Your Alternative For A Substitute To Maternity Leave - A Virtual Assistant

Knowing that someone in your department or company is pregnant make you to appreciate it for it is a wonderful thing to happen

. But at the back of your mind, you are also filled with worry because that staff of yours will soon go on maternity leave, which is a good 8 weeks or can even end up to 52 weeks. A paternity leave which is for two weeks is not that bad as it is almost like being away for a holiday. But maternity leave is another thing.

As soon as you entered your room, you called HR and had a meeting with the department head. You started by saying that one of your staff is soon to go on maternity leave and if they have someone who can be her substitute. You specifically said that you need a person who is hard working and is work results oriented. HR gave you three options: 1) hire a substitute but they need to put a post for the said position and the grueling task of looking for someone will take time. Then of course, the person will need to be trained as well. The next option given was getting from Agency Temps although these agencies charges very exorbitant fees and yet cannot supply you with quality work. So, now you were left to how to get a dedicated and easy to train person.

Suddenly, you remember a friend of yours who have opted to get a Virtual Assistant also for a staff who went on maternity leave. These women who have found new freedom working as Virtual Assistants make use of their home as their office. They are equipped with their computer with a broadband connection, a telephone, printer, photocopier and a fax machine. There are some who have tried and failed making them to be back in the office. But there are also some who have made it and are now earning money with this kind of business.

To have a better knowledge of the value of Virtual Assistants, following are the good points of employing one.

The advantages?

Employing the services of a Virtual Assistant to pitch in to your employee on maternity leave is not the only you will find but coupled with that person, you are bound to have:

1. A knowledgeable personal or admin assistant

2. A person who does not to be trained

3. Someone who can share her up-to-the-minute expertise and suggestions

4. A competent individual and yet paying only for the agreed number of worked hours, and

5. Fees cover both sickness and holiday pay.

Virtual assistants are expected by executives to be a veteran in office policies and methods. The ability to work with less supervision and can produce outstanding results in less time must be a VA's characteristics. A good amount of office work and IT understanding is also a must. They should be energetic, hard working and revel in the value of their task. Executives will surely want to work with a VA who possesses these qualities.

With virtual assistants, executives can readily have the end results of the assigned tasks. You do get such answers like, "I will just finish it tomorrow." or "I am sorry I was not able to finish it because...." or other words to that effect. The reason for this is compared with office personnel, virtual assistants are paid with the number of hours they have worked unlike office personnel where they get paid for the whole of 8 hours inclusive of their chit-chat and breaks. And at times, it is frustrating as there are more of the chit-chats and breaks than the output. That is why virtual assistants are putting up a good competition with office personnel.

Stumbling on the exact VA that you want

A thorough selection must be applied to stumble on the exact virtual assistant you are looking for to replace a staff who went on maternity leave. There is nothing to worry about it anyway as the moment you encounter the right individual, you can depend on her not just for the work you want to be accomplished now but also for future projects. VAs give their employers top priority.

Following are some points to be given consideration when making your choice.

Web surf. By searching Google, you will be amazed that there are about 100 VAs which can be seen on the internet with Business Directories such as Free Index and the specialist VA Directory.

Having a long list. Approximately 5-10 VAs can be assessed through their credentials, education and trainings, the availability of a website as well as feedbacks from previous clients and their visibility on the internet.

A narrow index. Get about 3 to 5 eligible nominees. Evaluate them by talking to them on the phone and check for indications for:

1. Level of confidence and knowledgeability

2. Telephone etiquette

3. acquainted to the client's needs and the work to be accomplished

4. Do they have a total comprehension of the tasks

5. systematic.

The Bid. Having done your appraisal, you can now ask for a bid. Remember to concentrate on your appraisal on their comprehension, approach, IT know-how, expertise, team and faculty to complete the task.

The Costs. A pay-as-you-go 20-25 is the regular hourly cost of a virtual assistant. You can, however, inquire for low-priced Retainer Fee especially if the work to be done can be estimated.

Looking for a replacement for a staff who was on maternity leave, you also need to analyze where to assign the staff once she gets back to work. Doing so will make you to get a VA with more varied abilities.

by: Emma Johnson

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