Company managers now have more resource options for recruiting and motivating staff, from graduate internships to temporary and part-time positions, contractors, and permanent hire. No matter how well-suited the employee or how perfect the employment contract, managers will still have to deal with traditional staffing problems, covering peak workloads, long-term illnesses, and extended absences (for example , maternity leave).
Hiring a temporary employee to fill a position, however inconvenient, has always served a purpose and was acceptable in many cases. Despite common complaints about each new person’s constant training and information, their lack of commitment and unreliability, hiring a temporary worker has been the only real option when you need coverage.
And what if you run one of the thousands of virtual or home-based businesses in the UK that, by design, doesn’t have the physical space? Or maybe you are short on space and don’t have a spare workstation? Hiring a traditional temporary worker is not going to be an option, you need a “Virtual Temporary”.
What are virtual times?
Virtual temps are self-sufficient PAs, secretaries and administrators who have Internet access and the necessary IT equipment to work with you remotely. As long as you grant them access to your network and systems, as many companies already grant their own remote staff, they can do almost anything an office worker can.
A Virtual Temporary works similar to a Virtual Assistant: they are assigned to you although they may have other clients. They can also work as a team, and for some of their work it may make sense to delegate the work to a colleague, so they have access to greater capacity and broader skills, as well as instant cover for their vacation and sickness.
Unlike a traditional Temporary, a virtual Temporary will always be your Temporary available when you need it. This consistency and continuity has several benefits:
- You only tell them about your work once
- Your staff get to know you like a colleague
- Your customers will accept you as “one of the team”
Another advantage is that you only pay for your productive time. Often the traditional time spends a lot of time waiting, taking breaks, and getting to know your company and other staff. This can make up 50-75% of your time, depending on how well you manage them.
Because virtual temps are responsible for supporting their own clients, their incentive to perform well is much stronger than that of most traditional employees or temps.
Going virtual has real benefits
The benefits of virtual time are very varied, some of which have already been mentioned in this article. These are only offset by the potential risks associated with finding the “right person” and giving them access to your systems.
The reality is that you don’t have more control than with a traditional Temp. However, with Virtual Time you can minimize security risks by taking referrals from your other long-term clients and feeding them accountability over time as trust grows. Security risk is also reduced because it’s one person, not a stream of unknown people walking through your door.
Once you feel comfortable with the idea of hiring a Virtual Temporary, you can sit back and enjoy the benefits:
- Pay only for productive hours
- Increased productivity and focus on task
- Always there when you need help
- Always committed to your success
- Access to broader skills and capabilities
- Less hassle…the job just gets done
diving
Venturing into new territory always requires a first step. It’s easy to stick with what we’re familiar with, even if it’s not ideal—”you better know,” as they say. But, in this case, the benefits far outweigh the risks and it is possible to test the water without much effort.
I would recommend getting to know your Virtual Temp gradually before taking the plunge, unless the job is routine and non-business invasive (ie, it can be done without access to company networks and systems). You can do this at any time, giving them work on a pay-per-use basis and evaluating the quality of the person and their work step by step along the way.
This means thinking and planning ahead, which is not a bad thing, so that you effectively train and prepare your Virtual Temp for the type of work you need before it urgently materializes. This way, you and she are prepared for the first temporary assignment: you say go, and she starts working, just as if the regular employees were doing the work. Perfect!