When setting up a business, we must take into account the capabilities of the employees we are going to hire. Our success or failure will depend, fundamentally, on carrying out this process properly. But most of the time we forget that our company is a job in itself. The usual tasks within it are usually distributed among employees, causing a multiplicity of functions, increased work hours and deconcentration of their main work.
Measure your budget
It is true that a secretary is not within reach of all pockets. Rather, it was. Because now we can have a service of online secretaries that are responsible for answering calls from customers, organize our agenda and relieve workers of this labor benefit not included in their professional category. This is just as valid for small and medium-sized enterprises as for self-employed workers.
The steps to follow in their hiring do not differ much from those of other employees since it will be a person who is part of the company, even if it is not within it physically. Nonetheless, we are going to see certain fundamental requirements to be able to make the right choice.
Try to know the personality traits of your secretary
Since the secretary is going to be involved in the operation of our business and, in addition, will work directly with us, it is important that her personality is attractive to us. The sensations that transmit us are those that will feel the customers, so we would commit an unforgivable error if we prevent this point. If we feel comfortable talking to her, if she listens with interest, if she shows enthusiasm and is friendly, without forgetting how she transmits security and her attention to detail, we will have already taken the first step in hiring.
Measure her communication skills
Now that we have the right personal profile, it’s time to see it working. If those qualities show them at work – how you answer calls and the treatment you offer to customers, how you react if two calls come in at once, what tone of voice you put in when you speak – we will know that your way of being is not independent to the labor But there is another factor to take into account regarding their professionalism: the delivery time. If it takes too long to answer calls or send emails, it is a risk of effectiveness. All this we can verify with simplicity polling some clients and asking them their opinion about the received service.
Test the management skills of your secretary
During the interview, in addition to the human factor, it is vital to know your professional skills. Knowing project management can be very helpful in order to delegate more responsibilities to your person in the long term, for example. But, shortly, it is convenient to leave undoubtedly and in detail the tasks that we expect you to perform and if you are able to carry them out. Otherwise, we will have to discard it and look for another one. It is useless for us to be able to do some things and not others that we need.
Look at her tech skills
Other skills that must possess are technological. Taking into account that your work will be developed remotely, away from the office, the virtual secretary must know how to handle without problems with a series of specific computer programs to be able to carry out their work conveniently. In some cases, you will have to use particular software within the company, so you have to evaluate its compatibility with our usual operating system. The higher your experience with computer management, the shorter the period of adaptation to the equipment.
Measure the conversational aptitude
A normal secretary must have a good physical presence. In the case of a virtual secretary, the image will be given by her speech and spelling. Your way of speaking will show us if you have no problems with the proper use of the language – formal use of the language, right accent, not word shortening – while your writing will not create an awkward or clumsy image about our business. There is nothing that says so much about a company in its way of communicating in writing with its customers. The writing of a neat, polite and fault-free email puts in writing the professionalism of the company.
Interest of working schedule
The last aspect that we must take into account is its availability. Working hours can present problems for some people, especially if we provide some type of service that requires working on weekends. Some virtual secretary services do not work full time, so you have to assess this aspect before making any decision that may later cause us problems.
Finally, we can ask the virtual secretary about her experience or if she has references that support her work. Having experience helps to integrate into the team more quickly and speeds up the learning curve. Depends on the urgency that we have to occupy the position, but do not forget that people who do a job for the first time identify with the company with great speed, becoming involved in the work with much more energy than someone with more years behind them. If we choose the option of the first job, we must have patience with our new employee until he is seated in the position with full security.
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