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Using the latest in technology and harnessing the years of acquired expertise has given agencies offering recruitment outsourcing and staffing services an edge over the competition when it comes to hiring a virtual employee. And there is such a demand for virtual employees because of the benefits of hiring virtual employees.
This is because virtual employees are often offshore and to find a right match there, it is necessary that the recruitment or staffing agency maintains a talent pool for several years, keeps in contact with passive candidates, knows the job market in the region well, and spends on marketing efforts too.
Well-established recruitment and staffing agencies like Alp Consulting can afford all these, which makes them a great choice for businesses that want to hire virtual employees.
What is a virtual employee?
An employee hired generally on contract to work remotely from a location is called a virtual employee. A virtual employee’s work is enabled by advanced technology and a great atmosphere and location to collaborate and develop with their peers. The benefits of virtual employees are many and has led to the growth of the popularity of remote work even among employers.
Virtual employees ensure they have a great work-life balance because of the access to technology and the nearness to family or friends and other quality-of-life enhancers. No wonder that the number of virtual employees has gone up to as high as 64% worldwide in a report by Buffer.
How to Identify a Good Virtual Employee?
When it comes to characteristics that make them perfect, one must not distinguish between an office-going employee and a remote employee. The basic things would be the same, a strong work ethic, excellent time management and organizational skills, and a desire to upskill and move up the ladder at work.
In addition to these necessities, having a virtual employee is an advantage, especially if they have great attitude, appreciates the work his office-going peers do, communicates and collaborates with them effectively, and mentors them when he feels that they are wrong.
10 Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Employee
There are many great benefits of virtual employees being a part of your company. Let us look at the benefits of hiring virtual employees in more detail now.
1. Cost Savings
Hiring virtual employees, especially in a geography where income levels and cost of living is low, gives companies the chance to save on their costs. Companies also need not offer virtual employees benefits that they offer regular employees.
2. Flexibility
Virtual employees bring in more flexibility in the workplace. Because they work remotely and in a different time zone, they ensure increased availability for your business. Even if your regular employees are not available to work, a virtual employee can work and meet clients.
3. Scalability
A growing business may fall short of manpower. To make sure that this doesn’t happen, a business can hire virtual employees who will work remotely. The immediate advantage is that you need not have additional office infrastructure, as they can work from anywhere.
4. Increased Productivity
A virtual employee also has increased productivity. Remote work permits employees to have a better work-life balance, and research shows that this can lead to increased productivity at work.
5. Higher Employee Satisfaction
Virtual employees, thanks to their far better work-life balance, are grateful to their company and continue to not only mention the company in a good light but also enjoy greater levels of employee engagement and satisfaction. The employee morale is also a lot better when employees are working remotely.
6. Could Be More Skilled
Generally, virtual employees who are paid more than their regular counterparts are recruited for expert roles and to satisfy a specific need that the company has at a point of time. They would be highly skilled and a cut above the rest. This is one of the lesser accepted benefits of virtual employees.
7. Diverse Perspectives
Virtual employees bring diverse perspectives to the workplace, thanks to a difference in culture and experiences. These diverse perspectives add to the diversity in the workplace and could also be the start of something truly innovative.
8. Environment Friendly
Virtual employees work remotely from the location of their choice. Because they do not commute to a location, a lot of travel costs are saved. If they work in a cloud and the entire office moved to the cloud, again there are a lot of savings for the company and the immediate environment also benefits from a lower carbon footprint.
9. Growth in Reputation
As the business expands to other countries and even continents, recruiting virtual employees from every location, the business’ reputation improves not just in the country of establishment but globally as well. Hiring virtual employees has this important benefit as well.
10. Market Entry
It becomes easier for a business to enter a new market when it has already onboarded virtual employees there. One instance of this is a company that wants to enter the United States. If it onboards virtual employees in operations and business development from the US, there is a good chance it can make inroads into the market much faster.
Do You Want to Hire Virtual Employees?
A virtual employee is a real asset for the company they are working for. Unlike freelancers, they are a dedicated resource which a company can access to fulfil its immediate and long-term needs, be it for a specific project or to work on assignments that were not completed successfully in the past and need to be restarted. Whatever the challenge, a virtual employee is up to the task.
Now that you know the benefits of hiring a virtual employee, you may want to hire them to supplement and enrich your teams. If you do not, however, have a plan on how to accomplish this, you may need to work with a staffing partner. Alp Consulting, a company with more than two decades of experience in recruitment and staffing, must be your partner of choice as you hire the best virtual employees for your company.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a virtual employee, and how do they differ from freelancers?
A virtual employee, much like a freelancer, works remotely but for a specific company. A freelancer, on the other hand, will not have a non-compete agreement with any company, as they do not belong to any company.
2. What are the key benefits of hiring virtual employees for small businesses?
Virtual employees enable small businesses to scale and save on the initial costs of acquiring office infrastructure and offering benefits to their employees. Hiring virtual employees is a lot more cost-effective and helps the business meet its goals early.
3. How can hiring virtual employees reduce operational costs?
By hiring virtual employees, a business can reduce operational costs. This is largely due to the savings in office infrastructure and possibly even reduce the cost of transportation to much lower than before, even if it decides to offer transport to its permanent employees.
4. What industries are best suited for virtual employment?
Industries like IT, ITES, e-commerce, FinTech and Healthcare are best suited for virtual employees. Industries like auto and aerospace may also benefit from remote expertise.
5. What tools are essential for managing virtual employees effectively?
Several tools come to mind. The tools best suited for managing virtual employees effectively for communication are Slack, Teams, and Skype. For collaboration, both G-Suite and Office 365 are great options.
