| As Virtual Assistants (VAs), we focus on providing | | | | a company requires specialized support for assisting |
| small business owners and solo entrepreneurs with | | | | senior executives or project managers. These are skill |
| expert administrative support as an alternative to them | | | | sets that can only be acquired through years of |
| hiring temporary or part-time employees. The benefits | | | | experience working in these specialized roles; and too |
| of working with VAs for these businesses are many | | | | many temporary agencies are hard pressed to recruit |
| and are much more than simply a matter of cost. But, | | | | temporary help at this level. Therefore, the company |
| doesn't this also hold true for larger companies? | | | | must free internal resources to train a temporary |
| Since starting my Virtual Assistance practice, and after | | | | employee, taking up more man-hours and decreasing |
| 24 years in corporate America, I keep coming back to | | | | productivity before the temp employee can be of any |
| the question: Why doesn't Virtual Assistance also work | | | | real assistance. |
| for larger corporations? I don't have an answer to that | | | | Virtual Assistants come into their roles after years of |
| question, but I have come up with several reasons for | | | | experience and training in a variety of roles - from |
| large companies to take a serious look at how Virtual | | | | administrative assistant to executive assistant to |
| Assistance can help them. | | | | project manager to administrative supervisor. Their skill |
| Virtual Assistance is a strategic alternative to | | | | sets are already highly polished - no training required; |
| downsizing: | | | | and they can almost seamlessly assume the |
| Too many large companies today have embraced | | | | responsibility of executive assistant or project assistant |
| downsizing as a way to reduce overhead costs and | | | | because they come to the role as a seasoned |
| become more operationally efficient. A large number | | | | professional who knows how to manage their time, |
| of downsized positions are targeted for the | | | | prioritize their work, support their clients, and meet the |
| administrative staff because companies believe | | | | expectations of the company. |
| technology will be a more efficient, cost-effective | | | | Mystery Staffing: Temporary employment agencies |
| solution to human support and that managers and | | | | cannot guarantee a company will be able to get the |
| senior leaders can assume the maintenance of these | | | | same person they had on the last assignment. It's |
| tasks. This belief is misguided simply because | | | | almost impossible because one of their goals is to |
| technology cannot replace human expertise, intuition or | | | | ensure their talent pool stays as busy as they desire. |
| interaction. The assumption that administrative tasks | | | | This is especially true if the temp employee has more |
| such as calendaring, data/information management, | | | | advanced skill sets and is in demand by more than one |
| meeting planning or research will be better managed | | | | company. |
| with technology and leadership oversight is a plan for | | | | Virtual Assistants work on retainer plans, project plans |
| disaster. | | | | and pay-as-you-go (PAYG) plans. The client company |
| Okay, I know I'm being harsh here… but when | | | | is assured of their availability and can relax because |
| administrative staff is downsized they take with them | | | | they are already aware of the VA's knowledge, skills |
| the detailed knowledge of administrivia. In other words, | | | | and abilities. This is a huge relief when a client |
| expecting the managers or senior leaders who relied | | | | company has an important deadline or requires very |
| on administrative support to assume these "simple" | | | | specialized skills and a developed understanding of the |
| tasks with the help of technology is like asking an | | | | expected outcome. |
| executive chef to release her prep cook and sous | | | | Cost: Temporary employment agencies make their |
| chef for mechanized preparation. It just doesn't work. | | | | money by charging employers a recruiting fee - |
| Managers and senior executives are very good at | | | | typically between 10% and 20% - of the total |
| what they do - strategizing, business development, | | | | compensation paid to the temp employee for the |
| analyzing, and decision-making. But, the countless | | | | duration of the assignment. Extensions to the |
| details of these functions are so varied that they | | | | assignment require additional recruiting fees; and, in |
| require the diverse skills that only administrative | | | | some cases recruiting fees are not refunded if the |
