of a project and then work on it. 

Outsource work to these destination means an organization can function 24/7. As one part of the world wake up when the other side is fast asleep, having an exclusive team on both the sides will result in a business that is always awake.

If you look at destinations for outsource, Australian VAs charges are the highest in the work. However, businesses that rely on Australian Assistants are hyper local. Apart from India and Philippines, Venezuela is the upcoming strong outsource destination.

QUICK GLANCE AT THE CHARGES

Hourly pay of a VA in India: 245.66 Rupees

Hourly pay of a VA in Philippines: 193.31 Peso

Hourly pay of a VA in Australia: 27.22 Australian Dollars

(Source: payscale.com)

Sustainability Matters Like Never Before

Remote work statistics for 2020 is of all-time high. Even the regular employees are working from home or from remote locations due to the Coronavirus crisis.

Businesses have no other solution for continuity other than relying on virtual assistants. But don’t think that this trend started in 2020. About 4.7 million people were already working remotely even before 2020 as per the US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The best way to sustain is to outsource tasks to a less impacted nation. For instance, the UK is going to close its borders once more due to mutated Coronavirus scare. What business in the UK can do in such a situation is to rely on VAs from a different part of the world which has opened up for regular sustenance.

In 2020, about 88% of the organizations encouraged their employees to take work from home and have cancelled work related travel almost instantaneously post the virus spread news. This might continue way into 2021, until a permanent fix for the COVID-19 is found. (Source: Gartner.com)

Specialized Virtual Assistants are the Stars

While the general VAs are capable of completing repetitive mundane tasks, a specialized VA can give expertise advices and consultations on vast business subjects. In 2021, your business would want the services of a few of the specialized VAs.  Probably, more of Digital Marketing and Social Media Management VAs would help your businesses in marketing, sales and brand building.

More than 45% of the world population is on social media and there is no other better suggestion to find the prospects and customers in the present day situations where there are lockdowns and travel restrictions regularly. Surviving online will keep any business afloat. Also, more than 80% of the so called Millennial are influenced by social media posts for purchasing their products or availing to a service. (Source: WordsStream)

However, know this for a fact, Super VAs are a myth. Not every VA can complete all the administrative and business operational tasks single-handedly. A specialized VA can complete a single business task efficiently. They come with tags such as Graphic Design Assistant, Social Media Assistant, Content Writer Assistant, etc.

THE CONCLUSION

Hiring a VA in 2021 is not a choice, you have to adapt to the new normal and outsource few tasks on your list to survive in the competitive market.  But tread carefully in selecting your assistant. He or she should have a perfect mix of technical, creative and general skills along with great communication competence and prior experiences working in remote teams. Also, please don’t forget to check pricings and quality of the work.

With top Virtual Assistant agencies such as Ossisto, you can get multiple services at incredible rates. So, it is advisable to hire from reputable agencies rather than recruiting individual contributors. Virtual Employee or Assistant listing numbers of freelance hiring websites and other platforms will increase drastically in 2021.

2021 is the year to recover revenue, rebuild the way organizations operate, make use of new technologies and reshape the business. Who else can support these goals than a bunch of virtually operating experts?

Know more>>> Virtual Assistants: Know What They Do And Learn How To Hire Them

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