Virtual Assistants are E-Commerce business owners' little helpers. They provide assistance within different sections of your business.
Take an Amazon seller as an example. There are tons of tasks you can outsource to a Virtual Assistant or VA for short. VAs can help you with product sourcing, admin tasks, product analysis, etc.
When you've chosen the right person for the job, you'll realise how invaluable VAs are. The key here is to hire the person with the right attitude towards work, skills, and experience. The reason for this is because there are different VA roles and it is important to hire the right person for the role you are seeking. Otherwise, you'll be setting yourself up, your business, and the VA for failure.
If you want a successful hiring experience, read on further! We will discuss which mishaps you should avoid when hiring your Virtual Assistant.
Mismatch
This means that the VA's attitude towards work, and your own work ethics do not align. It can cause conflict since potentially there will be several instances of disagreements. And, there will come a time when these disagreements are no longer going to be tolerable.
Another mismatch would be the VA's skills versus the role that you are hiring for. The candidate might be really good with Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop when in fact you are looking for a Sourcing VA. If you hire a VA with mismatch skills, then expect that they won't be able to perform well with their role and tasks.
The good thing is, if you really like the VA and you still want to hire them despite the mismatch on skills, you can train your VA so they can acquire the skills you require. Our take here is that attitude or work ethics is something innate and can never be changed. On the other hand, skills are learnable - with proper training and guidance, your VA will be up to speed in no time.
As of late, there have been a number of business owners who opt to partner with a VA-recruitment company instead. This way, they can be sure that the VA who will be hired is the best fit for them, both in skills and work ethics.
Poor Relationship Building
Most often than not we hire team members based on their experiences and skills. We sometimes overlook a candidate's personality and attitude.
Having said these, since we get confident with a VA's performance due to their skills, we tend to forget to reach out and build a relationship with them. We only look at them as a team member who needs to and must perform. What we don't know is that not reaching out to them and trying to build a connection can affect a VA's performance.
When a VA feels that they are being neglected, it can demoralise them. A demoralised team member will start to perform poorly.
As a business owner and a manager, it is your responsibility to find time and reach out to your team members. This way you could build a connection on a personal level, and not just about work all the time. Building a relationship on a personal level can make your VA feel that they matter to you.
Expecting Unreasonably
Another mistake that a business owner commits is expecting unreasonable results from their VAs.
It goes without saying that when you hire a VA, you have to create a learning curve and progressing goals. Do not set standards or goals that are fit for a seasoned VA. Start with goals that you think are reachable and reasonable.
An example is a Social Media Manager. Do not set unreasonable goals such as gaining 1,000+ in a span of one month. You have to take into consideration your current stats, as well as your presence within the required social media platform.
Asking for unreasonable expectations is basically setting your VA for failure.
Here's a tip: When setting up goals, make sure that they SMART goals. SMART means Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound.
Incorrect Task Delegation
When you delegate tasks to your VA, you have to ensure that you are delegating the correct ones. Let's say you hired a Sourcing VA, but you delegated an admin task. That's wrong.
If you do this, do not expect ideal results from it. It can also cause confusion on your VA's part. They might start questioning their roles eventually.
When you hire for a specific role, make sure that you only give tasks related to that role. If the business really calls for members to be multi-role, then set proper expectations. Also, before delegating tasks unrelated to their current roles, you have to ensure that they are trained and comfortable doing the said tasks.
Respect
Respect begets respect.
There are some business owners who think highly of themselves. Just because they own the business and pay their staff, they feel like they have the right to be disrespectful and rude towards them. What they don't realise is that their team members are the ones making their life easier, and that they too, require respect.
Disrespect can range from how you speak with them, your tone of voice, your choice of words, your treatment with them, etc.
Another form of disrespect is not acknowledging your team's insights and suggestions. Listen with your team's feedback as it can be helpful with your business's welfare. Do not gun down ideas right away just because it did not come from you.
Bear in mind that your team won't provide suggestions that will be detrimental with your business. After all, their success is your success.
What can you do to keep away from conflicts with your newly-hired Virtual Assistant?
Have a Clear and Concise Job Description
Sometimes it all starts with the initial talent-sourcing stage. Having a clear and concise job description helps you filter the right candidates for the role.
Within the job description indicate the skills you are looking for, job experiences, key role responsibilities, etc. This will help you gather candidates that have the right skills and experience for the role you are hiring for.
When you have a clearer and more specific job ad, it can help get the best applicants for the job.
Asking the Right Questions
Before the interview, take some time to read on a candidate's profile. From it, try to create questions based on the applicant's profile.
Apart from this, make sure to have a standard list of questions. A good interviewer will have a list of standard questions ready, and will use these questions as a guide. You can also create questions based on the applicant's answers.
Also, do not just focus on questions about an applicant's skills and experiences. You also have to ask questions relating to the applicant's personality and attitude. Normally, for this you can ask situational questions, and let them explain their answers.
Lastly, you also have to observe their nuances and tendencies during the interview. Most often than not, by observing these, you will at least have an idea on their behaviour, e.g. an applicant who does not feel comfortable answering a question usually fidgets or does not look at the interviewer while answering.
Company Background and Culture
Lastly, a lot of business owners tend to overlook this when hiring a VA. They tend to skip the part when they have to discuss their company's culture and background.
Doing this will give the new hire an idea on what the company is and what kind of culture flows through it.
The VA knowing this will give them the chance to adjust within your company's culture. It will be helpful in the VA's adjustment as a new member of your team.
Takeaways
You have to remember that as a business owner, and as a hiring manager, it is your responsibility to ensure that these mishaps are avoided.
Lastly, if you want a stress-free hiring experience, you can partner with a VA-recruitment company instead. With topnotch service-from talent sourcing to hiring to onboarding to training to deployment, you can be sure that Global VA Solutions will hire the best VA for you.
Your GVAS journey starts with a guaranteed free consultation call. Book it here and let us help you hire your next or first superstar VA.
Here Are Some Additional Resources
Get Expert Virtual Assistants: Want to build your team of transformational VAs and free your time? Learn more here.
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