The road to hiring a good VA starts before you’ve even begun searching. Here are four steps to consider:
Step1: Create a clear job description. Clearly write out all of the job’s responsibilities. Think about how your business is currently set up and how the VA will fit in. Do you need a task-based VA, a full-time assistant, or someone who will work for you on a part-time basis?
Step 2: Determine the job’s requirements. This means not only requirements in terms of experience but also the kind of hardware/Internet connection necessary to complete the job, as well as any necessary skills and personality traits. Also, determine what time frame will be given to complete the job/role.
Step 3: Calculate how much can you afford to pay. Knowing this can help you narrow down your search and ensure that you stick to your priorities. You should also research what VA’s are typically receiving for conducting the work that you seek. You can do this by asking your peers what they charge, looking at the listings on virtual hiring sites, and even heading over to a VA forum and asking some experienced VA’s themselves.
Step 4: Determine how you will evaluate the new hire. Set some benchmarks and productivity goals so you can quickly cut your loses should the arrangement not work out. Though it may be disheartening to have to let a new VA go and start the hiring process again, keep in mind that there are plenty of candidates out there who are willing and able to do the work you need. Don’t waste your precious time and money going around in circles.
The Low-Down on Working with Overseas Virtual Assistants
Many aspiring entrepreneurs and small business owners looking to keep their costs to a minimum seek to hire VA’s based overseas in order to take advantage of the sometimes stark differences in payrate. But there are a whole host of issues that can easily whittle away any anticipated savings. Here are a few things to consider:
Overseas VA’s aren’t so cheap anymore. As demand increases, prices for competent overseas virtual assistants have been on the up and up.
Be prepared for a language barrier. While English is commonly spoken in some of the major countries supplying virtual assistants, such as India and the Philippines, don’t assume that your potential VA is fully fluent in English, or any other language that you may require. In fact, it’s best to go into the search process assuming the opposite. Make sure that you specifically request fluency in a given language and that you incorporate some of the screening tips mentioned below to verify this fluency.
Consider the cultural differences. Before you start looking for workers from another country, make sure you are familiar with the cultural differences that exist there. In India, for example, workers are more likely to agree to take on a project even if it is above them as they tend to have a harder time saying no.
Consider the time difference. One of the biggest barriers to working with an overseas VA is the difference in time zones. If your virtual hire is on the other side of the globe, then you may find it particularly challenging to manage his or her workflow. Someone who is working in a time zone that is 10-12 hours off from your own may not be readily available for the spontaneous questions, clarifications, or last minute requests that tend to come up.
Consider the quality of equipment and online access. Research the quality and reliability of any equipment and internet connectivity your new hire will need as well as how the particular country’s infrastructure is set up. Like any other contractor, a virtual assistant is responsible for his or her own internet connection and hardware. But Internet service and access to higher-end equipment may be limited within some countries.
How to Screen Applicants
Even if a potential hire comes recommended by a good friend or peer, you should nevertheless exercise your full due diligence in checking up on this person’s background, skills, and experience. This becomes all the more vital if your virtual assistant will be handling or have access to sensitive information, such as customer payment and contact info, or areas of your business, such as files for your company website.
The internet is cluttered with virtual assistant horror stories- lack of stated experience or expertise, instances of shoddy work, resentful VA’s who shut down websites, or stole information, or sought to sully their employer’s online reputation. If you want to avoid adding your own experience to the fray, then here are a few tips to keep in mind:
-Look for a clear and concise response to your job posting or request. The candidate should clearly detail the skill and experience he or she has and how it suits your requirements. Where appropriate ask to see samples of prior work or jobs that they have completed.
-The candidate should provide at least three references, and you should make the effort to contact them. You should also pay attention to how current these references are. A collection of old references, like a client the VA worked for three years ago, or an unexplained gap in employment may be a warning sign that you should move on to someone else.
-Check out their web presence. Does this person have a website, a Facebook page, and LinkedIn profile? Take a look at them. You will get a sense of who this person is by looking at how they present themselves online.
-Make sure that you have your VA sign a clear and thorough confidentiality agreement as well as an independent contractor agreement. (See my collection of free business documents for a generic example of such a contract.) It will help to protect both you and them from misunderstandings and liabilities.
-Conduct a phone interview and correspond via email. Make it a point to communicate a few times with potential VA’s before agreeing to hire them. Doing so will help you to see how good their English is and if they really know what they say they do. You can generally get a pretty good idea about this just from speaking to them on the phone or via email exchanges.
-Consider using a virtual staffing firm. If all the checking and research doesn’t seem doable then you should consider using the services of a virtual staffing firm. The cost may be a little higher than what you would expect to pay if you were working with a virtual assistant directly, but the time, money, and effort you’d save in the hiring process whether by using their services to narrow down the applicant field or to screen out potential candidates may make it worth it.
Some Tips to Effectively Working with a VA
In a previous post, I detailed some tips for getting the most out of your outsourcing arrangements. When it comes to virtual assistants, here are a few additional things to keep in mind:
-First, as a precaution make sure that all your documents and other vital business information are backed up. The chances of a fatal error occurring with your precious files are greater with a VA since this person is not in front of you, you are more likely to leave out some important information or step, and you may have the added difficulty of working across cultural lines and time zones.
-Keep instructions, clear, concise, and where you are able to, include screenshots and pictures. It may take sometime for you to do all these steps, but the potential time (and headache) you’ll save may be much greater. From experience I found that all the back and forth explaining, re-hashing, clarifying, and correcting of errors due to misunderstandings can be a very big black hole when it comes to time and money.
-Put some kind of time frame on your requests and make sure that it is clearly communicated to your VA. If, for example, you need some Internet-based research or help answering emails, then indicate how long your virtual assistant should work on the project and then let the person know that he or she should get back to you with progress report. This way you can both keep tabs on how your VA is performing and quickly recognize any bottlenecks in the work process.
-Make sure that you use some process of evaluation mentioned above. Where a VA arrangement clearly isn’t working out, then it is in you best interest to move on as quickly as possible.
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Human Resource Policies in Toyota India
The human resources in Toyota a 70 year old company in the automotive sector are given much importance and according to the Chairman of the board of directors of the company human resource development efforts across the globe have been enhanced quite a lot to meet the challenges of global human resource issues relating to diverse cultures and backgrounds in various countries Toyota operates. To accomplish this task the company follows the Monozukuri philosophy of Japanese manufacturing according to which “making things means making people” (Toyota Motor Corporation 2008).
The Toyota Way is a set of 14 principles devised by the company to implement an effective and efficient manufacturing process and maximising on quality and excellent human resource management. Some of these principles are directly linked to human resource management and employee satisfaction and loyalty. Principle 4 is concerned with levelling out and distributing work load which is termed as Heijunka in Japanese. Principle 6 is concerned with standardising tasks for improvement and employee empowerment. The main principle which focuses purely on effective human resource management is principle 9 which is concerned with the training, development and growth of employees and managers who not only implement these techniques themselves but teach it to others as well (Liker 2004).
The company implements these principles to production and manufacturing of cars throughout its plants around the world including India. The company faces challenges in human resource management in India due to cultural differences more diverse than any other country including United States of America. Indian employees are usually sensitive to criticism, tend to resist the company’s policy of continuous improvement through identification of problems and may not be quite serious towards deadlines. The company has to adapt to these conditions and devise plans accordingly to cope with these challenges. The company has made quite a few efforts over the years to make human resource management in India by placing much emphasis on policies related to training, development, benefits, growth and attractive compensation to employees
OTHER COMPANIES ARE FEDEX, STARBUCKS