What to expect when Outsourcing to Virtual Employees?

16 Feb 2017 BY Shawn Michaels POSTED IN Outsourcing WITH 0

What to expect when Outsourcing to Virtual Employees?

One the my main challenges in my work is to establish the right expectation with clients, as to what kind of virtual employee they can expect to get when they are offshore outsourcing work.

At MyVirtualPeople.com we help companies of all sizes outsource work to offshore virtual employees by making it easy for them to connect, work, and interact with employees who are based in our offshore office.

To make this a successful relationship, I have learnt it is very important to establish the right expectation. Afterall, let’s be realistic, unless an offshore virtual employee has years of experience working with a western company, they will not quite work to the standards that we (us guys in the west) are used to.

This largely boils down to 2 key factors:

their education system, and the culture differences.

A degree attained in Bangladesh or India is not quite the equivalent to a degree in UK or US for instance. We are used to working in a fast paced environment, whereas the offshore are used to a more relaxed approach to working. Where we call each other by first names, they find this disrespectful and prefer to call their seniors ‘sir’ or ‘madam’.

So these differences can be a huge challenge in outsourcing work successfully. But this is where an agency like MyVirtualPeople.com helps bridge the gap, we do this by:

Hiring suitable candidates who we feel can fit in a western environment
Delivering initial training to understand our western work ethics
We give on-going practical training to all new recruits by engaging them in real ‘internal’ work, to help the candidates to get used to the fast paced, demanding nature of our clients.
Placing capable team leaders and managers in place to guide employees. These team leaders also work for our clients, so they advise from their own experiences.
An advisor based in London is always at close reach to help make things seamless for our clients.

So when you do offshore outsource work to virtual employees to an agency like MyVirtualPeople.com what kind of employee can you actually expect to get?

I thought a good way to convey this would be to write a few summaries / profiles of some available candidates we have.

Feel free to skim through the candidates below, and as always, go ahead and let me know your thoughts. And if you want to learn more about virtual employees do feel free to email me directly on rob@myvirtualpeople.com.

Thanks for reading, look forward to hearing from you all.

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Candidate	Description
Michael	Virtual Employee Role: Web Developer Salary: £3.99 per hour Michael is a highly capable candidate. He has worked extensively for some of our clients on various projects in web designing and development. Michael is looking for an equally challenging role as his last where he can use his existing skills as well as learn new skills. Verdict: Very Capable candidate, possible Team Leader.
Alex	Virtual Employee Role: Video Animation Salary: £3.99 per hour Alex is a very hard working individual. He has previously worked with some of our clients creating videos, ranging from scribble / doodle effect animations through to sequences used in UK live TV. Verdict: Well spoken candidate with a broad range of creative skills.
Ruby	Virtual Employee Role: Virtual Assistant Salary: £2.99 per hour Ruby is a well-spoken girl with almost a neutral accent. She has previously worked for financial firms but has chosen to join Staff India as she is keen to work with our clients serving their customers. She would also make a good VA. Verdict: Well-spoken customer service candidate.
Sarah	Virtual Employee Role: Data Entry Salary: £2.99 per hour Sarah is a keen to enhance her skills set. Having worked on multiple Staff India internal projects, Sarah is seeking an opportunity to work with our clients on a data entry role so that she can gain confidence and momentum in working with our clients. Verdict: Quick learner.
Jane	Virtual Employee Role: Customer Service Salary: £2.99 per hour Jane is extremely well spoken with a neutral accent. Previously she has served as a school teacher. She is keen to work with our clients on customer facing roles as she enjoys interacting. Verdict: Strong customer service candidate.
Sam	Virtual Employee Role: Virtual Assistant Salary: £2.99 per hour Sam is a versatile character. He has worked on various projects, both with clients and on staff india internal projects. Having a broad set of skills, Sam is perfect to serve as a virtual assistant, or possible within remote IT support as he has an IT background from a UK university. Verdict: Well composed candidate.
Kristopher	Virtual Employee Role: Web Developer Salary: £3.99 per hour Kris is a very likeable guy. Having studied for his masters, he is looking for a role that will enable him to enhance his skills set, learn and become a better virtual employee. Kris’s salary requirement has been deliberately set lower than other virtual employees within his category s as he does require mentoring and guidance. Verdict: Strong entry level candidate.
Steve	Virtual Employee Role: IT Support Salary: £3.99 per hour Steve is a very energetic candidate who has worked for our clients previously on various remote IT support roles. He has a strong background in networking and IT support. Verdict: Strong candidate
Tim	Virtual Employee Role: Web Development Salary: £3.99 per hour Tim is looking to engage with a client that will utilise his existing IT skills as well as help him progress in his personal development within the IT domain. He is a hard working individual who is always keen to learn. Verdict: Strong candidate with good communication skills.