3 reasons your VA might leave you

When we get a VA it can be a bit nerve wracking.

What if we onboard them, put all this effort in and then they decide to leave?

The other day a business owner asked me to guarantee that this won’t happen.

And I said I can’t. We are dealing with people after all.

BUT there are things that you CAN do to mitigate against the three main reasons Virtual Assistants leave.

Here are the reasons and more importantly what you can do about it…

The job is not what your VA thought they were signing up for

There are a number of reasons this might be the case from poor scoping to the role not being explored properly with the Virtual Assistant.

When I work with the business owner to scope out a role, I spend at least an hour picking their brain and being devil's advocate. Working out a scope that will actually WORK. We also explore possible challenges of the role.

I then pass on this information to the recruitment team who over two interviews (at least) really get to know the candidates. Once they have a possible role for them they share the challenges of the role with the candidates to see if the candidate is REALLY up for it.

Do they want a role with lots of variety where they get to learn, or do they want a repetitive job with not much interaction?

Do they want a role that is self directed or do they like having the business owner at their fingertips?

Do they like to have certainty every day about what they are going to do or do they like to be dynamic and respond to changing demands?

Different strokes for different folks as they say.

If you get this wrong and your VA’s expectations of the role are different to reality, there is a BIG chance that your VA will not excel in the role and eventually leave.

Your VA is feeling overwhelmed

It can be so exciting when your VA starts, and there is an urge to hand over the 100 things that you have been dreaming of getting support for.

But, what I suggest instead is that in week 1, day 1. Pick one (or maybe two) high volume, low risk tasks (e.g. starting to connect you with people on LinkedIn) and get them started on these.

Once they have those handled (and off your plate), select one or two more.

Going slow can actually be the fastest way to ramp up support.

To work out if you are ramping up too fast (or too slow) have regular face to face meetings (daily for the first week and at least weekly after that) with your VA to ask how they are feeling.

Sheila, our Operations Manager in the Philippines, is often checking in with VA’s to see how they are feeling. Catching overwhelm early is great because then we can do something about it.

Your VA is not feeling respected

This is a serious one that can creep up over time and is difficult to come back from. It usually results from a chronic lack of connection.

I know myself that when I am feeling low and not connected, I can misconstrue messages on slack and make them mean things (that perhaps they don’t).

The key thing that a business owner can do here is build connection:

• Meet with your VA regularly
• Ask questions (and be quiet and give them room to talk)
• Acknowledge your VA in a meaningful way

I have called business owners up before and urged them to “just show some love’’. I mean, VA’s are people too.

We can share with your VA that when you said ‘x’ in a message you didn’t mean it and support your VA to see the details in a different way.

But there is no substitute for love.

So there you have it.

Clarity over the role, communication and some love can go a long way.

My personal VA team has been with us for years and when one of them does decide to leave I hope it is for bigger and better things (and not because they don’t feel loved).

You can’t guarantee that someone will stay with you forever, but you can set it up for success.