HR Virtual Assistant: Responsibilities, Benefits, and How To Hire

An HR virtual assistant, identical to traditional HR, is a remote professional who manages a company’s employees, the most important resources. The core benefits are cost-effectiveness, flexibility, and most productivity. You are working with an HR VA, right? If not, then this information will make you rethink your decision.

With the rising popularity of remote work, the standard recommendation is to have 1.4 HR staff for every 100 employees, highlighting the importance of efficient HR support. Companies are even planning to reduce office space by 30%, a clear shift towards remote work. Moreover, 32% of workers express a desire to continue working remotely, and 20% would quit if they couldn’t.

HR VAs support remote or onsite employee needs. They handle various HR responsibilities and seamless Human resources operations. Using digital tools and platforms, they create and maintain a healthy work environment that attracts and retains qualified talent.

All these seem lucrative reasons to hire an HR virtual assistant but wait until we discuss in-depth HR VA so you do not need to be skeptical about your decision.

Key Responsibilities Of An HR Virtual Assistant

The key responsibility of an HR virtual assistant is recognising the company’s present and future hiring needs and taking necessary action. They support the strategic tasks management of the employee lifecycle in a virtual environment. HR VAs also oversee performance evaluations, set goals, provide feedback, and implement improvement plans. Their other duty is automating HR-related tasks and repetitive tasks to enhance efficiency.

Let’s see the core responsibilities of an HR virtual assistant.

1. Administrative Support

HR virtual assistants manage day-to-day administrative tasks and business operations to mitigate the administrators’ burden. By handling administrative tasks, virtual assistants give the HR department more time to focus on bigger projects like workforce planning and improving employee engagement.

HR Virtual Assistants handle all communications coming in and going out. They organise meetings and set the schedule. They even choose the platform for virtual meetings and ensure all the right people have the information they need. VAs also keep digital files organised so important documents are easy to find. Additionally, they sort through emails, ensuring important ones are seen immediately, and less urgent ones are saved for later.

2. Help Full-Cycle Employee Recruiting

New recruiting is not easy if you are looking for qualified candidates. It can take tons of hours and effort, and online HR assistance is the most beneficial tool. Some HR VAS are fully aware of the employee recruiting cycle and employee onboarding. They do initial screening and initial phone interviews, too. Here is how they work,

 

3. Maintain Accurate Employee Records

You know the importance of precise employee records and documents. But do you or your HR department have enough time to record these tons of information? Outsourcing HR online assistants will be your helping hand. They will maintain employees,

• Personal information
• Employment contract
• Payroll records
• Employee attendance
• Developmental records
• Termination document
• Work department, and so on

4. Managing Employee Relations

Did you know that 75% of employees are more likely to stay at their jobs if their concerns are addressed? Solving issues helps maintain good workplace relationships. Hiring an HR virtual assistant can improve this by clearly communicating with staff and managers. HR VAs are well aware of employee benefits and employee satisfaction rates. They can also help administer an employee rewards program, regularly checking in with employees to see how satisfied they are and what could be better.

Virtual assistants work to prevent issues before they arise and resolve any conflicts. They can also set up support programs for employees early on to prevent issues.

5. Supporting Employee Development

HR virtual assistants create a culture of continuous learning within a company. They organise workshops, conferences, and certification programs that help employees gain new skills and knowledge. Remote HR assistants ensure that the programs are relevant and beneficial. This continuous education ensures everyone stays up-to-date with industry trends and advancements.

Developing employees benefits individuals and organisations by keeping employees up-to-date and improving competitiveness and performance.

6. Process Payroll

Your remote HR will take care of all the paperwork and tasks involved in processing payroll. They will get the paychecks ready, send out electronic transfers, and give out payslips. Virtual HRs can deal with any questions or issues about payroll from employees and keep all the necessary records in order.

Stages Of Payroll Process HR VA Handles,

• Collects, verifies, and maintains essential employee data.
• Employee payroll tracking includes attendance-related information like work hours, leave records or overtime.
• Payroll calculation based on pay rates, deductions, bonuses, and allowances
• Ensure compliance with employment laws.
• Prepare paychecks or electronic transfers.
•  Maintains records of payroll transactions and generates reports.

