Are you fed up with the lengthy and drawn-out hiring process? What about the stress and expenditures associated with hiring a new employee? There comes a moment in every small business when infrastructure has to be expanded, and additional team members are needed to grow the firm — but getting the finances may be challenging.
It is critical to evaluate the time and expense of recruiting a full-time employee. Going through applications and interviews might take months, and if the employee is recruited, you’ll have to go through a negotiating and training process. Add in analysing their work and paying for a full-time wage, and you’ve got a lot on your plate if you’re a business owner or operations manager who already has a lot on your plate. If you want to cut costs while developing your business, a virtual assistant (VA) with 24 hour phone answering service may be a better option than recruiting another in-house staff.
The True Cost of an Employee
Hiring an in-house staff frequently outweighs the benefits. Despite greater business development, they might hinder organisations from employing additional personnel. Even if present employees ask for additional help, a company may be hesitant to hire an in-house employee if it means incurring a significant financial loss.
When a company loses a paid employee, it must pay the following hard costs:
- Advertising
- Screening
- Interviewing
- Hiring
- Training
- Benefits
- Taxes
- IT infrastructure and support
- Facility costs
- Work computer
Furthermore, a company must absorb intangible costs such as missed productivity and opportunity, so it takes 6 to 9 months’ income to replace a paid person on average.
Virtual Assistant Versus an Employee
Let us begin with a definition: what is a virtual assistant? A virtual assistant is a remote worker who assists clients with professional administrative, technical, or creative help. To name a few, these activities may involve ad development and management, website design and management, event management, graphic design, social media management, and calendar administration. Assume you need someone to engage your social media followers by developing and uploading material regularly, building your following, and responding to comments.
A virtual assistant with 24h answering service that specialises in social media management may be just what you’re looking for. You may learn more about what virtual assistants perform by clicking here. On the other hand, an employee is a person who works part-time or full-time under a contract of employment, whether oral or written, explicit or implicit, and who has recognised rights and obligations.
Now that we’ve defined and distinguished a virtual assistant from an employee, let’s have a look at the benefits:
Advantages of working with a virtual assistant over working with an employee
Working With a Virtual Assistant Is More Cost-Effective
So, in terms of cost, what are the true differences between a virtual assistant and an employee? Cost is frequently a big decision factor for many firms and startups just getting started. If the business owner decides to hire someone, they must budget to purchase office space and equipment in advance of the employee. This overhead is often rather substantial! A virtual assistant works remotely and already has the necessary equipment to work for you.
Virtual Assistants Are More Productive in General
Virtual assistants spend a lot of time speaking with coworkers or driving to and from work. They set aside time to focus on the duties that have been assigned to them. This guarantees that they are very productive and complete more tasks faster and more efficient than other employees. On the other hand, employees spend a significant amount of time driving from home to work, arriving late, taking long lunch breaks, and conversing with coworkers at the workplace. This wastes important time that might have been used to move the needle in the business and impact overall productivity.
Most Virtual Assistants Already Have the Necessary Supplementary Training
To remain competitive and have an advantage over the competition, virtual assistants must level up on their knowledge and abilities on their own. This guarantees that they are prepared for whatever duty is assigned to them. A customer may also choose to engage with a specialist virtual assistant who possesses the precise ability that the client seeks. However, in the case of an employee, the employer must bear the expense of training to appropriately equip the employee with the required new skills and information that they had not previously been taught in. This also implies that the employee’s output will be reduced throughout the training period, and a significant amount of time will be spent upskilling the employee.
You Have the Option of Selecting Virtual Assistants
Depending on the stage of your organisation, you will require different types of assistance, whether running a business or launching a startup. This implies that at various phases of your organisation, you will need to collaborate with people who have a variety of abilities. The majority of virtual assistants are multi-skilled. This is especially true if you seek generic virtual assistants that can accomplish a variety of tasks. You may hire a virtual assistant skilled in content creation, SEO, technical assistance, logistical planning, social media marketing, and graphic design. This implies that the VA will complete all of these jobs competently and professionally. You can also work with a specialist virtual assistant who concentrates on single expertise and excels at it.
Project-Based, Part-Time, and Short-Term Assignments Are Ideal for Virtual Assistants
As previously said, virtual assistants are less expensive than employees. As a result, they are the greatest option for project-based, part-time, and short-term assignments. This implies that the virtual assistant can only be recruited when needed, during peak season or when a project is ready to commence. After compared to an employee who must still be paid during off-peak seasons or when a project is concluded, working with a virtual assistant is more advantageous in this context as after hours call service.
Conclusion
To summarise, one of the most important components in obtaining success in any business is understanding who to recruit based on the company’s demands. Most significantly, a customer should choose someone who enjoys their work and can complete the responsibilities assigned to them. As a business expands, the owner will want assistance to handle all of the duties required to run the organisation. This post discussed the benefits and drawbacks of working with virtual assistants and workers. Based on this information, you may determine whether to recruit a virtual assistant, an intern, or an employee for your company.