| experts can bring to the role. The old corporate adage | | | | assignment is cut short. The employer must also |
| - time is money - still holds true when administrative | | | | usually pay taxes on the full contract amount - including |
| functions are heaped upon already overworked | | | | the recruiting fee. |
| leaders who are at their best strategizing, developing, | | | | A Virtual Assistant, as I said earlier, works with clients |
| analyzing and making decisions. | | | | through retainer agreements, project agreements, or |
| Virtual Assistants are the strategic alternative to | | | | PAYG plans. The agreements are created after an |
| downsizing because they are able to assume some - | | | | initial - usually free - consultation, and once the Virtual |
| or all - of the administrative tasks that busy managers | | | | Assistant has gathered enough detailed information |
| and executives simply don't have time to do. And, in | | | | about the nature of the work, variety of skills and |
| most cases VAs already have the technology and | | | | accessibility to the client. While it's true that retainer |
| other tools available to them, so communications | | | | agreements generally contain non-refund clauses that |
| remain smooth, efficient and productive. | | | | encourage companies to use the entire amount of |
| Administrative support is a specialized profession | | | | retained hours, the estimate is based on a simple |
| similar to lawyers, accountants or subject matter | | | | formula that accurately reflects the nature and amount |
| experts. All of these specialties have had their share | | | | of work. |
| of downsizing, but are always in demand. Which brings | | | | Virtual Assistance project agreements are similar to |
| me to… | | | | retainer agreements and also contain clauses for |
| Virtual Assistants are less expensive than employees: | | | | reimbursement of non-standard supplies as well as |
| Employees cost money; and lots of it when it comes | | | | changes in scope of the project plan. PAYG |
| to larger companies. Here's a quick-and-dirty | | | | agreements are fairly basic - the company pays for |
| breakdown: | | | | the amount of time the VA spends working with them |
| - Salary | | | | and usually requires a 50% deposit in advance. |
| - Benefits (Medical and Life Insurance, LTD, STD, etc.) | | | | Virtual Assistance is a cost-effective alternative to |
| - Vacation and sick time, holiday pay | | | | permanent floaters: |
| - Employer-paid taxes (FICA, FUTA, Medicare, SUTA, | | | | Many large companies keep a full-time administrative |
| Workers Comp) | | | | floating staff - staff that fills in for short or long-term |
| - Training | | | | administrative vacancies due to illness, leave of |
| - Space | | | | absence or until an empty permanent position is filled. |
| - Equipment (PC, phone, desk, supplies) | | | | While this may be plausible in a few cases, the costs |
| - Downtime when workloads are slow | | | | associated with keeping permanent floating staff are |
| Virtual Assistants work as independent contractors. | | | | extremely high. Full-time employees earn their salary |
| This means companies are not paying for benefits, | | | | whether they are productive or not, need supervision |
| time off, taxes, training, space, equipment or downtime. | | | | and management when they are not working in a |
| Virtual Assistants work from their own office, use and | | | | vacant area, and require ongoing training to acquire all |
| maintain their own equipment, schedule and manage | | | | of the skills needed to effectively fill more senior |
| their time to ensure client needs are met, pay their | | | | floating roles. All of these costs are absorbed by the |
| own taxes, maintain their own professional training | | | | employer. |
| certifications, and work with other clients so downtime | | | | Virtual Assistants are cost-effective alternatives to |
| is not an issue. | | | | permanent floaters because they work with client |
| Virtual Assistance is a realistic solution to hiring | | | | companies only when work is available, do not require |
| temporary help - for many reasons: | | | | supervision because they are not employees rather |
| Training Downtime: Temporary employment agencies | | | | they are administrative experts who own and operate |
| are a good solution if the assignment requires general | | | | their practices, and constantly upgrade their skills and |
| administrative support… answering phones, | | | | acquire new ones, at their expense, to remain at the |
| copying, faxing and other front-office tasks. And, the | | | | forefront of their profession. |
| key term here is general because they fall short when | | | | |