7. Data Reporting, Calendar, And Schedule Management

Virtual assistant HR possess strong tech skills; thus, they know how to use tools and software for precise data reporting. They keep track of all the necessary data and provide it to the managers.

The same tech skill applies to calendar management. By using calendar tools, they manage appointments, schedule them, set reminders, or adjust the timing as needed. They also clearly communicate with all departments and employers to confirm availability and book meetings. So you do not miss any important deadlines with your client.

8. Compliance And Policy Management

Virtual HR manages company compliance and policy so everyone follows legal rules and companies own rules. HRs mainly follow three steps,

1. Updating Policies: HR regularly updates the company’s rules to meet new legal standards and ensure best practices are followed.
2. Training: HR holds training sessions so all employees understand these rules and what they mean.
3. Consulting: HR provides guidance and advice to help managers and employees understand and follow these laws and rules.

How Virtual Human Resources Assistants Can Contribute To Business Growth

A vast industry is hiring virtual assistants because of their effectiveness and numerous benefits. Let’s see how online HR assistants can help your business grow from small to large size.

Small businesses have a lot of workload to manage. Most of the time, these small businesses are not organised with their work either. The lack of proper policy documentation makes it difficult to manage all the tasks. Here, counting on and without adding much employee cost, an HR virtual assistant is the best decision.

Mid-scale businesses have just started growing in the industry and are abound with numerous complex tasks, such as employee training programs and performance management systems. With a virtual assistant, these businesses can get fresh minds and find areas for improvement. Virtual assistants are best at better decision-making and thus work for companies’ sustainable growth.

We cannot forget about large businesses, which often ignore hiring virtual assistants and make big mistakes. In this type of business, there is a new recruiting, onboarding or terminating employees process throughout the year. Also, handling more employees’ paychecks and concerns and working for their development becomes the toughest task. But a virtual human resource assistant can do all of it.

Benefits Of Having An HR Virtual Assistant For Your Business

Your on-site HR is on sick leave? Or vacation? You need an HR virtual assistant to show the main difference between VA and employees. You need to recruit new employees, but it seems time-consuming? A virtual HR assistant is your only option. Your virtual HR support will protect the company from any issue with their expertise and critical thinking ability. But that’s not all – there’s more to gain from them! Check out these facilities,

• Save time as HRVA will handle routine tasks, freeing you and your team to focus on strategic initiatives.
• Reduce per-head costs.
• Give round-the-clock support.
• Improve efficiency.
• Enhance the employee experience.
• Improve data management.
• With scalability as your business expands, simply increase the hours or tasks assigned to your VA.
• Flexible hiring! Depending on your needs, hire VAs hourly, part-time, or full-time.
• Access VA’s diverse skills.
• Get work-life balance by delegating tasks to your virtual assistant.

Tools And Software Used By HR Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistants are well-versed in various software and use many productivity tools for VAs. Since they work remotely, they use these tools to create a smoother work environment. From recruiting new employees to payroll management, VAs know what tools can best help them.

HR management software

HR uses Human Resources Management Systems platforms to manage their various responsibilities. They can automate time-consuming tasks of HR processes. These responsibilities include employee data management, attendance tracking, compliance monitoring and others. Some popular HRMS tools are,

• BambooHR
• FactoHR
• Slack
• Microsoft Teams
• Evernote
• Insperity
• Trello
• Asana

Communication Tools

Effective communication with employees and employers is foremost for HR virtual assistants. This is more applicable as they work remotely. By using communication tools, HR VAs interact with team members, use instant messaging, video conferencing, or collaborate in workspaces. Essential communication tools include:

• Zoom
• Google Meet
• Google Drive
• Dropbox

Payroll And Benefits Administration Tools

Virtual HR assistants manage employee compensation, benefits, and related processes using payroll software. By using these tools, these virtual assistants ensure timely and accurate payroll processing and benefit administrative support. Here is a list of such tools that your VA may use,

• Rippling
• Gusto
• Paylocity
• FreshBooks
• QuickBooks
• Wave

Recruitment Platforms

Recruitment platforms help HR virtual assistants manage the hiring process more efficiently. They smooth the process of a job posting, candidate sourcing, application tracking, and interview scheduling. These platforms often include resume parsing, candidate scoring, and communication tools to enhance recruitment. Leading recruitment platforms include:

• Pomato
• Zoho Recruit
• Enboarder
• Fetcher

Things You Should Consider When You Hiring HR VA

Here are a couple of criteria you should consider before you hire your HR virtual assistant. First, do a precise candidate screening, then find potential candidates, and then conduct an interview process based on your company policies.

