The Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Employee (2023 Update)

The widespread adoption of remote work, including the use of hybrid and virtual employees, has been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and businesses are now reaping the benefits of this shift. Early projections had shown that remote work would be a short-lived trend, however, it is now evident that remote work is here to stay. A Remote or virtual employee is a worker who operates remotely whether at home in an office of their own or in a co-working space.

According to research done by Upwork, by 2025, it is estimated that there will be 36.2 million Americans working remotely as more and more members of the Gen Z generation start to chart their way into employment

As companies start to restructure and plan for an economic slowdown in 2023, hiring a virtual employee has its benefits and can be an excellent alternative to hiring someone in-house, especially for small businesses that are just starting out.

Businesses avoid wasting time and money on the recruitment process and payroll processing by hiring most of these virtual employees through third parties. Employees are also much happier!

Advantages of Hiring Virtual Employees

So how can a business benefit from these engagements this year? Today we’ll look at the top benefits of hiring a virtual employee in 2023.

• Satisfy new and changing hiring demands

  In today’s working environment, most workers expect remote work and flexible working arrangements. If your company starts to take this into account and offers flexible working arrangements, you’ll be at an advantage when it comes to attracting a wider pool of top talent and allowing them to choose what works best for them and in turn for your company.

• Improved work-life balance

  Work-life balance is quickly becoming one of the most significant decisions behind choosing whether or not to work for a particular company. As Gen Z slowly starts to become the majority in the workforce, companies will have to take this into account and having remote working capabilities helps you stay ahead of the curve and access a wider pool of talent. By promoting a better work-life balance, your organization will reap the benefits of engaged, motivated and high-performing virtual teams.

• Easier hiring and more access to talent pools

  Traditionally, companies would restrict their hiring to candidates who could commute to their office locations. Unless your business is very reliant on-premises, you’ll be up against your competitors with the financial capabilities to outbid, out-perk and out-cool you. Businesses in 2023 that continue to encourage remote work will reap the benefits of a global talent pool.

• Cost Saving

  Hiring offshore talent can be one of the most cost-effective decisions a small business can make in 2023. Offshore talent is 50% less expensive than onshore talent. The more people work on-site the more your overhead costs will be. Hiring virtual employees allows you to cover your staffing needs while saving on costs like office space and office supplies.

• Unlimited Recruitment Opportunities

  When looking to hire a virtual employee, your business is not tied down to hiring from a specific area. The fact that you can hire from anywhere in the world means that your recruitment opportunities are unlimited! Done well, a company can build a diverse global workforce of nothing but the best candidates.

• Avoid unnecessary meetings

  Another advantage of hiring virtual employees is the lack of unnecessary meetings which aids to the overall productivity of your company. Because everyone is located in different parts of the world, we only hold meetings to discuss the most important issues and make important decisions, instead of easily gathering everyone in for a quick meeting as we do when everyone is in the office.

• Higher Retention Rates

   In terms of recruiting, 2023 has been described as the year of retention and really making sure your current staff is comfortable and constantly upskilling. By hiring virtual employees you get to offer a better work-life balance from the start and then you can really start to invest in them once they feel comfortable, achieving better retention rates. Eventually, you get to save on turnover costs since we all know how expensive it can be to replace an employee.

• Increasing your Business Hours

  A remote global workforce allows your business to easily cover different time zones and expand operations around the clock. With virtual employees, you can hire talented individuals from anywhere in the world, allowing you to access a much broader talent pool than you would have been able to otherwise. This provides a significant advantage in terms of cost savings, as you can hire employees who are based in areas with lower labor costs. . With the ability to hire people to work normal hours across multiple time zones, productivity is always high. This allows your business to offer services 24 hours, 7 days a week, giving you a competitive edge in today’s fast-paced global marketplace.

• Easily Scale Your Workforce Up or Down

  As businesses start to adjust to a slower economy in 2023, you’ll find situations where the workflow starts to come in batches where you need to scale up your workforce for an event or seasonal change of demand. Virtual teams have also allowed for a reduced time to market, since you have different teams working on the same project 24/7.Remote or virtual employee engagements also allow businesses the flexibility to adjust to the workload at hand and avoid situations where you’re either understaffed and drowning your employees with work or have a bloated workforce with little to do.

• Higher Quality Work

  Virtual employees understand that their reputation and success depend solely on the work they produce and the value they bring to their clients. This understanding, coupled with the flexibility of working remotely, leads to higher quality work over time. Without the constraints of traditional 9-5 hours, virtual employees have more autonomy to manage their time and work when they are most productive. Additionally, they don’t have to waste time commuting, and can use that time to be more productive. This means they have additional 4-5 hours in a day to focus on their work, which leads to a more efficient and productive work schedule, thus resulting in higher quality work.

Conclusion:

For a small business, virtual employees offer a cost-effective way to get more done, save on costs and scale up or done at will.

To succeed and get the most out of your virtual employee and virtual team, you have to learn how to manage them. The key here is to always have open communication, promote dialogue, and have collaboration tools where everyone can see who is working on what, where, and when it is due.

We’ve seen a massive increase in collaboration and communication tools over the last few years which have helped make remote working and managing remote teams very easy. So as a business owner or manager, try and equip your virtual team or virtual employee with the right technology and tools to succeed

Finally, monitor results and not activity. You don’t want to come out as over-controlling or show that you don’t trust your virtual employees. Results are the benchmark on what is being done, so set targets, hold your team accountable and monitor the results.

If you’re sold on the idea of hiring a virtual employee, the next step is to determine your business’s needs in 2023. Do you need someone to manage your schedule? Post on social media? Do simple data entry? The tasks you’re hiring for might impact where you look.

At SuperbHire, we take the time to get to know your and your business needs and then match you with candidates who solve those needs with a long-term engagement in mind.

Get in touch with us and let us help you build your team of virtual employees today!