Are you planning to hire some additional support for your business? If yes, first of all, congratulate yourself because the company you started is finally growing. However, its now where, the actual work begins now because this is the time to make mindful decisions for your business to ensure more profits while streamlining its processes.
One of the challenges most enterprises face when expanding their resources is choosing between in-house employees and outsourcing a virtual executive assistant in Australia. You might have already read several articles with some may favouring the selection of a new employee, and others advising you to go ahead with a virtual assistant.
If you are indecisive about whether you should go with a a virtual assistant or an employee, you have landed on the right page.
Below, we will explain everything you need to know about hiring a virtual assistant and an employee for your business. So, by the end of this article, you will have a clearer idea about whether to outsource a virtual assistant agency in Australia or hire a full-time employee.
• Differences between a virtual assistant and an employee
Before diving in, we should first know the differences between an employee and a virtual assistant.
• Virtual assistants – They are independent professionals who can handle various tasks of your business from a remote location. Usually, they undertake tedious and time-consuming activities. You pay them according to their work, either by project or by an hour.
• Employees – These are individuals you hire in your company for a full-time role to undertake specific tasks. Unlike virtual assistants, employees will work from your workspace, along with your staff. You pay them a monthly salary and offer other employee benefits.
Now, you are well familiar with what differentiates a full-time employee from a virtual assistant. We can look at some advantages and disadvantages of a full-time employee and a virtual assistant.
Starting with the full-time employees…
• Advantages of a full-time employee
- They fit with your company culture
Company culture is a massive part of running a business and keeping employees happy. It can have an impact on morale, retention, productivity and many other factors that underpins the success of a business. - Employees performance is high
Internal hires generally performs well and they have a knock on impact on higher productivity from increased morale among the workforce. - High level of professionalism
• Disadvantages of a full-time employee
- Training is costly and time consuming
- Expenses to maintain the work environment and standards at a workplace
- Higher payroll
- Limitation on flexibility
Moving on let us now discover the compelling reasons to outsource a virtual executive assistant in Australia.
o Adaptability – The primary advantage of outsourcing virtual assistants is the flexibility to adjust according to the workload. For example, companies have hectic seasonal periods with slow time when they do not have much work. It means if you hire a full-time employee, you will pay them monthly wages whether you have work or not. Plus, they may not be able to manage with extra working hours.
Therefore, it is advisable to work with a virtual executive assistant in Australia because they can adapt to your fluctuating workloads with ease. Also, you will pay them based on their tasks performed, which means no extra money going from your pocket.
o Cost-effective – Another reason why most enterprises go for a virtual assistant is cost-effectiveness. After all, employing a permanent member in the company costs more money. For example, you need to provide them with space, desktop, IT equipment, internet server, salary, regular training, along with other benefits. If you consider all this, the total cost of hiring an employee will surpass outsourcing a virtual assistant agency.
o More skills and experience – A virtual assistant is more than an administrator that handles your business tasks from home. Reputed virtual assistant agencies house only experienced and well-trained professionals. Thus, if you have hired a reliable company, you can expect highly skilled and experienced professionals to handle your projects. It means you do not have to offer virtual assistants any training because they are already experts in the field.
Based on the above discussions, while both may have their advantages, it is clear why most entrepreneurs choose virtual assistant services in Australia over full-time employees. If you are ready to take your business a ladder-up without going through the hassle of training an employee, hire a virtual assistant.