Identify The Tasks You Want To Assign To Your HR VA

The step criteria you should consider is assessing your need from your HR virtual assistant. Do you need a full-time or part-time VA? Some businesses hire virtual assistants during peak seasons and hire on a contractual basis. You need to understand your HR operation needs first.

Then comes the responsibilities you want to assign to your HR VA. You may want a remote HR assistant because you need to onboard some new employees. Or someone who can solely supervise employees’ needs and benefits. First, note down your business HR needs. Then, go for the job posting with all these requirements.

Conduct A Test To Assess The HR Quality

You can conduct simple online tests to assess the remote worker’s skills. Give them some HR-related work. Based on their completion of the task, you can determine who is the suitable candidate. Test about their cognitive ability tests, personality tests, and job knowledge tests. There are a lot of online tests available, such as iMocha’s HR aptitude test or testdome.

Necessary Skills

HR handles the entire employee team; hence, it needs really good communication skills. They also need to handle numerous tasks, where organisational skill is a must. You should look into your HR virtual assistant to resolve any issue and investigate your problem-solving ability.

Here is a list of skills,

Confidentiality And Integrity

An HR virtual assistant will work with your business on important documents, files, and data. They must maintain confidentiality and integrity. For this, you can do a background check and check references. Check for any complications in their previous jobs. Though companies should be open to freshers, if you have important documents to delegate to your VA, then look for an experienced one with a clear background.

Time Zone Compatibility & Budget

Last of all, since you will be working with a remote assistant, you should consider the timezone. This is more applicable if you are hiring outside the globe. Clear your expectations in the beginning, like when you need the assistance and the timing.

Consider the budget too. Check for competitive pricing so you can know the proper budget.

Where You Can Find An HR Virtual Assistant

Now, if you have come to the conclusion of hiring a human resource virtual assistant after going through our in-depth guidance, let me help you a bit more with where you can find your suitable VA. Here are two easy-peasy approaches.

YesAssistant

If you do not have much time to asses your virtual assistants’ quality and find the perfect HR VA, then outsourcing from YesAssistant is your solution. YesAssistant is one of the leading virtual assistant services that provide top-notch virtual support. From virtual assistants for marketing, real estate, Shopify, and Airbnb VA to HR, you can get your VA, whichever you want. Also, there is no compromise with the quality of work in a very flexible pricing.

All you need to do is book an appointment and share your requirements and budget. Now you are good to start your work immediately.

Marketplace

Another alternative is the market to search for an HR VA, like LinkedIn, Fiverr, Indeed and many more. You can find diverse HR skill sets from these marketplaces. Also, there are many budget-friendly virtual assistant options. But be careful about the quality of your work.

Verdict

Hiring an HR virtual assistant has the potential to benefit any company greatly. An HR works as the core management to handle employees and numerous tasks. One day of their absence can prove a great loss to the company. A virtual HR assistant can play the role of fulfilling all the commitments efficiently.

You can hire full-time or part-time, depending on your needs. Your VA will handle all the HR administrative tasks, payroll, and employee management and will also smooth the recruitment process.

FAQ

How Much Does It Cost To Hire An HR Virtual Assistant?

The cost of HR virtual assistants depends on the quality of work and how they work. Some VAs work on a contractual basis, part-time, full-time, or as freelancers. Generally, the cost is $10 to $60+ per hour, depending on experience.

How Do I Become A Virtual HR Assistant?

To become an HR virtual assistant, you can get an HR degree, gain experience, earn certifications, and build a portfolio. To start a career, you can do some freelancing to gain experience.

How Do I Manage And Communicate With My HR Virtual Assistant Effectively?

Set clear expectations, use collaboration tools, schedule regular check-ins, and provide resources to manage and communicate with your HR virtual assistant.

What Is The Main Difference Between An HR assistant And An HR associate?

HR Assistants handle administrative tasks; HR Associates have broader responsibilities and more experience.