So you’ve finally hired a virtual assistant. Maybe it’s your first VA, or perhaps it’s a new addition to your growing remote team. But how do you know you’ve chosen the right one?

Here’s the scary part: wrong hires happen more frequently (nearly two in five) than companies want to admit. But how do you know that you did hire the wrong person for the job?

We’ve put together some of the major warning signs and catch a wrong fit before pulling the trigger.

They struggle with the role’s basic tasks

During interviews, your new hire seemed so knowledgeable with the role. But now that they’ve started, you see them struggle when performing basic tasks associated with the position.

You’re also surprised to discover that your new virtual assistant doesn’t know a lot of things about the job. The more you work with them, the more you realise that you didn’t do that well evaluating their knowledge during the interview process.

Their output is riddled with errors, and it takes them forever to hand in their work.

Important: This doesn’t automatically mean your new VA lied and is a bad person. If anything, it’s more an indication that you need to sharpen your interviewing skills because your new hire isn’t capable of taking on the job they were hired to do.

Team members don’t like working with them

You think your new hire is an absolute charmer, but you’ve heard some stories about how difficult it is to work with them.

Here’s the thing: the way an employee treats lower-ranking staff says a lot about their integrity (or lack of it). They might just be nice to you and other leaders in your organisation but show their true colours when dealing with the rest.

If you have doubts about your new VA’s character, talk to your other team members privately on what they think about their colleague.

They have difficulty adapting to how things work

Companies have a specific way of doing things and new hires should deal with the learning curve. But when a new employee frequently challenges your company’s processes or talks about how they did things differently at a previous employer, it shows that your new hire is struggling to adapt.

That’s fine – to a certain point – because people sometimes encounter work challenges. But if your new VA persists, it may hold the rest of your team back from getting behind your future improvement projects.

They don’t fit the company’s culture

For the purposes of this article, “culture fit” refers to how an employee’s personal values, attitudes and beliefs fit with an organisation’s own values and goals.

So imagine your new VA has been with your organisation for several weeks now. They’ve settled into their role and responsibilities with minimal issue. But they don’t seem to mesh seamlessly with the culture.

Maybe your new VA is used to output-based work and bristles at your company’s use of time-tracking software. Or they’d prefer to work in their own time instead of putting in eight straight hours per day.

At the very least, this cultural mismatch can affect your new hire’s performance and engagement. At worst, it might affect your company’s overall culture, which has been painstakingly developed for years.

Again, this issue isn’t necessarily the new VA’s fault; you’ll have to fine-tune your interview questions to determine a candidate’s cultural fit.

They’re bad at managing their time

Is your new VA frequently late? Do they log out early or vanish for long stretches during the day without telling you why? Or maybe they can’t seem to finish assigned tasks within the workday?

Whatever the case may be, one thing is sure: your new VA’s questionable approach to time management can affect the rest of your team. Unfortunately, there are some things you won’t know about a new employee until you’re actually working with them.

Worse still, these issues can slip through background checks if you’re not careful.

To get around this issue, you can take some time every week to map out your new VA’s tasks with them, so that they’ll get a better grasp of their responsibilities.

Your communication styles differ

You should be concerned when your new VA’s communication approach is different compared with the rest of the team’s. This can manifest itself in different ways such as:

• Preferring to work in isolation instead of actively collaborating with others.
• Being uncommunicative – or contacting you too frequently for guidance.
• Not updating you about their progress.

Your new VA should be on the same page as to how they’ll be communicating with the rest of the team. It’s especially important in a remote setting. Why?

Because communicating doesn’t come as naturally when you work remotely. It takes a more conscious effort to do so. If your communication styles clash, the quality of your collective work output may be affected – and may hurt your brand.

How to reduce hiring risk

However you deal with a mis-hire (whether through dismissal or training) it’s certain that you need to do a better job in screening and interviewing candidates. To pick the right virtual assistant, you first need to answer basic questions like:

• Do you get a freelancer or independent contractor?
• What’s the difference between them?
• What are the risks involved in engaging each?
• What’s the best option for you, specifically?

Not knowing the answers to these questions will most likely lead to wasted time, productivity and money. Worse, the wrong person can make you look bad to clients.

But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We’ve put together a quick guide to choosing the right kind of VA for your organisation’s needs.

Should you decide to engage an agency-hired independent contractor, Remote Workmate can certainly help. Our virtual staffing services will help you cut your employment costs by up to 70%, increase your productivity, win back your free time, and grow your bottom line.