Every business owner has had to come to terms with the fact that they can’t handle everything themselves. Hiring someone to take on everyday tasks can help you streamline business operations and simplify your life.
However, hiring a full-time employee isn’t the only option you can take as a business owner. With more and more people taking on remote work, it’s easy to find a virtual assistant that meets your needs.
This raises the question, a full-time employee vs virtual assistant – which one is best for your business?
Virtual assistants and full-time employees both have advantages and disadvantages which vary depending on your requirements.
Let’s get into the differences between a full-time employee and a virtual assistant, so you can choose which one is right for your company.
A full-time employee is a person who is contracted to work the maximum working hours per week at a business.
The maximum working hours vary between countries, but in the UK, the law states that you cannot work over 48 hours a week. This is on the higher side of what is considered ‘full time’, with most full-time employees working 35 hours or more per week.
A full-time employee will carry out jobs that support an organisation’s operations. They will usually be present on-site during some of their working hours.
In addition to set working hours, they are paid a fixed monthly or hourly salary. Full-time employees are also entitled to benefits like vacation days, health insurance, and various benefits.
A virtual assistant is an independent professional who carries out administrative services for clients or organisations. They perform these tasks from a remote location, typically their home office.
A virtual assistant’s tasks are similar to those of an in-house assistant, like diary management, sending emails, planning travel arrangements, social media, and data entry.
As they work remotely, virtual assistants can stick to a more flexible schedule without the expenses linked with hiring a full-time employee.
No, if you hire a virtual assistant, they aren’t considered employees of your company, but self-employed contractors.
You only pay them for the time that they work, and unlike full-time employees, won’t need to pay NI, holiday, sick pay, or PAYE.
Let’s dive into the advantages of hiring an in-house, full-time employee at your business.
Hiring an in-house employee means you can meet the individual in person. This can help you accurately assess their character, abilities, and work ethic through the hiring interview and future interactions.
Creating and developing a relationship with a full-time employee can help improve organisational growth, worker productivity, and smoother workflow. This familiarity helps employees get a better understanding of business culture.
Businesses with employees working on-site can easily monitor their productivity throughout the day, week, and month. If any problems occur, they can be addressed promptly and efficiently.
Though full-time employees have their advantages, they also have disadvantages that are important to consider.
Business owners need to be dedicated and committed to taking on full-time employees.
The effort it takes to ensure each staff member is trained properly, well integrated into the company culture, and has all the tools required to carry out their job is a continuous investment.
Taking on more employees can come with additional responsibilities. You might need to develop new skills and take on various obligations so you can manage other employees.
With so many other jobs to take care of, you’ll need to have good time management skills to ensure that everyone is receiving the consideration they require.
Hiring a full-time employee is a significant business expense. In the UK, the costs of employing staff include:
Your business revenue might waver every month, but the costs of an employee will stay the same. You’ll need to keep paying a salary, renting office space, and bills, even if sales are low.
Hiring a virtual assistant comes with advantages over hiring a full-time employee.
Hiring a virtual assistant means that you only pay them for the tasks they perform or the hours that they work, which can help you save money for the business.
You can hire a virtual assistant for specific projects or jobs, modifying your workforce however necessary. This flexibility is great for companies with varying workloads.
Employing full-time employees can take up lots of time, but virtual assistants don’t need a lot of training.
As they are already skilled professionals, they can start tasks immediately and rapidly adapt to your company’s systems. This can save you time and resources which you can spend on other business areas.
Employing a virtual assistant on a short-term or part-time basis means you don’t have to spend on overhead costs.
A virtual assistant can work from anywhere, usually their own home office. This removes the need for supplies, benefits, or office space required to hire a full-time employee.
Virtual assistants are often very skilled professionals who can handle a range of services, like admin, social media management, and customer support. As you can trust them to get the job done quickly, this gives you more time to focus on business growth initiatives.
A full-time employee may be able to take on tasks like these, but will often require significant training to manage these tasks simultaneously.
Despite the many benefits, hiring a virtual assistant does have some drawbacks that you should consider.
As virtual assistants work remotely, you may find it difficult to maintain continuous communication with your VA.
This can be an issue if you require regular, prompt communication for urgent tasks, but there are several reliable video call platforms which make this issue less pressing.
Virtual assistants rely on technology to carry out tasks. If any technical or connectivity issues occur, this could disrupt workflow and business operations.
You can deal with this issue by making sure your virtual assistant has a good internet connection and reliable technology. Having backup communication methods in place, like speaking over the phone or cloud-based tools can help minimise downtime.
Hiring a full-time employee can be a sign of a successful business, but with salaries, office space, and office benefits to take care of, you have to be mentally and financially prepared to take on this responsibility.
Both full-time employees and virtual assistants have unique advantages, but virtual assistants have a level of flexibility, cost efficiency and access to specialised skills which businesses can benefit from.
Ultimately, virtual assistants can help business owners streamline operations, reduce overhead costs, and maintain workload flexibility, which makes them a great choice for many organisations.
At Virtual Assistant, Millie, we can help you manage everyday tasks, like travel coordination, event planning, and inbox management, so you can focus on what your business needs most.
Get in touch today to find out more, or browse our services to learn more about what we do.
