How Are Virtual Assistants Different Than Regular

Employees?

 

If you’re reading this, you’re likely curious about how a virtual assistant can fit within your brand/organization. One of the most common questions received about virtual assistants is the difference between one and a regular employee. Let’s take a look at how virtual assistants differ from traditional employees as well as the things they have in common. 

 

Status

The most basic difference between a traditional employee and a virtual assistant is their working status. A traditional employee is someone that you will have on your payroll. They will be a member of your organization and you will issue them a W-2. This is either paid out salary or hourly like the regular ‘9-5’. 

By comparison, a virtual assistant is an independent contractor. They are not a member of your organization and are issued 1099-NEC forms instead of W-2s. A virtual assistant may only work for your organization, or they may work for several companies. 

 

Cost

Cost is also another significant distinction. You are accountable for paying an employee’s wages, FICA taxes, paid time off, and benefits. As a result, you end up spending far more than simply what they cost you for the hours they worked for your company.

 

Virtual assistants, on the other hand, are only paid for their time. If a virtual assistant works for you for 80 hours in a month, you only pay them for those 80 hours. In other words, hiring virtual assistants is more economical than finding a traditional job.

 

Location

Traditional workers will often be onsite at your business’s location. In light of the rise in remote work brought on by the epidemic, they might likewise be remote. Alternately, a hybrid layout might be used.

A virtual assistant is employed in the background. The majority of virtual assistants operate from home offices. However, they may still be reached with a single click or phone call thanks to the abundance of technology available.

 

Term of Employment

When you have a traditional employee, you are almost always hiring them for ongoing employment. This means you plan to have them on your staff going forward. This is great for many arrangements but not always what your business needs. 

 

However, you can readily hire virtual assistants for short term, seasonal, or project-specific work. You can also have an ongoing relationship. This is great because it adds flexibility into your business’ approach. It is easy to scale the work to your needs and stay within your budget on projects.  

 

Knowledge & Skills

 

When you hire a new employee, you could get someone who already has the precise abilities you need for the position or you can find yourself doing a lot of training. The application pool truly plays an important role. Even if someone is knowledgeable, you might still need to teach them on how things function in your company.

 

Virtual assistants frequently have a great deal of experience working in firms and rapidly conforming to specific procedures. Additionally, most virtual assistants have the key talents you require in place and developed. Less training time may be required as a result, and onboarding may be simpler.

 

What Do Virtual Assistants and Employees Have in Common? 

With all of the differences between virtual assistants and employees, it is still important to note that there are a number of things that they do have in common. 

 

Accountability

Ultimately, both employees and virtual assistants are accountable for the quality of work they produce. This means you will be providing supervision to both; however, experienced virtual assistants often do need less supervision and are quite receptive to constructive criticism. 

 

Dedication

Obviously, traditional employees tend to be dedicated to the work they do and the organization for which they work. Many people who have never hired a virtual assistant before are worried about losing this quality. Fortunately, you’ll find that virtual assistants take great pride in their work and are quite dedicated to their jobs and the organizations that hire them even for temporary projects. 

 

Teamwork

With traditional employees, teamwork is very important. Employees will develop rapport with other members in the office and often collaborate on projects. This can also be the case with virtual assistants, depending upon the work they are hired for. Virtual assistants will tend to build relationships with the people they most frequently work with. While it may develop a bit slower, you’ll see strong teamwork skills from virtual assistants as well.